Our Amazing Staff - Barbereux School of Evanston

Administrators

Cathy Kurtz

Director

Cathy holds Bachelor’s Degrees from Iowa State University in Elementary Education and Child Development and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from National-Louis University. She started at Barbereux in 1992, teaching preschool and kindergarten for ten years and serving as Director of Barbereux for four years. She is also Director of Curriculum.

It was Cathy’s work that led to the initial and continued renewal of NAEYC accreditation for The Barbereux School. She is the parent of one teenage son.

Maria Freeman

Admissions Director and Administrative Assistant

Maria became part of the Barbereux family when her older son joined the Preschool class in 2000 – and she never left, volunteering to help at events through the years and serving on the Board. Her younger son followed in the footsteps of his brother five years later, and both sons treasure their four years at Barbereux. She has worked in various capacities at The Center for Gifted / Midwest Torrance Center for Creativity since 1986, including teacher, Site Director, Associate Director, Board Member, and Treasurer. She earned her doctorate from the University of Chicago, where she wrote her dissertation on William Rainey Harper’s inductive method of teaching.

Preschool Teachers

Maliha Haq-Clark

Preschool Teacher

Maliha Haq-Clark is excited to start her first year this Fall at the Barbereux School as a preschool teacher. She has had over fifteen years of experience working at various preschools in Chicago after graduating from DePaul University with a Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education. Maliha has been living in Evanston for two years with her husband Roberto, and daughter, Cataleya. In her spare time, Maliha likes to run, read, and watch movies as well as going on bike rides and playing tennis with her family.

Julie Cohen

Preschool Teacher

Julie Cohen enjoys working with children and watching them grow intellectually and socially. Teaching was a late in life career, beginning with substituting and then working eight years as a lead teacher in a Montessori school before joining Barbereux last January. She enjoys traveling, visiting beaches around the world, and gardening, growing both vegetables and flowers. After growing up in Northwest Indiana, she now lives in Chicago with her husband, Matt, son, Benjamin, and Shih-Tzu, Snickers.

Maria Smith

Preschool Teacher

Maria Smith graduated at Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education. For over twenty years, she has worked with children. She has nannied, substituted, taught 5^th grade, worked in preschool classrooms, and, for the last seven years, in a Montessori preschool. She lives in Niles and in her free time enjoys traveling, dancing, playing sports, and spending time with her two sons, Ryan and Kyle, and dog, Fox.

Junior Kindergarten Teachers

Leslie Troogstad

Jr. Kindergarten Teacher

Leslie joined the Barbereux School in the fall of 1995. Since that time she has served as classroom teacher, Assistant Director, Curriculum Director, Camp Director and educational consultant. Currently, she is happy to be back in the classroom helping to create a child-centered environment for our youngest students.

Leslie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education from Northeastern Illinois University with an emphasis in Child Development. She also holds a Preschool-8th Grade Elementary Teaching Certificate.

Leslie enjoys singing, reading, creating and learning with our preschoolers and is the mother of two children.

Mariam Kifarkis

Jr. Kindergarten Teacher

Mariam has always worked with children in various ways such as babysitting full time, youth groups at church, and a Montessori class room. She is currently at Northeastern University in the process of earning a degree in teaching preschool through middle school. Trilingual, she speaks Assyrian, Arabic, and English. She is very caring and enjoys making people’s days brighter. In her spare time she enjoys going to the skate park, working out, spending time with family and friends, and listening to podcasts. She loves seeing children learn new things and the excitement that it brings them. Mariam finds inspiration every day through working with the children and knowing that she is a part of their first school experience.

Ana Jurado

Jr. Kindergarten Teacher

Ana Jurado was born and raised in Mexico, where she was inspired to become a teacher at a very young age. She has a Psychology and Philosophy academic background. Ana is a current member of the Waldorf Spanish Teachers Association. She feels honored and blessed to be able to bring her love for the Spanish language and learning into the classroom. Ana resides in Evanston with her husband and two children. In her spare time, one may find Ana singing in a choir, reading, or making hand crafts.

Kindergarten / 1st Grade Teachers

Patrick Blades

Kindergarten / 1st Grade Teacher

Patrick Blades, lead teacher, was born and raised in Evanston. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and later completed his Master’s Degree in Education with an Elementary Teaching certificate from DePaul University.

Prior to starting at Barbereux in 2008, he taught English in South Korea, was a preschool teacher and worked for two years at Middleton Elementary School in Skokie as a Special Educational Associate Teacher. He currently resides in Skokie with his wife, Sung Min, and his son Soohyung.

Cathy Kurtz

Kindergarten / 1st Grade Teacher

It was Cathy’s work that led to the initial and continued renewal of NAEYC accreditation for The Barbereux School. She is the parent of one teenage son.

Edward Freeman

Kindergarten / 1st Grade Teacher

Edward recently completed his undergraduate degree at Knox College in Music Education.

For his student teaching, he studied under Katy Sinclair and Hsing-Huei Huang in the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Choir Program. Edward is excited to return to Barbereux, being a former student himself. He spends his free time playing video games or Magic the Gathering. He has a two-year old Shar Pei named Ajay.

Spanish Teacher

Ana Jurado

Music Teacher

Jess Eisenberg

Jess Eisenberg has been playing piano since she was three years old and was able to start lessons at four thanks to her Gramma finding her a teacher! Since then, she has enjoyed teaching other people music, piano, singing, theatre, and more! Jess has a degree in theatre and a degree in political science, with a minor in history from the University of Central Florida. She has taught with Piano Lessons in Your Home, Mason Music, Red Mountain Theatre and Missoula Children’s Theatre. (To name a few.) She has taught preschool and written curriculum for music camps and classes. You can still catch old episodes of her on the “Sunny and Cecil Show” on YouTube where she sings songs for preschoolers. As a playwright she founded 365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project. She is a board member at Babes with Blades Theatre Company. Jess lives in Chicago with her husband, her 9 year old kiddo, and their dog Noodle.

Additional Staff

Mary Bell

Mary Bell is a Reggio-inspired teacher, coach, and consultant. Throughout her decades of working with young children, she has been inspired by their creativity and curiosity, their challenging questions, and their innate wisdom. And, they have taught her essential truths of living a life of joy and fulfillment. Her philosophy is guided by the work of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, and the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The values and attitudes of respect, collaboration, curiosity, and creativity infuse my approach to teaching. She has worked with educators, children, and families as a classroom teacher, studio art teacher, preschool director, university faculty member, and consultant. (You may enjoy visiting her website: marybellinspiredbychildren.com)

Gwen Burns

Gwen Burns is an experienced early childhood teacher. Her educational philosophy concerns supporting children as they learn to self-regulate themselves in a classroom setting. Adapting to rules and listening and following directions are important skills to learn, but children also have to understand their own feelings, the feelings of other children, and how to express those feelings in appropriate ways. As a trusted adult, her goal is to listen to children, assist them in expressing themselves, and respond to them in a caring manner.

Rebecca Aung

Rebecca Aung is an early childhood teacher who began working at Barbereux as an afternoon teacher this summer. She loves being able to inspire and nurture young children’s learning and believes that providing children with love, positivity, kindness, and some firmness helps them to reach their fullest potential. She grew up in Mandalay, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and is bilingual in Burmese and English.

Suzy Switzer

Suzy Switzer has worked at Barbereux for the past three summers. She recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.A. in English Literature and Culture and an additional major in Psychology, concentrating on developmental psychology and working in the research preschool on campus. She loves dancing, traveling, reading, and spending time with her family, friends, and dog, Duke.