Meet the Teachers
Creative & Caring
Sarah Colwell
Young 3's Lead Teacher
Mrs. Colwell is beginning her 3rd year at FCP and her first year leading the Young 3's class. She is a mom of former coop students; two boys who are now in 1st and 4th grade at Roxboro Elementary.
Tricia Stefanak
3's & 4's Lead Teacher
Mrs. Stefanak sets up a positive environment, helping children adjust to their first time being at school.
​
Mrs. Stefanak has three children and two granddaughters and has lived in Cleveland Heights for 25 years.
Megan Abel
Pre-K Lead Teacher
Mrs. Abel started working professionally in Early Childhood Education in 2007 after graduating from college in Pennsylvania. She spent eight years working for Bright Horizons Family Solutions teaching toddlers and preschoolers. After her second child was born, she transitioned to staying at home and caring for several children in her home.
Mrs. Abel and her husband, Steve, have been married since 2007, and have 3 kiddos. They recently moved to Northfield and have spent the last year renovating their new fixer upper.
Mrs. Abel has been a part of the FCP family since 2016 when her oldest son joined the PreK class. Her younger two children also attended FCP. She held several positions on the board over the years as a parent and eventually moved into a substitute role, including long-term sub positions. She came on board as the full time PreK teacher last year and am looking forward another w great year with this crew!!
Beth Zednik
Admin
Beth is our school's administrator. She has a background working in education as a middle school and high school math teacher, and then as a director of curriculum and instruction.
She helps keep our school running and makes sure we meet all of the state requirements. She has two daughters - a 3rd grader at Fairfax Elementary that went through the coop, and a daughter in the Pre-K class.
Amanda Wallace
Young 3's Assistant Teacher
Mrs. Wallace is a mom of former coop students (a kindergartener and 3rd grade at Fernway Elementary) and her youngest, Cece, will be in the Young 3's class.
Danay Johnson
3's & 4's Assitant Teacher
Throughout her career Ms. Johnson worked with different industries from hospitality, travel, entertainment, manufacturing, and education. She graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelors Degree in international Business and a minor in Marketing. While earning the degree, she was working as Lead Learner Coach at Tri-C.
​
Ms. Johnson joined the Fairmount Coop in 2018 when her son Quinn was in the Young 3’s and fell in love with the FCP community. She became a substitute teacher for 2 years which lead her to be an Assistant Teacher. This is year her 3rd year as Assistant Teacher at FCP. Additionally, this past summer, she worked as the Summer to Grow Lead Teacher at Ruffing Montessori School.
These broad experiences helped her learn to be flexible and patient. Helping people gives her satisfaction, and working with children is very rewarding for me because she can be a part of their journey and grow alongside them.
Asiyih Modarai
Pre-K Assistant Teacher
Ms. Modarai is an Ohio native who went to grad school in Canada and lived in China before settling in Shaker Heights with her husband, Niyaz, in 2016. Her training is in Archival and Library Science, and she worked in school libraries up until 2020. Since the summer 2020 she has been home taking care of her two sons - Hugo and Theo.
Along with raising her own children Ms. Modarai
has experience as a volunteer children’s class teacher and camp counselor. She loves connecting with children and she is so excited to join the FCP team this year. Her family had such a wonderful experience when her son attended PreK last year. She is looking forward to joining Megan in welcoming a new group of children into an enriching and joyful year of PreK!