The Burbank Before and After School Program staff is comprised of paid professionals. The staff consists of a Director, Head Teacher, teachers and teaching aides, as required to maintain a ratio of 1:9 staff/Children. (OCCS regulations require a minimum of 1:13 ratio.) All staff members meet or exceed the qualifications as outlined by the OCCS. (102 CMR 7.21). Staff resumes are available to families upon request.

Included here are short staff bios and a listing of the Board of Directors.

STAFF

Andrew Mountford, Director

A native of Casco, Maine, Andrew moved to Massachusetts to attend Brandeis University in 1996, graduating in 2000. He chose the law school track, studying politics, law, and economics. However, after working as an investigator for a defense attorney in our nation's capitol, Andrew realized that the practice of law and justice was not his life's calling. In 2001, his girlfriend, Elizabeth, told him about an opening at an after school program in Belmont (the friend-of-a-friend sort of recommendation that guarantees the start of a career). After a year in the Burbank After School Program, Rose Feinberg offered him a professional aide position in Kathy Lind's 3rd grade class. Andrew continued to pursue his growth as an educator in 2003-04, working with Cliff Gallant, Selina Anderson, and Kathy Lind at Burbank.

Andrew is the new director of the BBASP. He split his summer preparing for the 2004-05 school year, and following the Red Sox (his part time job at Fenway gets him to about 50 games each year). He is currently a Master's candidate in elementary education at Lesley University and making his mark at the Burbank Before and After School Program. Working as an educator is his passion.

Andrew has lived in the Boston area for eight years, residing in Belmont since 2002. The Belmont community has been the perfect fit. But Andrew still has a little country left in him; in his free time he still loves rope tows and short tracks in the winter and outboards and campfires in the summer. He and Beth frequently take vacations to Maine and New Hampshire.

Katie Hammond

Katie Hammond begins her second year with the After School Program. She also assumes the classroom role of Professional Aide in the 3rd and 4th Grade classrooms this year. A Bates College graduate and an AmeriCorps (national service) alum, Katie is studying for her Masters of Education at Lesley University. She is excited to contribute to and be a part of the Burbank community.

Shaka Singleton

Shaka Singleton was born and raised in Cambridge, and is now a resident of Belmont. He graduated from Belmont High School and attended Howard University and Cambridge College. He has worked as a teacher at BASP off and on for eight enjoyable years. Shaka looks forward to another great school year for 2004-2005, and working with a great team of teachers.

Because of Shaka's natural ability in working with children, teaching is the field that Shaka will continue in his studies, focusing on elementary school education.

Shaka is a big fan of music, art, film, television, and sports. He is also at home with a paintbrush, pencil, pen and ink.

Lauren Kennedy

Lauren begins her seventh year in the program. This year she will also be a professional classroom aide in the Burbank School. More bio to follow.

Kent Fournier

Kent begins his second year in the program. More bio to follow.

Noreen Sacca

Noreen Sacca has brought her skills as our school secretary to the Burbank After School Program for the past seven years. Before coming to Burbank she worked for an advertising agency in Boston and at Belmont High School for five years. She has three grown children who all attended Belmont schools and one grandson who was born in 2003 and lives in Belmont (with his parents).

Stephanie LeForce

Stephanie has lived in Belmont for thirty-two years and has raised two sons who went through the Belmont school system, starting at at Burbank. For the past fifteen years she has worked as a teacher in the Burbank After School Program and the Kindergarten Extended Day Program. Her specialty is arts and crafts. This year Stephanie has increased her BASP hours to be a projects coordinator. During her spare time she loves to paint, sew, and quilt.

Donna Wall

Donna leads the Kindergarten/Grade 1 group on Tuesday and Thursday at BBASP. She is also the Director and Head Teacher of the Burbank Extended Day Program (KED), and has been employed by KED since 1989. Donna also works as a substitute teacher for the Kindergarten staff at Burbank.

Before coming to Burbank, Donna worked for the Cambridge School Department, as a Title I Reading Specialist. She was actively involved in the Burbank PTA when her three children attended school there. She now resides in Waltham with her husband, Tom. Donna's hobbies include reading, traveling, power walking, and cheering for her favorite team, the Boston Red Sox.

Judy Paratore

Judy begins her eighth year in the program. More bio to follow.

Nina Vansuch

A Boston native, Nina Vansuch began working at the Burbank After School Program (BASP) in 1989 while her son, Matt Kehoe, was in the program. She originally taught art and music workshops then moved on to be part of the regular staff. In 1991 Nina became the Director of BASP. 1997 was an especially busy year: Nina added before school care to the BASP roster (making it “BBASP”) and founded CHENEX, the after school program at the Chenery Middle School. In 1998, she re-organized the after school enrichment classes (BASEC).

During her tenure at BBASP, Nina developed curriculum and formats for after school programs and arts programs that became her foundation as a consultant; the programs became models for other programs in Massachusetts. She was also called upon to re-vamp the Arts/Lexington programs from 1994-96.

Nina's involvement in the Belmont community included her activities as a mother; grant writing (awards from Grants for Peace, The Belmont Cultural Council, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Foundation for Belmont Education, et al); substitute teacher for the Belmont School system; participation on the first Burbank School Advisory Committee; teaching at the Kendall Center for the Arts, being on the center's Board of Directors, and performing in many shows at the Kendall; and a lot of other stuff (“stuff” being the technical term).

Nina's performance work took a new turn in 1999, when she was one of 37 singers chosen from a nation-wide search to participate in the rigorous training at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret Symposium. Jumping from the O'Neill she worked with “At The Movies”, and other groups in the New England area from Scullers Jazz Club to John O'Neil's (no relation to Eugene) CabaretFest, to Arci's in NYC, more clubs and so on.

Her hobby is sleeping. Her favorite colors are yellow and green.

In July 2004, Nina moved to Santa Cruz, California to explore the next chapter with her life partner, David Ratcliffe, and their six cats. She is currently working on a book (working title), “Things You Grew Up With”, with artist Nancy Wagner.

Boston will always hold a very special place in her heart.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Burbank Before & After School Program is a non-profit program governed by a Board of Directors, consisting of the volunteer parents/guardians of children in the program and ex-officio members. It is recommended that the number of Board represent at least ten percent of the total families in the program. The Burbank PTA is the umbrella organization for BBASP.

The exact composition of the Board is determined annually by a given Board, based on their best understanding of the needs of the program and the efficient and productive functioning of its governing body.

All Board members and staff are bonded and insured through BBASP's general liability insurance. See the BBASP Handbook for more information.

The BBASP Board of Directors for the 2004-2005 school year is:

Co-Chair:
Co-Chair:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Members-at-large:

Ex-officio members: