Meet the Staff
Administration/Leadership:
Mandy Burt - Business Owner
Mandy has her NYS B-2 teaching certification, a BS in interdisciplinary studies: human development/education, is pursuing an MBA in Human Resource Management, and started The Treehouse out of a desire to support and encourage parents during their child rearing journey. She is an army veteran and the mother of six young children.
Gabbie Baker - Executive Director
Gabbie is a mother of two energetic boys. She has her Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education and is pursuing a NYS teaching credential. Gabbie has worked in childcare for 13 years and started at the Treehouse in August of 2017.
Candy Shaw – HR Manager
Candy Shaw has been a part of the Treehouse family since May of 2015, when the full time center first opened its doors. She ran her own in-home daycare for 8 years prior to her employment with us, and she received her Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential in June of 2016. She puts so much love and positivity into everything she does! For seven years she lead in the infant room, and she is now in charge of training, onboarding, and ensuring our staff are successful at their jobs. Candy has been happily married for over 30 years and is a mother of 3 children, and has 2 grandchildren.
Autumn Weaver - Director
Autumn has been with us since 2018, and has grown from an assistant teacher, to a lead teacher, to now part of our administration team ensuring quality within our classrooms. She has her Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education with a credential in Administration. She has been married for 3 years and has a young son who attends our infant class!
Rachel Thomas- Behavior Specialist
Rachel joined the Treehouse Team in 2024 as our Behavior Specialist. Her and her husband are from the Watertown area and have a son and twin daughters. Rachel has previous experience in teaching Preschool and working as a Director at a Daycare Center. She will help us implement the Pyramid model and work with individual children as needed.
Seeds Infants:
Jenna Hughes - Lead Teacher
Jenna has been at The Treehouse since April of 2022. She is the Seeds Infant Lead Teacher and she absolutely loves her job. She has an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.
Heaven Gauny - Teacher Aide
Heaven had two years of professional experience before joining our team. She loves working with the infants and looks forward to working with them everyday.
Kari Fondren - Assistant Teacher
Kari has been in childcare for 8 years with the ages from birth to 5 years of age. She loves working with the infants because she loves watching them grow from birth to toddlers. They go through so many fun experiences, and she loves getting to be a apart of that. I have 1 son, he also attends The Treehouse, and we recently moved here and hope to stay for a long time.
Roots Infants:
Aleah LaFlamme - Lead Teacher
Aleah has worked in childcare for 7 years. She is the mother of a little girl. Aleah has completed her CDA Certification and is our Lead Teacher of our Roots Infant Classroom. She strives to continue her education in early childhood development and build her family over the next few years.
April Harding – Assistant Teacher
April grew up in Southern California, but have lived all over including overseas being a military spouse for almost 16 years now. She is a mother to 3 girls; two teens and a 7 year old. She has worked on and off in childcare in between being a stay at home mom. She plans to work towards getting her CDA before her husband retires from the Army in a few years.
Tessa Teodora - Assistant Teacher
I am excited to be an Assistant Teacher at the Treehouse. I grew up in the Philippine's and was an English Teacher in South Korea for four years. I am fluent in Fillipino cuisine. I moved to the U.S. in 2022 and starting working at the Treehouse in 2023. I look forward to teaching and helping your little ones grow.
Seeds Toddlers:
Terrah Widrick - Lead Teacher
Terrah has been with us for 8 years. She started as an assistant in our Seeds Infant Classroom. She recently completed her CDA Credential as she successfully lead our first Continuity of Care classroom. She currently is our Lead Teacher in our Seeds Toddler Classroom and looks forward to new challenges, meeting milestones and forming great relationships with her toddlers. Terrah and her husband have three children, her boys attended the Treehouse through their infant, toddler and preschool years.
Havyn LaCerte - Assistant Teacher
Havyn is an Assistant in our Seeds Toddler Classroom. She interned at our center while completing her Early Education Program through BOCES. She has been a great asset to our team and loves helping the toddlers learn through play. She hopes to continue her career in Early Childhood.
Stephanie Wadsworth - Assistant Teacher
Stephanie is new with us this year. We are excited to have her on our team. She is a mom of four children who always keep her busy. She realized she has a passion for the younger age group, so the toddler room is a perfect fit.
Roots Toddlers:
Pennyanne Strickland - Lead Teacher
Penny was born and raised here in town right around the corner! She has three children of my her own and she is looking forward to getting to know all the kids and parents. She also loves the outdoors and crafting! Penny has worked in two daycares previously and went through the Early Childhood Development Program at BOCES. She recently received her bachelor's in psychology, where she took many classes centered around child growth.
Valerie Mckelvey- Assistant Teacher
Valerie had 5 years of child care experience before moving to this area for her husband’s career change. She enjoys working with the Toddlers, helping them to grow and build their Independence. We are excited she has joined our team this year.
Sophia Cecil - Assistant Teacher
Sophia is originally from Texas, but recently moved to New York with her husband. She started working with us this year and has become such an asset to our team.
