Meet Our Staff
Karen Holt
Ms. Karen is our SFEI Center Director. She is a long time Clear Lake area resident who studied at University of Houston Clear Lake and received her Child Care Director's Licence from the State of Texas in 2014. Before earning her director license, she was an assistant director and preschool classroom teacher for many years. Her experience in both for-profit and non-profit early childhood education includes developing preschool curriculum, managing all aspects of the child care center business office, maintaining an excellent safety record with child care licensing, hiring and retaining devoted staff and creating fun family events. She is a volunteer facilitator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the job skills counselor with the Family Promise organization, and a huge supporter of music arts in local schools. Ms. Karen is also a notary public.
Earlier in her career, Karen worked many years as a building services project manager. This gave her valuable experience in managing and training people from diverse backgrounds, proper cleaning and maintenance techniques for a safe, healthy building and working with contractors on remodeling/repair projects.
Ms Karen finds the different learning styles of little humans fascinating and challenging. "My hope is that all the children who graduate SFEI, will go forward with self confidence and excitement for learning new things."
Here at SFEI, Karen plans to work hard to maintain our centers reputation for providing an “out of this world” childcare experience for all of the JSC families that SFEI serves.
Teresa Gill
Ms. Teresa is our SFEI Assistant Director. She earned her Bachelors of Science Degree from Michigan State University and Associate of Arts Degree at Kellogg Community College. She also has her Physical Education and Health Teaching Certification in Texas and started her teaching career in Texas for Pasadena ISD. Teaching in all ages in a school for parenting teens with an onsite child care facility.
She met her husband in 1995 and has two sons, Samuel and Noah. Since 2007 she has been teaching movement, music and sign language at SFEI. Her movement and music class focuses on seven fundamental readiness skills: balance, general coordination, laterality, body image, tactile touch, hand-eye coordination and audio receptive and expressive language. The children are encouraged to use reasoning skills and problem solving through active exploration games, music and movement activities. Her sign language class is literacy based following the SFEI Bo/Bailey Curriculum using a themed book, finger plays, related props and preschool songs.
Ms. Teresa truly believe in the importance of literacy in our lives and feels it is never too early to start reading to our children. She has enjoyed continuing to be able to work with the families of SFEI and to enrich the school’s curriculum as the Assistant Director.