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.
Tessa Teodoro- Assistant Teacher
Tessa grew up in the Phillipine’s and moved to the U.S. in 2022. Tessa has her degree of Arts in English. She was an English teacher in South Korea for 4 years and speaks several languages fluently. We love having Tessa on our team as an Assistant Teacher in our infant classroom and she is excited to work with your children.
Arlyz Armador Jimenez - Assistant Teacher
Arlyz is a military spouse from Puerto Rico. She has an Associates Degree in Arts and History and studied to be a K-3rd grade teacher. Her first language is Spanish. She also speaks English and a little Italian. Arlyz has been a great asset to our team and loves working in the Infant Room.
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.
Cassie Parker- Aide
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.
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
Sophia Cecil - Aide
Valerie Mckelvey- Aide
Sprouts:
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.
Katie Mellnitz -Assistant Teacher
Katie has been a great addition to the Sprouts classroom. 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.
Savannah Spicer - Aide
Savannah is an aide in our classroom. She aides the teacher and assistants and has been a great asset to the team. She is a mom of a preschooler who also attends the Treehouse.
Thrive:
Elizabeth Hebert - Lead 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 loves to spend her free time with her two school age children. Lzzy is excited to lead her students and give them a great preschool experience.
Emily Dillenbeck -Aide
Emily is fairly new to our team. She has jumped right in and has been a great fit with the Teacher and with the students.
Elizabeth Donivan -Aide
Liz is new to our team as of January 2025. She is a mom of a teenage son and enjoys working with children. She has already shown to be an asset to our team.
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.
Jessica Rhine -Aide
Jessica is new to the Treehouse as of February 2025. We are super excited to have her on our team.
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 - Aide
Taylor is excited to assist our teachers in our Flourish classrooms. She has two boys who also attend the Treehouse. Taylor is excited to watch your child grow and to help them reach their full potential.
Pre K Wrap Around:
Brianna Sibley - 4UPK Lead
Brianna has an Associates Degree in Science and continues her Early Childhood Trainings. She started as a float at the Treehouse and gained experience working with all the age groups. Brianna is doing our Wrap Around Program which entails taking care of the 4 year olds after their preschool hours, until their pick up time. She is looking forward to spending the afternoon with her students getting messy and having fun.
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:
Misty Hess - Float
Misty has worked at the Treehouse as both float and assistant. At this season of her life, with one child at the Treehouse and one in school, floating hours work the best for her. She
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.
Krista Gibbons - Float/Kitchen Assistant
Krista has been a great addition in the kitchen. She starts her day here at the Treehouse in the kitchen and then ends her shift helping us maintain the cleaning duties in the building, if she not needed in the classrooms.