Marge Moore, Director
Marge was introduced to Haytown Nursery School when her daughter was in the younger class. Then, her son went to Haytown. During that time, she served on the Board of Directors of Haytown, was president of the Board of Directors, and then was offered the job of director – she couldn’t resist. Haytown was such a great experience for her children, so nurturing and intellectually stimulating, that she wanted to continue offering it to other children in the community.
She graduated Montclair State University with a Bachelor’s degree in math education and a minor in biology. She went on to get her Master’s degree there in Educational Psychology and Child Development. She taught junior high school in West Orange for over 13 years, took off 7 years to be at home with her children, and has been director at Haytown since 1989. She feels there is an absolute joy and wonder in watching little children discover, learn, make friends, run and play, be exposed to so many learning experiences and revel in it. She feels so fortunate to have a warm, professional, talented, educated and kind staff, and she loves working with the parents.
Marge enjoys spending time with her family – her daughter now teaches children with autism and her son is in medical school. She enjoys raising Seeing Eye puppies, walking with her dog, cooking, knitting, traveling doing Sudoku and reading. She is a lector and Eucharistic minister at her church. She gets great joy in seeing the alumni Haytown children and their families.
Joanne Yanchek, Head Teacher
Joanne has worked with young children for many years. After receiving her B.A. in Early Childhood education from Kean University, she began her career as a kindergarten teacher in an inner city school. After six years she left to start a family. Approximately twenty-two years ago, when her daughter entered Haytown, she began teaching there. She helped develop the three-year-old curriculum with her teaching partner, and then stayed on as Head Teacher. She also developed the two-year-old curriculum with her co-teacher and continues to teach that class as well. A few years ago she began working in a new Mommy/Daddy/Caregiver and Me program one morning a week. She continues to enjoy working with children at such a wonderful age, when they are so eager and happy to learn and enjoy new and varied experiences. Joanne enjoys reading and spending time at the shore, especially Cape May. She has two daughters and lives in Long Valley with her husband and two Labs, Annie and Kelsie.
Charlotte Cole
Charlotte is an educator who has been teaching at Haytown for 16 years. She received a BA in Art History and a teaching certificate in Elementary Art from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. She received an MA in Special Education and certification as “Teacher of the Handicapped” from Teacher’s College of Columbia University. She has a diverse background in a variety of educational settings, including inner-city and urban locations. Charlotte strives to bring each child to their maximum potential through individualized teaching strategies. Within a multi-faceted classroom experience, she works to instill a love of learning in each student. There is laughter, support and love each day in the classroom. Charlotte is married with two children. Her daughter has graduated from college and is gainfully employed. Her son is currently attending college. Both of her children attended Haytown. An avid swimmer, Charlotte enjoys the outdoors, exercising, gardening and reading. She loves going to museums, concerts and traveling.
Fran Saitta
Fran is proud to have taught at Haytown since 1998. She began teaching in the Terrific 2’s and 3’s program and for the last five years has been teaching in the Older Class. Fran treasures the warm and nurturing environment that Haytown provides and strives to provide a positive school experience for each and every child. Fran has a BS in Foods and Nutrition form Marymount College and thirty credits towards a master’s degree in elementary education from Pace University. For thirteen years, Fran worked for the Westchester County Department of Health in NY as a Program Administrator, managing the largest federally funded Health Program in the state for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). She left the health department to pursue her most important career, raising her twins. Fran and her family have happily resided in Tewksbury for the past seventeen years. As her son and daughter were growing up, Fran ventured into a gift basket/chocolate business, which kept her busy for many years, along with various PTA responsibilities, soccer booster clubs, school committees, and a multitude of sporting activities with her children. As with all the Haytown teachers, Fran’s children happily attended Haytown. Although they are now in college, both Fran’s children still maintain strong friendships with children they met at Haytown. Fran enjoys socializing with friends, gardening, spending time at the beach, and working on projects around her house that never seem to end.
Lisa Santoro
Lisa began teaching at Haytown in 2008 and currently is an assistant teacher in the Older Class. Previously she has worked as an assistant teacher in the Terrific 2’s and 3’s Class as well as in the Younger Class. She loves being part of the warm, friendly and professional staff at Haytown. Interacting with children is her favorite part of her job because her students never fail to put a smile on her face. Her main goal as a teacher is to help her students develop the social and academic skills necessary for kindergarten. Lisa has her BA in history from Yale and a law degree from Harvard. After unhappily practicing law, she decided to follow her passion for teaching and received a master’s degree in elementary education from Columbia. She enjoyed teaching fourth grade for three years in Short Hills before having children. Lisa loves living in beautiful Tewksbury with her husband John and their two middle school-aged children (both proud Haytown alumni). She spends her free time exercising with friends, imploring her children to clean up their rooms, and driving to lacrosse, ice hockey, field hockey, soccer and cheerleading.
Jennifer Davis
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jennifer graduated from Gonzaga University with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Sociology. Serving in a group home, Jennifer found that the majority of her clients could not read and write. This context of serving “at-risk” children eventually led her to pursue training at Morningside Academy, a national leader in teaching and consulting. She served Morningside for 7 years, traveling and working in a variety of settings both rural and urban. Jennifer delights in seeing the look of understanding when a child masters a basic skill that becomes a building block for lifelong learning. Jennifer is thankful to be back at Haytown where her daughter had a wonderful experience. When Jennifer is not teaching, she is probably watching swim practice for her children Drew and Hudson while knitting hats.