Sprouts:
Emily Estal- SPED Teacher
Kaitlyn Bisig - Lead Teacher
Kaitlyn has worked several summers with us while attending College throughout the school year. She recently graduated with a Bachelors degree and is very excited to be a full time Lead this fall.
Cieran Castor - Assistant Teacher
Cieran has been a Pre K assistant with us for a couple years now wait and looks forward to each school year and all the fun she plans to have will have with her class.
Lynze - Assistant Teacher
Lynze is one of our new assistants that started in the summer. She is looking forward to the new school year as an Assistant Teacher in our 3 yr old preschool classroom. Lynze has a little boy who currently attends the Treehouse as well. We are excited to have her on our team.
Thrive:
Lisa Goutremout - Lead Teacher
After a long career in the financial industry, Lisa decided to follow her passion for working with children. She has a 6 year old son that also attended the Treehouse for his toddler and preschool years. Lisa completed her CDA Credential in 2023 to become our Sprouts Preschool Lead. She looks forward to giving her students a great preschool experience.
Maggie Nowlin- SPED Teacher
We are excited that Maggie has joined our team this year. We look forward to seeing her classroom management and her passion for children develop as the year gets underway.
Katie Mellnitz -Assistant Teacher
Katie has been with us for a year now and has been a great assistant to the team. She is a mom of a toddler boy, who also attends the Treehouse. She is very gentle and soft spoken, the kids enjoy having her in the room.
Sydney Sladdin -Assistant Teacher
Sydney has joined our team this year and is looking forward to working along side the Teachers in the room. She enjoys working with the Preschoolers and encouraging them to learn and discover new things everyday.
Flourish:
Brittany Vandewalker- 4UPK Lead Teacher
This is Brittany’s 9th year teaching Pre-K. She has wanted to be a teacher since she was 5 years old. She is so excited to work with her preschoolers, making learning fun> When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and the rest of her family.
Nicole Williams -Assistant Teacher
Nikki has been working at the Treehouse for a few years. This year she is working as an Assistant in our 4UPK Flourish Classroom. Nikki has a degree in Criminal Justice and continues her Early Childhood training. She has three grown children with her husband and recently became a grandma. She has previously been an assistant in our three old program and is beyond excited to work with the 4 year olds this year.
Taylor Augustus - Assistant Teacher
Taylor is excited to be an Assistant Teacher again this year in our Flourish classroom. Taylor loves to help the children learn and to see them reach their full potential. She has two little boys who attend the Treehouse as well.
Mackenzie Blair Jones - Assistant Teacher
Blair has worked both as an Assistant Teacher throughout the school year and as a Lead Teacher for the summer. She has a very kind and passionate heart for the children and we love that she is a part of our team.
Buds:
Buds:
Lindsey Ryan - 4UPK Lead
We are excited to have Lindsey join our team this year. We are looking forward to all that she brings to the table with her knowledge and degree to help educate the children in her classroom.
Carolyn Chamberlain - Assistant Teacher
Carolyn has been with us for over two years. She has been one of our 4UPK Preschool assistants and continues to do so for us this year. Her dedication to the team and her classroom is exceptional.
Elizabeth Hebert - Assistant Teacher
Lizzy ran a daycare in her home for almost a decade and is excited to now be collaborating with us at the Treehouse. She now has experience with being a Lead and Assisting a Lead Teacher. She loves to spend her free time with her two school age children. Lizzy is excited to lead her students and give them a great preschool experience.
Food Service:
Megan Sidwa- Food Program Manager
Megan has joined the team in 2024 to be our Food Program Manager. She has years of prior experience and we are grateful she chose to join the team and head up our kitchen.
Bethany Main - Assistant Cook
Beth has worked in the early childhood education field for 16 years. She has been married for 32 years and has 3 wonderful children and is a local of northern New York. Beth has been working at the Treehouse since September of 2019, and has been helping to prepare delicious meals in the kitchen!
Rhonda Wilder- Sub Cook -
Rhonda has 30 years of experience working in a school cafeteria and has recently retired. We are happy to have her on our team to sub in when needed.
Substitutes and Floats:
Dawn Rennhack - Float
Dawn has been working with children for 24 years. She has 5 children of her own and has lived all over the country. Dawn has worked at the Treehouse since July 2019 and is an Assistant in our Sprouts 3 year old Preschool classroom. Dawn looks forward to giving your child a fun learning experience.
Anderson Monroy - Office Closer/Float
Anderson has joined our team this year after graduating with his Bachelor’s degree. He is a classroom float during the day and becomes our Office staff in the evening who closes our Center.
Arlyz Jiminez Amador - Float
Arlyz has been with us for a few years. She has been one of infant room assistant teachers. She has recently decided to come out of her classroom and help all classrooms when needed. She has been a great worker and team player.
Savannah Spicer- Float
Savannah has worked as a float in infant, toddler and preschool classrooms and is a great help with all ages.
Payton Davis- Sub/Float
Payton has worked for us as a Teacher assistant in both our 3UPK and 4UPK classrooms. She has decided to be one of our Subs/Floats and is a great asset to whatever team she is working with.