St. Madeleine Sophie School Faculty

Pre-K 3-year-old Program

Heather Merritt

Ms. Merritt is S.M.S.’s pre-K 3-year-old teacher.  She has been teaching at S.M.S. for 11 years.  She holds a CDA (Child Development Credential).  Ms. Merritt is engaged and has two children--a daughter, Raegan, and a son, Ziggy --and a dog named Sugar.

Heather ReJack

Ms. ReJack teaches in our Pre-K 3-year-old program.  She has been at S.M.S. for over 2 years.  Ms. ReJack holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the College of St. Rose and is currently working on her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Phoenix.

 Pre-K 4-year-old Program

Sherri Hanson

Mrs. Hanson has been teaching at S.M.S. for 11 years.  She has an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education.  She and her husband Charlie have a 10 year old daughter named Destiny and a dog named Lily.

Kindergarten

Teresa Visconti

Ms. Visconti teaches kindergarten and has been at S.M.S. for 8 years.  She holds an M.S. in Education from Sage Graduate School and a B.S. in Dance from SUNY Brockport.

Grade 1

Joanne Foster

Miss Foster has been teaching at S.M.S. for 29 years.  She is currently teaching first grade.  Miss Foster received her M.S. in Reading from  SUNY Albany  and her B.S. in Elementary Education from the College of St. Rose.

Grade 2

Kristen Shoemaker

Mrs. Shoemaker has been teaching at S.M.S. for 2 years.  She is currently teaching second grade.  Mrs. Shoemaker holds a Masters in Reading from the College of St. Rose and a Bachelors in Elementary Education from SUNY Oswego.  Mrs. Shoemaker just got married this November to Brian.  She is a  parishioner of St. Madeleine Sophie.

Grade 3

Kelly Farry Sloan

Mrs. Sloan has been teaching Third Grade at S.M.S. for 5 years.  Mrs. Sloan has also taught at St. Pius X School and St. Paul the Apostle School.  She holds an M.S. in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology from SUNY Albany and a B. S. in Elementary Education from the College of St. Rose.  Mrs. Sloan is currently working toward her School Building Leadership certificate at the College of St. Rose.  Mrs. Sloan is also a proud S.M.S. graduate.  She is married and has three daughters:  Molly and Abigail, both S.M.S. graduates; and Madeleine, a fourth grader at S.M.S.  The Sloans are S.M.S. parishioners.

Grade 4

Bethany Barrowman 

This is Miss Barrowman's second year teaching at SMS. She currently teaches fourth grade. She graduated from Columbia University's Teachers College with an M.A. in Elementary Inclusive Education. She holds a BA in History from the College of the Holy Cross. Miss Barrowman is a parishioner of St. Thomas the Apostle and a graduate of St. Thomas the Apostle School in Delmar. She loves being a part of the St. Madeleine Sophie School family.

Grade 5

Lisa Jansen

Mrs. Jansen has been teaching at S.M.S. for 12 years and is currently teaching  Fifth Grade.  She received her M.S. in Elementary Education from SUNY Albany and her B.S. in Elementary Education from SUNY Cortland.  Mrs. Jansen and her husband James have five children:  Lauren, Kevin, Tommy, Robbie and Haley.

Art

Beth Collins

Beth Collins has been teaching art at S.M.S. for 4 years.  She received her M.S.T. from SUNY Potsdam and her B.A. in Studio Art from Houghton College.  She enjoys hiking, painting and riding tandem bicycles..

Gym

Kim Lemme

Mrs. Lemme has been teaching gym at SMS for 6 years, fulfilling her lifelong passion to teach and inspire children in Physical Education.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New England, where she was also on the women's basketball team.  Mrs. Lemme was a member of the Women's National Ice Hockey Team four years in a row.  At Secaucus High School,  she was named Female Class Athlete.  Her daugher Allison is a proud S.M.S. graduate, class of 2009.

Music

Avery Tunningley

Mr. Tunningley  has been a professional musician and educator since 1979.  Mr. Tunningley has taught General Music, Piano and Instrumental Music for Upstate New York schools in the Capitol District, Syracuse, Oswego, Rome and Dunkirk. He is also the Church Organist for St. John the Evangelist Church in Delmar.  His area musical performances include venues such as Proctors Theatre in Schenectady and The Capitol Theatre in Rome, NY.  Mr. Tunningley is also a composer, having written the S.M.S School song! 

Spanish

Amy Gosh

Mrs. Amy Gosh has been teaching Spanish at S.M.S. for over 15 years.  She holds an M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from SUNY Albany and a B.S. in Elementary Education/Spanish from the College of St. Rose.  In addition, Mrs. Gosh has completed 30 credits beyond her Masters Degree.  Mrs. Gosh is married and the mother of 5 children, four of whom have graduated from SMS.  Her youngest, Nicholas, is in third grade at S.M.S.  Mrs. Gosh and her family are parishioners of St. Madeleine Sophie.

Technology

Deborah Flaherty-Kizer

Mrs. Flaherty-Kizer is our technology and remediation teacher.  She has been teaching at S.M.S. for over 10 years.  Before joining S.M.S. she was an International Marketing Manager with AT&T. Mrs. Flaherty-Kizer holds an M.S. in Elementary Education from the College of St. Rose, an M.B.A. in International Business from New York University, an M.S. in Technical Writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B.A. in French from Regis College.  Mrs. Flaherty-Kizer is married and has two children: Abby, an S.M.S. graduate, and Colin.  The Kizers are parishioners of St. Madeleine Sophie.