About Us : Our Staff
At Kids Cottage, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality early childhood education available. Our staff is carefully chosen to ensure our students enter Kindergarten with the skills and confidence necessary to excel throughout the remainder of their education. Our teachers all have college degrees and a background in education. To attract the best teachers, Kids Cottage provides significantly higher compensation than other preschools in the area. Our extraordinary staff allows us to prepare our preschool students with a solid Foundation of Excellence.
Both Lori Schell and Taryn Burris are the Chief Administrators/Owners of Kids Cottage. Our staff also includes a Program Director/Manager, Instructors, Tutors, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors. View Staff Bios.
Kids Cottage business partners, Lori Schell and Taryn Burris, are native Delawareans and have traveled and lived in various cities. After living in different states, they have both returned to live near their families in Lewes, Delaware. Lori and Taryn are active members of the community. Their combined services and memberships include involvement in the Lewes Yacht Club, Rehoboth Beach Country Club, and the Sussex County Land Trust.
Qualifications
All teachers must have a college degree and a background in education. Many of our teachers and Chief Administrators have a Master's degree in Education and have satisfied the Delaware licensing requirement. All staff members are trained in CPR and First Aid and have successfully passed a Criminal Background Check.
Number of Staff/Ratios
As required by the State of Delaware, the staff child ratio for mixed age groups will be that required for the age group with the largest number of children present in the group.
| Age of Child | Minimum Staff/Child Ratio |
| 2-3 years | 1:10 |
| 3-4 years | 1:12 |
| 4-5 years | 1:15 |
| 5 years and up | 1:25 |
STAFF BIOS
Lori Schell
Chief Administrator
Lori graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Education and was later certified to teach Special Education. She taught third and fourth grade at Rehoboth Elementary School in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Lori later moved to Boston where her husband, Chris, attended Harvard Business School. At HBS, Lori worked as a professor's assistant and worked in the classroom as a scribe. After graduation, Lori and her husband returned to Delaware and have a son, Caden, and a daughter, Cassidy.
Lori has always immersed herself in her work within the education field, and is dedicated to creating the most fun, innovative children's center around!
Taryn Burris
Chief Administrator
Taryn graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She received a Master of Education degree for Special Education from the University of Maryland. She taught in Anne Arundel County in Maryland for three years as a special education teacher for grades K-5. In 2003, she returned to Delaware with her husband where she taught sixth grade language arts and reading for one year. Taryn is licensed and certified in Delaware in the areas of Elementary K-6, Middle Level Teacher 5-8 (except 7&8 science/math), Teacher of Early Childhood/Primary K-4, Teacher of Exceptional Children-LD, SED, MH (Elementary 1-8).
Jennifer Leach
Program Director
Jennifer is a native Delawarean who has worked with children in a variety of settings. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Social Work. She continued her education after being employed with the Delaware Division of Family Services for a year after college. Jennifer completed a year of Masters work in Counseling Psychology at The University of Colorado at Denver. In 2002, Jennifer graduated from Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH with a Masters in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology. Her work with children includes substitute teaching, leading groups for teens at risk, and working as a youth treatment counselor in a private school for emotionally and behaviorally challenged children. She was later employed with The Zwaanendael Dance Academy where she taught 3 -8 year olds creative movement groups and ballet. Jennifer has been the program director at Kids Cottage since they opened, was the lead teacher in the three yr. old classtoom for the 2005-2006 school year, and teaches creative ballet classes. Jennifer lives in Rehoboth with her husband Jason and their daughter, Jocelyn.
Dawn Alt
Teacher - Minnows, 18mos-24mos
Dawn graduated from NH Technical Institute in 1995 with an Associates Degree in Human Services. After graduation she started working with children with learning disabilities and physical handicaps. She worked as a Special Education One-on-One Aide for students in 1st through 8th grade from 1995 – 1999. After moving to Delaware with her husband in October 1999, she started working at the Sussex Family YMCA in the after school program and as a camp counselor during the summer months. In July of 2000 her daughter, Maddison, was born and in February of 2003 her son, Jacob, was born. Dawn joined the Kid’s Cottage “family” in January 2007 as the Drop - In Preschool teacher. Dawn thoroughly enjoys working with the children and watching them learn and explore.
