Our Teachers

Director

Ms. Monica Hicks, PDS Director                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Ms. Monica has been involved in education in St. Johns County since 1998, and has been a teacher from preschool throughout high school, a curriculum coordinator, an instructional coach, a reading specialist, and is now blessed to be the director of Presbyterian Day School.  Ms. Monica is a Flagler College graduate and has her Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Southeastern University.  She is married and has one son in middle school and one in high school.

Teachers

VPK

Ms. Heather Marks, VPK A Senior Lead Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                  

Ms. Heather has been working in early education for over twenty years, with the last ten being here at PDS.  She is a graduate of Troy State University in Alabama with a B.S. in Elementary Education.  Ms. Heather is an early childhood trainer for Episcopal Children's Services and is on the board as Vice President of the Children's Museum of St. Johns.  She is married and has one daughter who is in middle school.  

 

Ms. Kerry Prodromides, VPK A Lead Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                        

Ms. Kerry was a St. Johns County elementary school teacher for almost twenty years when she retired a couple of years ago...but realized she missed her sweet littles! She substitute taught locally before her daughter Ms. Nicole started teaching in the 2PK class.  Ms. Nicole told her all about PDS, so when an opening came up, Ms. Kerry applied and is our newest PDS teacher.  She is looking forward to working with Ms. Heather and teaching a new crop of VPK kids this year.

 

Ms. Stacey Barden, VPK B Senior Lead Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                    

Ms. Stacey received her B.A. at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City and has always been interested both in the development of young children and art.  She combines those things in the classroom, and is also the teacher of the Smiling Easel after school enrichment program and coordinates summer art camps.  Ms. Stacy has worked at PDS for eight years.  She has one grown son and enjoys cultural events, reading, animals, yoga, and eating out.

 

Ms. Jennifer Handley, VPK B Lead Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                          

Ms. Jennifer received her B.A in Education from Long Island University South Hampton and her M.A. in Reading Education from the University of North Florida. She has been a teacher in various grades in the St.Johns County school system and has four children from elementary school to high school, including a pair of twins. She is excited to be in her second year at PDS and loves working with Ms. Stacey. 

3PK

Ms. Mandy Tambini, Three-Year-Old Lead Teacher 5 day class                                                                                                                                                             

Ms. Mandy is originally from London and has lived in the United States since 1990 and Florida since 1998.  Her family fostered small children while she was growing up, which led to a house always full of children and the spark for Ms. Mandy's career!  In college she majored in what was then called nursery school teaching and later received her credentials for teaching preschool in this country.  Ms. Mandy formerly job shared with Ms. Nancy, but is happy to be back to five days this year, her 8th with PDS!

 

Ms. Maruja (Maru) Wenglowsky. 3-Year-Old Assistant Teacher 5 day class                                                                                                                                            

Ms. Maru graduated from Rollins College with a degree in Elementary Education.  She taught both regular education and special education in elementary school for twelve years, and then decided she wanted to be able to spend more time with her young son, so temporarly left teaching.  When her son turned two, he enrolled at PDS and his mom applied for the 3PK position.  We are so happy Ms. Maru decided to teach again and are happy to be in her second year with her at PDS!

 

Ms. Nancy Thompson, Three-Year-Old Lead Teacher 3 day class                                                                                                                                                          

Ms. Nancy is originally from Long Island and moved to St. Augustine to attend Flagler College, where she graduated in 1995.  She and her husband have one daughter who is a PDS alumna.  Her own great experience as a PDS parent led her to become an assistant teacher in VPK and then later to job share with Ms. Mandy.  PDS has grown, so Ms. Nancy is now the lead teacher of a stand alone MWF class.  Ms. Nancy loves to learn and enjoys going to preschool trainings where she gets new ideas to implement in her class.

 

Ms. Jen Metych, Three-Year-Old Assistant Teacher 3 day class                                                                                                                                                            

Ms. Jen is in her first year at PDS; her position was created when our 3PK numbers grew so that we needed to create a new part time class.  Ms. Jen has four children of her own from preschool age to high school.  She enjoys spending time attending soccer games and other children's activities!  Ms. Jen is happy to be back in the work force and is excited about being able to teach one of her favorite age groups.  

2PK

Ms. Audrey Stephens, Two-Year-Old Lead Teacher                                                                                                                                                                               

Ms. Audrey has been at PDS since 1998 and is the longest standing teacher we have--the PDS office gets regular calls to make sure she is still here as everyone wants Ms. Audrey for their child's teacher!  She studied Deaf Education at Flagler College, and after her daughter was born she volunteered a lot of hours at PDS.  This led her to work on receiving her Early Childhood certification and soon getting a position at PDS.  Ms. Audrey has extra responsibilities as the Senior Teacher and is also the coordinator of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) enrichment program. 

 

Ms. Nicole Dupont, Two-Year-Old Assistant Teacher                                                                                                                                                                             

Ms. Nicole started at PDS last year and loves working with two year olds; she is clearly a natural and a favorite of kids of all ages. She has three children of her own, ages 3,10, and 12. Her favorite book to read to her students is "Llama Llama Red Pajama".

Extended Day

Ms. Amanda Adams, Extended Day Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                         

Ms. Amanda has worked at the Memorial Presbyterian Church nursery for four years, PDS one year, and is currently an education major at Flagler college.  She is excited to work here at PDS because she loves small children and also wants more experience as she works to complete her degree.  Ms. Amanda especially enjoys working with children who have special needs.

Ms. Devin Thune, Extended Day Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                             

Ms. Devin is a senior at Flagler College, where she is majoring in elementary education.  She is excited to be working here at PDS part time as she enjoys being with children and is glad to be getting more experience before she graduates and gets her own classroom.