Celebrating 47 Years of The Washington Market School at ourStreet Fair on Saturday, June 3rd!

Celebrating 47 Years of The Washington Market School at ourStreet Fair on Saturday, June 3rd!

Celebrating 47 Years of The Washington Market School at ourStreet Fair on Saturday, June 3rd!

June 2023

Fri
16

Last Day of School for Children

Mon
26

First Day of WMS Summer Program

Tue
04

Independence Day - School Closed

Fri
14

Last Day of WMS Summer Program

calendar calendar

Administration

Julia Austen-Brown

(she/her)

Associate Director of Community and Events

Jaya Blakeslee

(she/her)

Administrative Coordinator (Duane Street)

Siobhan Goddard

(she/her)

Administrative Coordinator (Hudson Street)

Brooke Lowe

(she/her)

Communications Manager

Ronnie Moskowitz

(she/her)

Founder & Director of Exmissions

Emma Rothstein

(she/her)

Enrollment Associate

Megan Parhar

she/her

Health & Wellness Coordinator

Genna Scarano

(she/her)

Associate Director of Information Systems and Marketing

Yuki Sahara

(she/her)

Bookkeper

Julia Austen-Brown

(she/her)

Associate Director of Community and Events

Julia has over twenty years of work experience running events & fundraisers, in both corporate and non-profit environments. She joined The Washington Market School in 2019 and works closely with our parents to bring fun, exciting, and meaningful events to the school community.

Julia grew up in West London, England. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Geography from Royal Holloway University of London before launching her career in event planning. For the last 12 years, she has been raising her two children and volunteering with the PTA at P.S. 107 in Park Slope. She has held various positions with the PTA from Class Parent, Volunteer, Auction Chair to the Director of Community and Fundraising Events.

Julia loves to travel. She took a break from her career for a wonderful two-year backpacking adventure, traveling through 5 continents. Her itch to travel is still going strong!

Jaya Blakeslee

(she/her)

Administrative Coordinator (Duane Street)

Jaya has been the Administrative Coordinator at Duane Street since 2013. She has always loved helping people and providing support to both families and teachers and staff.

Jaya grew up in a spiritual/interfaith community known as Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida. From there, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Art History at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Following college, she moved to Aspen, CO where she worked in hospitality for a number of years at The Hotel Aspen. She returned to NYC in 2008 and has worked in childcare and education ever since. She worked as a nanny for a family in Tribeca for several years, and as a Family Assistant at Bank Street Head Start in the East Village.

Jaya enjoys pilates and strength training classes, biking, hiking, snowboarding, knitting, reading, dancing, cooking, traveling and spending time with her family.

Siobhan Goddard

(she/her)

Administrative Coordinator (Hudson Street)

Siobhan joined The Washington Market School in 2022 as Administrative Coordinator at our Hudson Street site. She enjoys supporting a team in a child-centered environment, and appreciates how happy everyone in the WMS community is when they come to school.

Siobhan has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Literature from Liberty University. Prior to WMS, Siobhan was a content writer for a pop culture website. She later became a Teaching Assistant at a preschool on the Upper West Side, where she also served on the financial aid advisory board for several years. She loved assisting in providing funds for those who were not able to attend school affiliated programs due to financial difficulties.

Siobhan grew up in Barbados and then moved to Queens, New York at an early age. In her free time, she practices long and compound bow archery, and enjoys trying her hand in cooking multicultural dishes each month.

Brooke Lowe

(she/her)

Communications Manager

Brooke’s favorite thing about working at The Washington Market School is the strong sense of community. She started at The Washington Market School in 2021 as the Administrative Coordinator at Hudson Street. In 2022, she transitioned into her current role as Communications Manager. Having previously worked for an advertising agency, Brooke values the story telling nature of Communications and believes in sharing The Washington Market School’s mission with our community and beyond.

Brooke grew up in Connecticut on the Long Island Sound and received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trinity College. While attending Trinity, Brooke worked at the on-campus child care center as an assistant teacher for four years. Brooke also previously worked for an advertising agency called Havas Media as a Media Planner.

In her free time, Brooke loves to run, bake, and spend time exploring the outdoors.

