Meet the Staff

The youngest learners at RRP benefit from the 25+ combined years of experience that Mrs. Saunders and Mrs. Merithew bring to their room.  Mrs. Saunders holds a Masters of Teaching and is a licensed educator. She works to build a firm foundation for each and every student in her care. A former RRP parent, this is her ninth year as a staff member at RRP. Mrs. Merithew, who is also a former RRP parent, holds a Bachelor’s of Arts and and Early Childhood Certificate and has 20 years experience working in early childhood here at our preschool and this shows in her patience and love for each and every child.

In their free time, Mrs. Saunders enjoys boating, reading, running, watching her children’s sports and spending time at the river and Mrs. Merithew enjoys traveling, reading, music and baking.

Mrs. Harvey starts her fourth year as the Toddler lead teacher at RRP.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree, has participated in the Infant Toddler Training program along with a speech development program called LENA Grow with the state, and is a former RRP parent. Mrs. Saunders is the Mon/Wed/Fri instructional assistant. This is her first year on our staff, and her children are going through our program. She holds a Masters in Education, a teaching license in Virginia and has 5 years of teaching experience. Mrs. Davis is the Tues/Thurs instructional assistant and this is her third year at RRP. She has over 30 years of child care experience.

This is Mrs. Wade’s first year at RRP, but she has been a parent here for several years (and still is). She holds a Bachelors Degree and has been a contributer on children’s activities for NBC12, RVA parenting and Richmond Mom, and she teaches a music and movement class for toddlers.  Mrs. Pendleton is in her 10th year at RRP. She holds a Bachelors of Education degree, taught in the county for 10 years and has spent her years at RRP in PreToddlers, Toddlers and Three Year Old classes!

Mrs. Vaught starts her first year at RRP as the lead Teacher in one of our five day Two Year Old Classrooms. She is a current RRP parent, holds a Bachelors degree and has 8 years expereince in education! Mrs. Judah also starts her first year at RRP, but comes to us with more than 15 years experience working with toddlers and two year olds!

Mrs. Barkley starts her fourth year as a lead teacher and is also a former RRP parent. She hold a Masters of Arts and an extensiveHer early years in early childhood education were spent working in a center with students age 3-6.  Her Montessori background merged with RRP’s developmental curriculum encourages children to do their very best even at a very early age!  She has two assistants she works with—Mrs. Mallette (Mon/Wed/Fri) and Mrs. Temple (Tues/Thurs). Mrs. Mallette, a former RRP parent, holds a Bachelors degree and has several years experience teaching prior to being at RRP. With her degree in Education, Mrs. Temple rounds out this team with almost 40 years of Early Childhood Experience, six of which has been with RRP. This is this team’s 4th year together!

Mrs. Hope is a former RRP parent and this is her 3rd year on our staff. She has a degree in art history and has even illustrated a children’s book! Mrs. Burke starts her fifth year at RRP as an instructional assistant and holds a Early Childhood education Certificate.

Mrs. Ravn, a former RRP parent, has been working at RRP for six years. During that time, she has worked with multiple age groups and is excited to be not only be leading in the Twos, but also to be the RRP Art Teacher.  She holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts. Mrs. Brickley has been at RRP for two years as an instuctional assistant, is a former parent, and a former pediatric nurse!

Mrs. Tilley is in her second year at RRP as the lead Teacher in one of five day Two Year Old Classrooms. She has experience from teaching at other local preschools and being a nanny for several RRP students while they were here!  She hold a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. Mrs. White is her instructional assistant, for the second year. Her three children attended RRP; when they had all graduated onto elementary school, she missed the loving community here and came back to substitute. She holds a Bachelor’s of Art.

Mrs. Bush joins RRP this year as a lead teacher in our Three Year Old Program. She has been a parent her and has over ten years of experience in the field of education. Mrs. Yamaguchi has 32 years of early childhood education experience at RRP.  Mrs. Didlake has worked for the preschool for 3 years now, the church for over twenty years and also teaches art in a private school.

Mrs. Prohn starts her third year as a three-year-old lead teacher. She is a former RRP parent who has a master’s in Education and a teaching license. Her instructional assistant this year is Mrs. Burden who is also a former parent at RRP. This is her fourth year as an assistant on our staff!

Mrs. Word starts her fourth year here at RRP on our Threes team; this is her second year as a Lead teacher after she earned her Early Childhood certificate to add onto her Bachelors degree.  Her assistant, Mrs. Rowland, is a licensed educator who taught Kindergarten for 13 years. This is her fifth year at RRP and has worked in the 2’s and 3’s classes. She is always busy behind the scenes making transitions seamless in their room

With a communications background and 8 years of experience in early childhood education at RRP, Mrs. Adamson’s four-year-old room is full of print awareness concepts that spark pre-reading skills.  Her assistant, Mrs. Thacker has six years of work at RRP with a variety of age groups makes her the perfect fit in the fours.  Both Mrs. Adamson and Mrs. Thacker are former RRP parents!

Mrs. Butterworth has been at RRP for six years and is also a former RRP parent. This is her fourth year as a PreK lead. Her background in sociology has her putting her families first in building school relationships and creating a firm foundation for each student in her class. Ms. Hammer is the behind the scenes assistant that keeps all running smoothly and without interruption in the class.  With over twenty years of experience in early childhood education with a variety of age groups, she is patient and understanding with all.

With a master’s in education, Mrs. McClain (who is also a curriculum and instruction certified reading specialist) starts her second year at as a Lead Teacher at RRP!   She intertwines needed academic and emotional skills with a variety of learning approaches. Mrs. Anthes holds a master’s in Education and has twenty-seven years of experience (25 at RRP) working in early childhood education in both the public and private sector.

The Junior Kindergarten team of Ms. Murphy and Ms. Rennie eagerly welcome their students each day to RRP!  With a teaching license, experience in both the public and private sectors, Ms. Murphy understands the skills needed for her students to not only successfully enter Kindergarten, but to be confident and successful learners as they start their next journey in education.  This is her fourth year on our staff and she is also a former RRP parent. Ms. Rennie has been at RRP for seventeen years and has earned her early childhood education certificate. She has experience working with all ages. She works to ensure students have the scaffolding necessary to work on academic skills, motor movement, and building relationships!

Mrs. Boyd has been an Instructional Assistant and Lead Teacher for RRP for 13 years. In 2022, she took on the role of Special Projects and Afternoon Coordinator for the preschool. Having worked in all ages of the school over the years, she has a great working knowledge of the school as a whole. She hold a BA in Communication and an Early Childhood Certificate.

We are thrilled to have Mrs. Fort as our Music & Creative Movement Teacher! She is a current parent and is starting her 3rd year on our staff. She holds a BA in Psychology, has been a lead teacher in our Twos classes in the past, and has built a great music program combining her new ideas with the strong music program that we have taught here at RRP for many years!

The best always comes back to RRP! Kay Starke returns to our staff this year as our Life Teacher for the PreK and JK classes. In 2021, she retired after 28 years on the staff after holding a variety of positions including Lead Teacher and Life Teacher. We are so thankful that she is back with us this year to share her unique energy in story telling, connecting to children and guiding behaviors.