VRINDA MCGINNIS
Director/Program Supervisor
Vrinda McGinnis received a Master of Education degree, with an emphasis on Special Education, from San Jose State University. She has over 19 years of experience working within the Applied Behavior Analysis field, working with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger’s, PDD-NOS, and a variety of other cognitive and physical diagnoses.
Vrinda has worked as a behavior therapist for over fourteen years within the Bay Area of California. For eight plus years, she managed programs for dozens of children, of all ages. She also created an ABA-embedded preschool program for San Jose Unified School District. An integral portion of this program was its parent training component, which Vrinda designed and implemented. She also spent time in a position being the on-site behaviorist and supervisor for a Non-Public School for individuals with Autism, and other neurological and developmental delays.
Upon relocating to Colorado 9 years ago, Vrinda saw the need for a quality preschool program to meet the ever-growing needs of Boulder County. After sharing this information with the owner of Creative Learning Center-Foothill Preschool, Lafayette's Foothill Preschool location was formed.
Over the past 15 years, Vrinda has obtained multiple professional certifications, including SCERTS and Teaching to Individuals with English as a Second Language, and has also received trainings in Floortime, Pivotal Response Training, PEC’s, and Assistive and Augmentative Communication (AAC). A special interest of Vrinda’s is Sensory Integration, having done a research thesis on the topic.
Vrinda has three children with her husband, Bryan: Emily, Madeline, and Jacob. When she is not at the preschool, she can be found spending time with her family, gardening, or baking.
MARIA CARTA
Lead Educator- Jr. Kinder
Assistant Director
Maria comes from a rich cultural background and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. She was born in Madrid, Spain where she spent her childhood years, and then at 9 moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil. At 19, she decided to move to Miami, USA to get her degree in Marketing. Maria quickly realized that Marketing was not for her and found her passion for working with children when she moved to San Francisco. There, she was a Special Education Paraprofessional, assisting children with IEP’s, and also helping lead teachers with all classroom management and needs. Maria moved back to Florida where she obtained a temporary teaching certificate from Florida Department of Education and taught a K/1 classroom at Pompano Beach Elementary. She wanted to explore working 1:1 with children, so after teaching a full classroom, she decided to tutor children with learning disabilities. She joined a tutoring system where she learned the sensory-cognitive instruction model Lindamood-Bell, and also instructional strategies related to phonetic processing with Orton-Gillingham techniques.
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After completing her Level 3.0 certificate in Early Childhood Education, Maria has gone on to complete a number of training modules and programs to further her education within the ECE field. Most recently, Maria became Director-qualified, and was promoted to Assistant Director.
Maria is passionate and enthusiastic about working with children. She is all about teamwork and communication and is able to relate well to her co-workers and student's parents. She truly values her student relationships and diversity in a community. In her spare time, Maria loves to cook vegan meals, garden, and be outdoors as much as possible, skiing and hiking with her dogs.
BRIDGET CASSIDY
Lead Educator- Preschool
Bridget was raised in North Carolina and comes from a background in Communications. Bridget realized that broadcasting was not for her and found enjoyment working with children when she moved to Colorado.
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After completing her Level 3.0 certificate in Early Childhood Education, Bridget has continued to further her education taking a number of training modules and programs within the ECE field.
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Bridget is dedicated and enthusiastic about teaching children. She is motivated by social and emotional learning and looks forward to building strong relationships with her students. She values creativity and independence in her students and believes experiential play is the best way to support that. In her spare time, Bridget loves to read, write, cuddle with her fur family, and explore nature.
SHELBY HARTER
Occupational Therapist
Shelby graduated with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2021 and has a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Prior to pursuing a career as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Shelby worked as a preschool teacher in Oregon for 5 years. She has clinical experience serving both children and adults in a variety of settings including community-based programs, private clinics, and even warm-water therapy. She is also experienced in working with children with a broad range of sensory, social-emotional, and developmental challenges in both group and individual settings. She has a strong belief in the therapeutic benefits of play and strives to create fun and motivating treatment activities to help each child reach their fullest potential. Shelby (somewhat) recently moved to Colorado and enjoys exploring the outdoors, hiking, reading, and playing with her dog Biggie.
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ALI DAVIDSON
Speech Language Pathologist
Ali received her Master's of Science in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from New York University in May of 2015. Since that time, she has worked with children of all ages, from infancy through adolescence. She has worked in schools, clinics, and the home health setting. Ali has worked with children and their families to address a variety of communication needs including language development, articulations difficulties, apraxia, and ASD.
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Ali joined Foothill Preschool Educational and Behavioral Services after moving from New York back to Colorado where she was born and raised. In her spare time, she enjoys running, biking, reading, and spending time with her husband, Andrew, and new puppy, Rigatoni.
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OLIVIA WOOLLEY
Speech Language Pathology Assistant
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