Ronnie Moskowitz

(she/her)

Founder & Director of Exmissions

Ronnie founded The Washington Market School in 1976 with 6 children in her Greenwich Street loft. This small class sparked a lifelong love of early education for Ronnie and laid the foundation for decades of nurturing young minds. The Washington Market School community is her joy. Feel free to contact Ronnie with any questions you may have about our school’s history.

Ronnie completed her undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, receiving her Master of Arts in Teaching in 1970. She received her Montessori credential in 1972. She was appointed to Manhattan’s Community Planning Board #1 in 1979, and served on the Design Committees of both the Washington Market Park and P.S. 234. She has been a faculty member in the Early Childhood Education Department at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). During her sabbatical in 1993-1994, Ronnie was the Head of the Lower School of the Bali International School. Ronnie has served on the Board of Directors for BMCC’s Daycare Center, as well as serving 18 years on the Board of Trustees for ISAAGNY where she was the early childhood head of its mentorship program and the strategic planning committee. Ronnie also holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Baruch College and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from NYU. Ronnie has trained as a child and an adult psychoanalyst and is a member of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis.

Outside of school, Ronnie paints watercolor scenes, works as a psychoanalyst, and marvels at being a grandparent.

Emma Rothstein

(she/her)

Enrollment Associate

Emma started at the Washington Market School in 2020 as a classroom teacher at Duane Street. After two years in the classroom, she transitioned to her role as Enrollment Associate. Emma loves The Washington Market School Community. She loves getting to know not only the children, but their families as well.

Emma always wanted to work in Education. Growing up, she wanted to be a theatre teacher. Emma graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Studies, concentrating in Directing. Prior to The Washington Market School, Emma worked with children of all ages directing musicals. She held an internship at the Broadway League where she helped bring NYC Public School High School Students to Broadway shows. She also helped prepare materials for different theatre programming for children of various ages.

Emma was born and raised in Brooklyn Heights. In her free time, she loves spending time with her friends and family.

Megan Parhar

she/her

Health & Wellness Coordinator

Megan has been working in healthcare for nearly a decade. Her love for children and being involved in their developmental stages led her to joining The Washington Market School in 2022 as our first ever Health and Wellness Coordinator.

Megan has a Practical Nursing degree (LRN) from Stenberg College in Surrey, BC. Prior to joining WMS, Megan’s community nursing experience included summer camp nursing, teaching nursing students at her alma mater, practicing nursing in the area of mental health, and working in an allergy practice here in NYC.

Megan grew up in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. In her free time, Megan loves playing and watching sports, cooking new foods, traveling to new places, and spending time with her very large Indian family!

Genna Scarano

(she/her)

Associate Director of Information Systems and Marketing

Genna first joined The Washington Market School in 2017 as Administrative Coordinator at our Hudson Street site. Over the last five years, she’s held several roles across our administrative team before landing in her current role as Associate Director of Information Systems and Marketing. What Genna values most about her job is the opportunity to improve the daily experience of our teachers – and by extension, the experience of the children in their classrooms.

Genna has a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science-Linguistics and Italian from Pitzer College and a Master’s degree in International Education from NYU. Prior to working at The Washington Market School, Genna worked in the Admissions, Student Affairs and International Programs Offices at Pitzer College and was an Admissions Associate at The Browning School. She also spent a year in Benevento, Italy, teaching English to high school students through a Fulbright scholarship.

Genna was born and raised in Brooklyn. In her free time, she takes tap dance classes and loves to go hiking and camping (she’s driven cross-country 3 times to explore the national parks).

Yuki Sahara

(she/her)

Bookkeper

Yuki has been the Bookkeeper at The Washington Market School since 2009. The friendly work environment at The Washington Market School makes her feel at home, and she really appreciates her long-term friendships with her coworkers.

Yuki was born and raised in Shizuoka, Japan. She graduated from Tokoha College in Shizuoka with an Associate’s Degree in Accounting, and received a bookkeeping certificate from Baruch College in New York City. She has many years of experience as a bookkeeper at various companies in New York City.

In addition to bookkeeping, Yuki is also a flower designer. She attended flower design school in Boston for 6 months and has worked in various flower shops in NYC. She can create flower arrangements for weddings and other special occasions, as well as window displays. In her free time, Yuki loves riding her bike, playing classical guitar and cooking.