Our Exceptional Team
Windmill School and Laurel Education Center include Directors and Teachers with more than 80 years of collective experience teaching at Windmill. Each of our teachers is an early childhood specialist experienced at working with young children and their parents. Each class has a group of teachers operating as a team, led by a head teacher.
Jodi Cocconi, Director Of Education
Jodi was raised in a family of teachers and knew from a young age that her adult life would include teaching young children. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Child Development and a double minor in Psychology and Family Relations from California State University, Chico. Her credentials also include teaching Parent Education. Jodi has been in the field of early childhood education for over 25 years. Her prior professional experiences include being a Head Teacher for four years at a corporate child care center. She also taught children and parents at Redwood Parents Nursery School in Redwood City. Jodi came to Windmill in January 1997 as the Head Teacher in the Pre-K Program. In 2000 she added Assistant Directing to her role. In 2014 she became the Director. Jodi lives in Redwood City with her naughty Golden Retriever, Chloe! She enjoys traveling, shopping, spending time with friends, and reading.
Jane Garvey, Director Of Operations & Admissions
Jane earned a Bachelor's Degree in English with a minor in Business Administration and Commercial Art from St. John's University in New York. After working on Wall Street and in Advertising, Jane left New York for California with her husband, Bill. While in California, Jane did Sales & Technical Service at a Software Company in Redwood City and spent 10 happy years as a Kindergarten Aide at El Carmelo Elementary in Palo Alto. Most recently, Jane ran the Catering Department at the Palo Alto Elks. Jane loves traveling, playing golf and spending time with her family and friends.
TEACHER ALEXA, HEAD TEACHER 2's/3's Program, and 3's/4's Program
Alexa graduated from San Diego State University in 1997 with a B.S. in Child and Family Development. Prior to coming to Windmill in 1999, she taught at Stanford Arboretum Children's Center. Alexa has worked with children of all ages since high school; including 6 summers of volunteer work. Alexa grew up in the Bay Area. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, collecting children's books, doing arts and crafts, traveling, going to musicals, photography, and reading.
TEACHER LISA Head Teacher Pre-K Program
Lisa was born and raised in the Bay Area. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development from San Jose State University and a Multiple Subject teaching credential from Notre Dame de Namur. Lisa's professional experience includes teaching elementary school at La Entrada School and with the Redwood City School District. Outside of teaching, Lisa enjoys spending time with her children, running, trying different bubbly drinks, and eating big, yummy salads. Lisa lives in Redwood City with her 3 children and their dog, Daisy.
TEACHER NICOLA, Head teacher 3's/4's Program and Headteacher 2's/3's
Nicola received her diploma in Early Childhood Education from St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She worked as both a nanny and a preschool teacher before moving to the Bay Area in 2001. While living in California, she continued her course work at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, receiving her B.A. in Psychology in 2005. Nicola spent thirteen years as a volunteer at the Alzheimer's Association in Lafayette, California. Prior to coming to Windmill, Nicola taught at TOPS (The Orinda Preschool) in Orinda, California for seven years. She held a headteacher position in the 3s/4s class for the last four years. She and her husband, of nineteen years, recently relocated to Menlo Park from Walnut Creek. Nicola enjoys reading and visiting her local library. She also enjoys shopping at the farmer's markets and cooking and baking using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Nicola enjoys running and practicing Yoga. She and her husband enjoy going to Canada whenever possible to spend time with friends and family.
Teacher Nicole, EdD Teacher TK PM, Extended Day Coordinator and Administrative Associate
Nicole moved to the Bay Area from Boston, Massachusetts in 2020. She has been working in the field for over 10 years. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science from Wheelock College in Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Education in 2014. After a couple of years of teaching, she went back to earn her Master’s of Teacher Leadership from Quinnipiac University in 2018. During this time she has found that one of the most important assets to children’s educational journeys is the relationships they create with teachers and classmates. Nicole finished her Doctorate of Education in Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership at Northeastern University in 2021 where she studied the impact of early childhood educator's professional development. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys reading, practicing yoga, and going to the beach.
TEACHER ANITA Teacher Pre-K Program
Anita was born and raised in a little town in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, and came to California at sixteen to finish her high school education. She has a great love for family and children. This may be due to the fact that she is the 2nd youngest in a family of 14 children! Anita has formally been working with children for the past 7 years. Two of those years she taught at Windmill. In 2008 she moved back to Southern California to have her daughter and to complete her bachelor's degrees in Child Development and Psychology. Anita is excited to be back living in the Bay Area and especially to be teaching again at Windmill. Outside of teaching, Anita loves to spend time with her daughter, and her interests include salsa dancing, hiking, and cooking.
TEACHER PARSHATI 3's/4's Teacher and 2's/3's Teacher
Parshati was born and raised in India and moved to the U.S in 2004. She lives in Cupertino with her husband and daughter. Parshati has a B.S degree in Mathematics and a B.A degree in Education from India. She is pursuing her certificate in Early Childhood Education from De Anza College, Cupertino. Her professional experience includes 8 years as a teacher in a High School in India and 2years as a Youth Program Coordinator at Colorado State University Apartment Life (2005-2007). As a teacher and a youth programmer she enjoyed teaching science to youths and teens and planning educational, fun, social activities for children to enhance their development. In her spare time, she loves watching movies, reading books, and doing art projects with her daughter.