Melissa Brittingham
Teacher - Sandcrabs, 2 year olds
Missy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She also attended Chatham University, where she completed 48 credits toward a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. Missy started out her career counseling youth in a group home setting and then went on to counsel youth, adults and families in a mental health setting. After moving to Delaware in 1995, Missy has focused her work in assisting children and families in crisis. This work includes: employment in a domestic violence shelter, developing an educational and therapeutic curriculum for children who were victims of crime for the Attorney Generals Office and working in the victim service field for the Department of Correction. Missy also volunteers for a non profit organization called Delaware Families Inc., which provides outreach education to youth (and parents) on a variety of topics, such as Self-esteem, Communication Skills, Anger Management, and Teen Dating Violence Awareness.
Nicole Binnix
Teacher - Sandcrabs, 2 year olds
Nicole was born and raised in Boston Massachusetts. She moved to Maryland in 1988 and moved to the Eastern Shore in 2005. She has a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Human Services from Concordia University. Nicole has worked with infants, adolescents and the elderly for over 26 years. At the age of 14, she started working with individuals with developmental and emotional disabilities. Nicole began teaching children and adults in a classroom setting in 1992. She is married and has three children ages 2, 13, and 14. This will be Nicole’s second year as a two year old teacher and teaching summer camps at Kids Cottage. She is excited for a great year!
Katie Freer
Teacher - Starfish, 3 year olds
Katie Freer began living in Rehoboth Beach in March 2006. She was born and raised in southern New Jersey and attended Rutgers University where she received her undergraduate degree in American Studies and a Masters degree in Elementary/Early Childhood Education. While at Rutgers, she played on the Rutgers Women's golf team for four years as a scholarship athlete and coached for two years during her time in graduate school. She has always enjoyed the art of teaching and instruction, whether it be on the golf course or in the classroom. Katie is returning for her third year as teaching one of the three year old classes at Kids Cottage. She eagerly awaits the opportunity to help your child grow and learn this year at Kids Cottage!
Genesis Moor
Teacher - Starfish, 3 year olds
Genesis Moor enjoys working with children immensely and is happy to be a part of the Kid’s Cottage family! Miss Moor was born and raised in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where she attended Neumann College. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood/Elementary Education in 2001, Genesis relocated to the Eastern Shore to join her family and pursue her teaching career. She currently resides in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Miss Moor is presently enrolled in the graduate program at Wilmington University, pursuing a Master’s degree in Applied Technology in Education. This will be Genesis’ second year teaching the three year olds. She is eager to share her learning experiences with her classroom and is looking forward to a happy and successful academic year!
Michelle Logsdon
Sea Horses, Pre-K 4 yr. olds
Michelle is happy to be teaching the four year olds at Kids Cottage this year. She moved from Pennsylvania to Delaware a year ago with her husband and three children. Michelle graduated from West Chester University with her degree in Elementary Education. She taught the four year olds and two year olds in a preschool setting in Pennsylvania. Michelle substitute taught in the Upper Dublin school district for three years and tutored children from kindergarten to college in reading, math, and study skills at The Sylvan Learning Center. Her extracurricular experience includes teaching Martial Arts and coaching t-ball. Since she moved to Delaware, she has enjoyed spending time with her 8, 6, and 4 year old as well as assisting a mother in taking care of her 1, 2, and 8 year old.
Jodie Daminger
Teacher - Seahorses, Pre-K 4 year olds
Jodie is a Lewes native and alumnae of Cape Henlopen Schools. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Towson University and a Masters in Education from Wilmington College. For the past three years, she served as Director of a private preschool/childcare center in Maryland. Her responsibilities included the supervision of 15 staff members and program development for 100 children (age 2 - K), design of the preschool curriculum, and organization of the annual 10-week summer camps. Jodie's professional experience has been in a variety of settings with children of all ages and abilities. These include preschool teacher, special education paraprofessional, reading/math/writing instructor, teacher's assistant, and Maryland Early Childhood Education evaluator. She holds a Maryland Teaching Certificate for Nursery through Third Grade and is currently seeking her Delaware certification. Jodie has been the Pre-K teacher at Kids Cottage for three years and is looking forward to the 2008-2009 school year.
Lynda Wachter
Teacher - Seahorses, Pre-K 4 year olds
Lynda has an extensive background in the childcare profession. When her two children were younger, she worked in the Capital School District in Dover with children who had special needs. After moving to the beach, she opened a home daycare, Kids R People 2. Like many other warm weather lovers, she and her husband moved to sunny Florida, then quickly returned when her grandchildren were born. Lynda joined the Kids Cottage family in 2005 and is pleased to be teaching the Pre-K this year.
