IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BHN'S BOARD

Dear friends:

The Board of Directors of Bolton Hill Nursery is thrilled to announce the appointment of Francine Marchese as the next Executive Director of our nursery school/childcare center.

Following a rigorous search process, Francine emerged as a strong candidate. Currently a teacher and professional development coach in Baltimore County Public Schools, an adjunct instructor in Early Childhood Education at the Johns Hopkins School of Education and also at University of Maryland, Francine is both a master early childhood teacher herself and an inspirational and skilled teacher of teachers.

A former supervisor of Francine’s noted that she was excellent at understanding how to support teachers, and has “created model Early Childhood Education (ECE) classrooms throughout Baltimore and DC.” Another colleague noted that she has a "very good understanding of ECE, both from the holistic/big picture to the more fine and granular student level." She emphasized Francine's deep knowledge about play-based learning and teacher mentoring and development.

Francine originally trained as an artist, receiving her BFA in Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute. She has a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and trained as a coach at Columbia University Teachers College Reading/Writing K-2 Literacy and Leadership Institutes. For several years, Francine was Director of Early Childhood Education at Urban Teachers, a local non-profit organization that prepares young teachers to be highly effective, lifelong practitioners of their craft.

Francine’s professional background more than prepares her to take the reins at BHN! She is steeped in best practices in early childhood education as well as teacher support, and we are confident she is ready to lead at Bolton Hill Nursery.

Francine has two grown children--a stepdaughter who teaches 2nd grade in Baltimore County and a son who is an aspiring filmmaker in Los Angeles--and a partner Don, with whom she shares a home in Otterbein. In her spare time, Francine loves to paint, garden, cook, travel and spend time with her family.

We leave you with Francine’s own words, recounting an early-career visit to a Pre-K teacher’s classroom:

“As we witnessed the active buzz of children happily playing and working in the classroom, [my colleague] turned to me and exclaimed, “She runs a good shop!” I’ll always remember those words, because to me the simple idea of a shop… defines what a great classroom is; a place where children can follow their interests and curiosities, with support from caring adults. In such an environment, children create their own knowledge and develop the skills to be active and enthusiastic learners.”

In conversation with BHN’s Search Committee, Francine remarked that she never wanted to work in a place where there aren’t children. She has created a career that centers this belief and passion, and we are delighted to know she'll join our community this coming summer.

Welcome to Bolton Hill Nursery, Francine Marchese!

With warm regards to all,

The Board of Directors of Bolton Hill Nursery

Fred Demers, President

Kathleen Fanone, Vice President and Co-Chair of the Search Committee

Barbara Naylor, Vice President

John Timson, Treasurer

Whitney Birenbaum, Secretary and Co-Chair of the Search Committee

Nathan Arnold

Scott Goldman

Joe Johnson, member of the Search Committee

Andrew Lacovara

Carol Scott

Sara Tonnesen