Teacher Jenny 3's/4's Teacher and 2's/3's Teacher
Jenny has recently moved back to her hometown of Palo Alto, after living in the Central Valley for 28 years. Jenny grew up working in a preschool environment: her mother was the director of Runnymede Child Development in East Palo Alto and Jenny would spend her summers as a classroom aide. All three of Jenny's children attended a co-op preschool and where Jenny was a board member and held the position of Curriculum Coordinator throughout those years. After staying at home with her children for 10 years, Jenny took a job with Los Banos Unified School District, working in the Primary Intervention Program; A program focusing on non-directive play with children identified as being at-risk. She continues this work for 16 years until the program was cut from the budget. She then went on to work in a kindergarten classroom while pursuing her AA in Child Development. Jenny then accepted a job as a teacher at the Volta Elementary Preschool and held that job for 4 years before moving back to the Bay Area with her husband of 34 years. Jenny also has a Black Belt in karate and has taught full-force, self-defense for the non-profit organization, Impact Bay Area, for 11 years. In her spare time, Jenny loves to read, hike and spend the day at the beach with her family and her Labrador Retriever, Mei.
Teacher Cathy 3's/4's Teacher and 2's/3's Teacher
Cathy graduated from Fairmont State University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences. Cathy has worked with children in the home and school setting for over 20 years. Her teaching experience includes Stanford Madera Grove where she worked in the infant classrooms. She was also a substitute teacher for Ladera Community Preschool as well. She is a Portola Valley resident and alum of Windmill. Her daughter, Ellie, attended Windmill from 2009-2011. In her spare time, she likes to hike and spend time with her family.
Teacher Devon 3's/4's Teacher and 2's/3's Teacher
Devon was born and raised in the Bay Area. She earned a BA in Anthropology as well as an MA in Education and California teaching credential from UC Santa Cruz. Devon taught high school and middle school for 10 years. During this time, she also completed an MS in School Counseling. Devon took a break from the classroom and worked providing counseling and behavioral support for children, adults, and families. She started teaching Forest preschool in 2018 and fell in love with Early Childhood Education. In order to pursue her new passion, she completed an Early Childhood Education Associate Teacher Certificated from UCLA Extension. Devon is also a Windmill parent, her son attended from 2019-2022. Devon lives in Portola Valley and loves spending time with her wife and two kids going to the beach and meandering around Filoli.
Teacher Kelsey 2's/3's Teacher
Kelsey is a Bay Area native who grew up in Menlo Park and Woodside. She has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Skidmore College and earned her child development permit from Skyline College. Prior to joining the teaching staff at Windmill School, Kelsey taught Kindergarten at Phillips Brooks School. She has always loved kids and is very excited about teaching preschool-age children in this wonderful play-based program! Kelsey lives in Menlo Park with her husband, 6-year-old daughter, and their three adorable cats. Kelsey enjoys hiking, reading, arts and crafts projects, and having dance parties with her family.
Teacher Nikki 2's/3's Teacher
Nikki is a local Bay Area resident, growing up in Menlo Park and attending school in the area as well. She has been working in early childhood education for over 12 years, working with ages from as tiny as infants to as old as school age. It has been a long time coming for her to finally join the team at Windmill, and she is more than thrilled to finally be here! She lives locally with her family, and together they enjoy walks & hiking, adventures in the area, getting messy at home and reading lots of books. If Nikki is lucky enough to have alone time she loves reading herself, going to Target, being crafty in all ways, photography and dreaming of traveling again one day!
Teacher Lupe Teacher PreK Program
Lupe grew up in East Palo Alto and Fremont, California. She received her associate degree in Early Childhood Studies and Early Childhood Education from Ohlone Community College in 2018. She continued her education at San Jose State University, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Child & Adolescent Development with a community focus in 2021. Prior to joining Windmill School, Lupe was a preschool teacher in Palo Alto, CA and prior to that, she worked with the City of Fremont Recreation Services for 7 years where she worked many roles throughout the years such as a camp counselor, camp coordinator, and tot sports coordinator. In her spare time, Lupe enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, and traveling.
Teacher Allysa Floating Teacher
Teacher Allysa is Bay Area born and raised. She has worked with children in roles including teaching preschool and being a nanny. Allysa holds her associates degrees in both child and adolescent development as well as psychology, and is currently working on her bachelors degree in psychology with a minor in counseling. Being a floating teacher, Allysa enjoys getting to spend time in all of the classrooms at Windmill. In her spare time, Allysa loves to relax.
Substitutes
Windmill teachers substitute for each other whenever possible. The Director will have a pool of available substitute teachers and all substitutes must go through the required clearance procedures.
ALL STAFF MEETS STATE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS. WINDMILL SCHOOL IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.