The Ethical Society Nursery School staff is truly excellent, with warm, skilled, well- educated individuals who enjoy working with young children. The teachers are the single most important indicator of quality for any school. A note of introduction follows for each teacher.
Talitha Light
Teacher (Three Day Green)
Tali has been teaching at ESNS for 4 years and this is her third year in the Green Room. She is the proud mother to 3 boys, Levi (14), Isaac (10) and Micah (4), who attend school in the MRH school district. Tali holds a MA in Psychology and Art Therapy from Antioch University in Seattle. She is a registered art therapist and has been working with children and adults of all ages in therapeutic and school settings for over 20 years.
Jill Allen
Director
This is Jill’s fourth year as the Director after having taught in the Blue Room for nine years. Jill’s relationship with the school started as the mother of three ESNS graduates.
As a parent, Jill served on the ENSN board and as a substitute teacher. She has experience as a past board president at The College School, years of HR, AR and management work during the time she helped run a local bakery/café and currently coaches swimmers at Clayton High School. Jill has a degree in art history from Old Dominion University.
Robert Bernstein
Music
Robert started teaching music at ESNS in 2005. He has a B.S. in communications from Boston University. He has been a drummer and performer for over twenty-five years and a lover of music for even longer. In addition to his time at ESNS, Robert teaches Music Together classes in the St. Louis area. His son, Lucas, an alum of the nursery school, is a junior in high school and his daughter, Emily, just turned 12 this summer.
Lauren Schutte
Teacher (Three Day Green)
Lauren is new to ESNS, but not new to teaching. She is excited to return to the classroom after taking some time off to stay home with her 2 boys, Owen (6) and Alex (4). She brings with her over 15 years of early childhood teaching experience, and a passion for educating the youngest students. Lauren’s ties to The Ethical Society come from her past teaching experiences. She taught Early Childhood at The College School for 4 years where she got to work with many amazing students including Jill Allen’s oldest 2 daughters.
She also was the lead teacher and curriculum coordinator at The Goodvibe School for 8 years where she taught Tali Light’s oldest 2 sons. The past 2 years Lauren has been a substitute at Emmanuel Preschool where her boys attended preschool. She has also taught at schools in Charleston, SC and Miami, FL. Lauren holds a M.Ed in Early Childhood Special Education and a M.Ed in School Counseling from University of Missouri-St. Louis. She obtained a BS in Elementary Education from The College of Charleston.
Stacie Zink-Duda
Summer Camp Director
Stacie Zink-Duda has been teaching preschool at University United Methodist Preschool for fifteen years. All four of her children graduated from there. She currently loves teaching the four and five year olds who will be going to kindergarten the following year. Every week she also explores and teaches science to the three/four year olds and the four/five year olds. In the Spring every year, she runs an enrichment program called Yearning for Learning for the older children.
Stacie has a masters degree from SIUE in child clinical psychology. She just completed her sixth year as director at the Ethical Society Nursery School Summer Camp.
Maggie Horn
Teacher (Two Day Green)
A former board member and parent at ESNS, this is Maggie Horn’s fourth year in the 2-Day Green Room! She holds a BS in theater and French from Northwestern University and spent more than ten years performing in the vibrant Washington, DC theater scene. She wrote grants and raised funds for different arts organizations too. Maggie has three sons in the Ladue School District: fifth graders, Charles and Paul and second grader, Wesley. Maggie enjoys baking and experimenting with new flavors when cooking.
Ariel Gardner
Teacher (Two Day Green)
After 4 years as a member of our super creative Extended Day Team, Ariel has joined Maggie Horn in teaching the 2 Day Green Room for their second year together. She has three ESNS alums, attending University City schools: Marley in 10th, Abe in 6th and Robin in 3rd grade. Ariel graduated, with honors, from Washington University with a degree in English. In her spare time, she teaches knitting classes at a local yarn store.
Courtney Waiz-Jenkins
Teacher (Extended Day)
Courtney is in her second year teaching Extended Day at ESNS. She graduated, with honors, from Indiana University with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies. She also trained and worked as a birth doula for eleven years. Courtney and her husband, Jeff, have two boys, Finley (11) and Max (7.) Her hobbies include gardening, baking, reading and enjoying cooler weather.
Mindy Keller
Teacher (Yellow Room)
This is Mindy’s fourth year of teaching with Nuni full-time after having been a part-time teacher and substitute here at ESNS. Mindy has a B.S. in Elementary Education from DePaul University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Iowa. She taught third and fourth grade in Chicago for seven years and spent one year teaching second grade at Kennard Classical Junior Academy in St Louis. Her son, Graham, is in 8th grade at Wydown Middle School and Sasha and Max are attending Clayton High School.
Laurence Guillot-Smith
Teacher (Blue Room)
Laurence is new to ESNS; however, she is not new to teaching. Prior to teaching with Katie in the Blue Room, she was a preschool teacher in Kirkwood for 6 years. She graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in Business and minors in Marketing and French. She worked for 17 years at KSDK-TV in advertising sales before she retired to stay home with her girls.
She has been married to Ken for 25 years and has 4 daughters. Sophie, Caroline and Emily are triplets attending University of Missouri, Columbia. Her youngest, Hadley, is a junior at Nerinx Hall. Laurence enjoys exercising, travel, golf and family time. She also owns a screen printing and embroidery business on the side.
Becky Craig
Science – Nature on the Move
Becky has retired as a lead teacher in a pre-K classroom after eleven years to take over the Nature on the Move program which exposes and educates young students about Missouri natural flora and fauna. She and her husband have worked very hard in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation to improve their property in Northern Missouri for the benefit of their wildlife neighbors.
Her passion for conservation and education inspire young children to “take care of our community” by taking care of our wildlife neighbors and habitats. Her monthly topics include: backyard animals, the food chain, turkeys and hibernation. She brings pictures, pelts and live animals to help children understand the importance
of our natural world.
Katie Ryan
Teacher (Blue Room)
Katie is starting her 8th year at ESNS and 4th year in the Blue Room. She has her BS in elementary education with a concentration in children’s literature from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. She has taught pre-k through 4th grade and PE in four cities (including Monterrey, Mexico.) Her son, Mac, is in 11th grade at Chaminade. Her daughters, alumni of the nursery school, are Annie, a freshman at St. Joe’s Academy, and Mia in 5th grade.
Nuni Zimmerman
Teacher (Yellow Room and Extended Day)
Nuni has been teaching in the Yellow Room since 1999, but started her affiliation with ESNS a few years earlier when her children were enrolled as students there. In addition to the Yellow Room, Nuni is also one of our Extended Day teachers. She holds a BA in English from Emory University. She was a teacher assistant for the University City School District, a photo stylist, and a sales representative before coming to the nursery school. Nuni has three children. Henry is a chef in Chicago, George works at the St Louis Zoo, and Oliver attends Clayton High School. They are all alumni of the school.