Teachers at Aldrich

Our wonderful staff is welcoming, compassionate, and knowledgeable. You will find that they enjoy developing relationships with your child and your family.

Teacher, Room 6

Kyleigh Anderson

Kyleigh completed her degree in Early Childhood Care and Education at RCTC in the Spring of 2022. She will be an assistant teacher in rooms 6, 7 and 8 this year.

Teacher, Room 4

Emilie Dailey

Emilie returned to the Aldrich faculty in 2021, having previously taught here from 2013-2018. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and has worked in early childhood for 20 years.

Teacher, Room 5

Angela DeMarco

Angela came to Aldrich in 2016. She studied biology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and went on to complete medical school. She has worked with children in many settings over the years, including summer camps and day cares.

Teacher, Rooms 7 and 8

Terri Farlow

Terri came in Aldrich in 2000 and has worked as a team and lead teacher. She has training in health and child development from Rochester Area Vocational-Technical Institute and Rochester Community and Technical College.

Teacher, Room 7

Jill Finnan

Jill earned a multidisciplinary degree in elementary education and psychology from Bethel College. She worked in several child care centers as an assistant and lead teacher before having children of her own. Since that time she has done volunteer work with children of all ages and homeschooled her daughters.

Teacher, Room 2

Nicole Forliti

Nicole has been with Aldrich  School since 2011. She maintains a Minnesota Teaching license and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education from the St. Cloud State University.

Teacher, Room 1

Cindy Gagnon

Director

Annie Getchell

Annie has a Bachelors Degree from the College of St. Benedict where she graduated in 2006. She joined the Aldrich faculty in 2018, and previously worked 4 years as a preschool teacher and 4 years as an Assistant Director of a preschool program. Annie was honored to serve on the Aldrich Board of Directors for 4 years, where she learned all about the Aldrich philosophy and fell in love with the Aldrich community.

Teacher, Room 8

Miriam Haacke

Miriam attended Aldrich as a child and began her teaching career at Aldrich as a Teacher’s Aide in 2015. She previously directed an after-school program for at-risk elementary schoolers. Miriam studied music at North Park University in Chicago, IL, and you can also find her playing original music around town under the name “Miriam Halleen.”

Teacher, Room 3

Stef Herbst

Stef joined the Aldrich staff in 2018. She is a Registered Nurse with a background in pediatric nursing.

Teacher, Room 9

Susie Johnson

Susie joined Aldrich School in 2016 after teaching four year olds at another preschool in Rochester. Prior to that she taught kindergarten in Wisconsin for 21 years, twelve of those team teaching with a Special Education teacher. She received her BA degree in Elementary Education from Concordia College.

Teacher, Room 7

Ann Kahn

Ann joined the Aldrich staff in April 2018 with 16 years of experience at a local child care center. She has a preschool CDA.

Teacher, Room 2

Melissa LaForest

Melissa has a degree in Elementary Education, and ran an in-home daycare program for three years prior to coming to Aldrich.  While her older child was attending Aldrich, she talked with the staff about her dream of working at Aldrich- and was so excited when a teaching position became available!

Assistant Director

Carrie Manguson

Carrie joined the Aldrich office team in October 2014 and transitioned to the role of Assistant Director three years later. She was born and raised in Rochester and is happy to be raising her family here as well! She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from University of Minnesota in Duluth. She previously worked at two local childcare centers as a Lead Teacher in the School Age program and later as the Assistant Director and Director of Education.

Teacher, Room 6

Bailey Marcou

Bailey joined Aldrich as an assistant teacher in 2022 with previous experience in childcare and a background in art and design. She is currently pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education.

Teacher, Room 4

Jazmin Marquis

Jazmin holds a Computer Science degree from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, her home country. After working for six years at IBM in Mexico City, she moved to Rochester, and started a career in education. She worked for the Rochester Public Schools District with first and second graders for two years as a paraprofessional, while completing a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University, St. Paul. She joined Aldrich in 2019.

Teacher, Room 8

Lydia Merkel

Resident Substitute Teacher

Caitlin Newberg

Caitlin joined the Aldrich teaching staff in 2022. She has experience in child care and early education with children who ranged in age from infancy through school-age. She loves watching the leaps in development that happen in these early years.

Teacher, Room 1

Jolene Olson

Jolene started substituting at Aldrich in 2008 before transitioning to an aide and eventually lead teacher. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Wisconsin- La Crosse and has many hours of continuing education focused on play based learning and child development.

Office Coordinator

Cheryl Payne

Cheryl has been with Aldrich as Office Coordinator since April of 2015. She previously served on the Aldrich Board of Directors from 2009-2011. She has a BA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Substitute Teacher

Jinx Payne

Substitute Teacher

Karen Mulvihill

Karen received her Level II Certification in Early Childhood Care and Education from Alexandria Technical College in 1998. Since her certification, she has worked as a family child-care provider, assistant teacher, lead teacher and assistant director. She joined the Aldrich faculty in the fall of 2015. Karen is planning on working toward her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education in the future.

Teacher, Room 1

Logan Petzold

Logan has been coaching swimming in Rochester for the last 12 years and is happy to embark on the journey of preschool teaching!  She has a BA from Hamline University and a MS in school-aged counseling from UW River Falls.

Teacher, Room 2

Kate Rauch

Kate is started at Aldrich School in 2016.  She has taken advantage of both paid and volunteer opportunities working with children over the last 20 years as well as the intense immersion program that is motherhood.

Teacher, Room 2

Marcia Riggs

Substitute Teacher

Juliann Roggow

Teacher, Rooms 5 and 9

McKenzie Shefelbine

Substitute teacher

Rachel Skinner

Rachel graduated from Hope College of Holland, Michigan in 1994 with a Bachelors or Arts degree, double majoring in psychology and sociology. From 2002 to 2005, she worked at another local preschool as a lead teacher. Rachel came to Aldrich in 2005 and has served in the roles of lead, team, assistant, and aide teacher, working with all age ranges.

Teacher, Room 9

Bethany Smith

Teacher, Room 3

Kendra Verhage

Teacher, Room 8

Nicci Watson

Nicci has taught at Aldrich School since 2013. She has dual degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education from Xavier University. She taught special education in a small community just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, prior to moving to Rochester. She is a former Aldrich board member and served on the original Board of Directors for the Children’s Museum of Rochester, a group of parents and community leaders who worked together to bring the museum to Rochester.

Teacher, Room 3

Jenn Wiens

Jenn is an Aldrich alumna and joined the teaching staff in 2022. She has a degree in Early Childhood Development and more than a decade of experience in early childhood education. Jenn is passionate about creating an inspired, exploratory, and safe environment for children to play, learn, and grow.

Substitute Teacher

Mary Herges

Mary has been on the staff at Aldrich since 2007. Previously, she was a lead classroom teacher at another local nursery school for twelve years and has been in Early Childhood Education for almost 30 years. She received her BA from the University of Minnesota and also holds a current RN license from Rochester Community and Technical College.

Substitute teacher

Nancy Plute

Substitute teacher

Linda Wilkins