Lesley Romanoff, Director and Teacher for the Leaves (3s/4s) and Tracks (4s/5s) classes, first came to The Cooperative School in 1994 as a co-oping parent and served on its Board of Directors. She began teaching the 2 to 3-year olds class in 1997 and added the Leaves class in 1999.
Lesley became School Director in 2006, teaching both the Leaves and Tracks classes and also designing the adult and child curriculum as well as the after-hours and Summer Enrichment options for the School. The Cooperative School—its spaces, philosophy, and commitment to the parent-participatory model—reflects her approach to early childhood education while sustaining its rich history. Lesley has a special interest in expression through visual art, studying the evolution of creative thinking, and the development of social language. She presented methodology for connecting literacy to social dramatic play at the National Association for the Education of Young Children 2006 Annual Conference and creative arts curriculum at the 2009 Conference. She teaches early childhood education graduate-level courses in the MAT program at Trinity University. Lesley has taught a variety of enrichment classes at the elementary school level, including visual arts, drama, and creative writing. Lesley has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Maryland, a professional background in video production and scriptwriting, and has a Master of Art in Teaching, Early Childhood Education. She holds early childhood certification (ages 3 through 8) in the District of Columbia.
Andrea McDougall teaches the Bugs (2s/3s) class. Andrea first came to The Cooperative School in 2006 as the after-school Science Enrichment teacher and then as a co-oping parent in the Tracks class for the 2006-2007 school year. Andrea has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Regina in Regina Saskatchewan, Canada, where she was born.
Before coming to The Cooperative School, Andrea taught the Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten, and summer camp programs at the Creative Child Development Center in D.C. for six years; she also filled in as the Acting Director for a year and a half. Over the past twenty years she has also worked overseas as a teacher with 18 month to 3-year olds, coached high school water polo, worked as a family youth worker, substituted in the public school system in Canada, and worked in a community outreach program with children from infancy to 6 years old. Andrea believes that children learn by doing and experiencing the world around them. Her programs have all been hands-on, experiential, and fun!
Becky Linafelt teaches music classes to children in the Bugs, Leaves and Tracks classes. Becky has taught at The Cooperative School for three years. She is licensed in Kindermusik, which is internationally known and widely respected in the field of early childhood musical learning.
In addition to teaching music classes at The Cooperative School, Becky offers a wide range of classes for children from infancy through 7 years old through the Takoma Park Recreation Department. Becky earned a Master’s degree in Community Counseling from Georgia State University in Atlanta. In her younger years, she studied piano and viola, but her main love has always been voice. Becky has sung in several choirs, an acapella group, and a rockabilly band. Becky was awarded a 2009 Azalea Award, recognizing her unique contributions as a mentor to the youth of Takoma Park and surrounding communities.
Kelly Mayfield, Founder/Artistic Director of Contradiction Dance, and other principals in the company teach movement to the Bugs, Leaves and Tracks classes. Kelly’s commitment to the integral role of art in education, her philosophy of movement as a mode of communication, and her record of delivering arts education to local youth perfectly complement The Cooperative School’s mission and philosophy.
Originally from Richardson, Texas, Kelly is a dancer, director, choreographer, actress, writer, and educator. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at St. Mary’s College, where she teaches jazz, modern dance, and composition courses. Kelly founded Contradiction Dance as “a place where theater, dance, and pop culture meet.” The company’s vision is to create dance that reports on, reflects, and questions the world in which we live, engaging artists and audience in an active dialogue through the medium of physical movement.
