Originally from France, Mr Pierre Dalle have lived in London for over 30 years. He has been teaching French to primary school students since April 2005 in various private schools and after-school clubs in London. He also hosts international students coming to study English in the UK. Mr Pierre is a licensed French teacher with La Joile Ronde in UK.
Rhonda Davis is a speech and language specialist at Avenues School. She has run her own private practice in speech and language pathology for the last 13 years. She also served as an early childhood consultant for Worldwide Orphans Foundation, where she co-created and piloted an early intervention program for orphans and vulnerable children living in Haiti and Bulgaria. She acted as speech language pathologist at Stephen Gaynor School in New York for four years, where she supported students with a variety of language and learning differences.
Rhonda’s other work experience includes four years at the Stanley S. Lamm Institute in Brooklyn, where she provided diagnostic assessments and individualized intervention for children of all ages with academic, behavioral and developmental delays or disorders. She also served as the senior speech pathologist at St. Mary’s Hospital in Queens and as a speech language pathologist at the Karen Horney Therapeutic Nursery in New York City.
Rhonda graduated from State University of New York at Albany with a B.A. in political science, before receiving an M.A. in speech-language pathology from Montclair University (Montclair, NJ). During her studies, Rhonda spent a year studying at Tel Aviv University (Israel). Rhonda is a certified member of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association and is on the advocacy committee for the Citizens Committee for Children of New York City.
Rhonda loves to travel and is currently focused on achieving her goal of visiting all 50 U.S. states. She is a beginner Spanish speaker and is committed to improving her language skills along with the students at Avenues.
Rachel Gibbons joined Dwight School in 2015 as a first grade teacher. She received her master’s degree in Special Education from Northern Arizona University, and her undergraduate degree in Family and Human Studies from Arizona State University. Prior to moving to Manhattan, Rachel was a licensed Speech and Language Pathology Assistant and worked as a Developmental Specialist with the Arizona Early Intervention program for seven years. She further has a two-year background in teaching at a private school for children with autism. She enjoys traveling, cooking, exercise, and spending time with family and friends.
Natalie Gootkin is an associate teacher in an English section of second grade at Avenues. Before coming to Avenues, Natalie worked at the Transfiguration School (New York, NY), where she was a special education teacher support service provider in the middle school. Prior to this, she had extensive teaching experience in various private/public schools in the New York / Connecticut area.
Natalie received a B.A. in elementary and special education from the University of Hartford (West Hartford, CT) and is currently pursuing an M.A. in literacy (birth to six years of age) at Hunter College (New York, NY). She is a New York State certified teacher in both elementary and special education. Outside of teaching, Natalie enjoys photography, cooking, traveling, reading and yoga.
Jacob (Jake) Goren is the head teacher of an English section of second grade. Jake started his teaching career with Teach for America (TFA) Placed in the VOICE Charter School of NY by TFA as a 2012 New York corps member, he co-taught integrated classes in which one third of the students had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Jake has had a variety of experiences, including teaching in summer school programs run by TFA prior to starting at VOICE.
Jake received a B.A. in architecture, with a concentration in sustainable development, from Columbia University (New York, NY) and has an M.S. in special education from Hunter College (New York, NY). While at Columbia, Jake spent a semester studying sustainability in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also received two grants to travel to India and Bangladesh during his senior year, researching how architecture, urban planning, education and the environment interact and impact the citizens of those countries.
Outside of teaching, Jake spends his time going to museums, visiting architecturally important structures, traveling and seeing movies. He enjoys cooking with friends and trying new restaurants or cuisines.
Rachel Lang is a science teacher in the Avenues School. She comes to Avenues from Pierre Van Cortland Middle School, where she taught sixth grade students Common Core math and science classes. In that position, she also worked closely with her colleagues in the sixth grade math and science departments creating formative and benchmark assessments that helped inform instruction, designed cross-curricular projects to expand students’ world-view and deepen their problem-solving skills and developed multiple enrichment projects that challenged students to think more deeply after mastering a unit.
Rachel received a B.A. in education, with a minor in biology, from Concordia College (Bronxville, NY) and an M.S.Ed. from the College of New Rochelle (New Rochelle, NY), with a focus on students with disabilities. She holds certifications in elementary education (grades one through six) and special education (grades one through six).
When she’s not in the classroom, Rachel enjoys spending time outside and loves to hike, camp and travel. She is fascinated by history and delights in researching the places she visits in her travels. She is quick to seek out the local museums when she arrives in a new place. These trips also satisfy Rachel’s love of people and interest in experiencing different cultures, as well as her passion for photography. She says, “I photograph everything!” Rachel also loves spending time with friends and family and enjoys relaxing with a good book or meal. For the past two summers, she has played on a fast-pitch softball league and is hoping her team will rally to win the championship for the second year in a row.
Kimberly Turner is an associate teacher in an English section of kindergarten at the Avenues School. She comes to Avenues after spending the last few years teaching abroad, most recently in Guatemala, where she was a second grade teacher and team leader. Prior to her time in Guatemala, Kimberly was a sixth grade teacher at the Minerva Bilingual School in Honduras, where she implemented a new math curriculum based on Common Core standards, instituted changes to the curriculum pacing guide to better meet student needs and instructed second language learners in all core subjects, as well as in art and technology.
Kimberly received her B.A. in early childhood education from Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, OH) and holds an early childhood teaching license from the state of Ohio. In her free time, Kimberly loves to cook and travel and is always looking forward to her next trip. She studied ceramics throughout high school and college and continues to enjoy creating art and visiting museums. A personal goal of hers is to become a fluent Spanish speaker.
Violinist Stephanie Yu is an avid performer, collaborator, and educator based in New York City. She has performed in prestigious concert venues across the Unites States and around the world, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. A recipient of the Merv Griffin Memorial Scholarship, she was a guest soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra at their 53rd annual Gala Event the historic Beverly Hills Hilton; she was delighted and surprised to find herself on a program hosted by Ryan Seacrest, and with iconic actor and director Clint Eastwood.
An innovative collaborator, Stephanie enjoys doing projects with all types of artists. She has also played on film soundtracks, including “Music of the Heart” (1999) and “The Hundred Foot Journey” (2014). As part of the 2015 Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala, she performed live on stage with Rihanna.
In addition to her own classical violin studies, Stephanie continues a pursuit of the arts through teaching and community involvement. In the summers of 2012 and 2013, she and a team of Juilliard students gave performances in temporary housing complexes in the Tohuku region of Japan, the community most affected by the tsunami. Stephanie has also travelled to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil to work with students of Neojiba, a program based on the highly successful Venezuelan music program ‘El Sistema.’ As a senior at Crossroads, she received the Geraldine Sherman Award for Female Leadership and Herbert Zipper Instrumental and Humanitarian Award. At Juilliard, she worked as an Instrumental Music Program Fellow at P.S. 11 and P.S. 84 schools, English Teaching Fellow, Colloquium Peer Mentor, and Gluck Community Service Fellow.
Stephanie holds a Bachelor and Master of Music from the Juilliard School as a recipient of the C.V. Starr and Teplitsky Memorial scholarships. Her mentors include Masao Kawasaki, Joseph Lin, Catherine Cho, Bing Wang, and Alexander Treger.