Our Teachers

Mrs. Laurie Miller

Mrs. Miller is the lead preschool teacher and director for the 3 and 4-year-old programs. In addition, she is the teacher’s aide in the on-site UPK Program and the director of the UPK Program for the Clarence Central School District. She has been teaching at the Co-op since 2000 where she has created a culture of kindness and warmth within the classroom that is felt by all of the families involved in the school.

She attended Villa Maria College as an early childhood education major, winning the Villa Maria Faculty Scholarship in January of 1991.  She transferred to Buffalo State College in 1992 and graduated with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Elementary and Exceptional Education. She was a substitute teacher in the Clarence Central School District prior to joining CCNS.  
 
Mrs. Miller’s teaching method focuses on guided classroom learning experiences that prepare the students for the kindergarten environment while allowing them to be active and participatory. She believes that unstructured learning times where the students are free to create their own learning experiences through play and hands-on exercises are important in building creativity and confidence.  
     
Mrs. Miller and her husband live in Clarence, as do her three children and eight grandchildren.

Mrs. Jessica Dickinson

Miss Jess is the teacher’s aide for the 3 and 4-year-old programs.  Prior to teaching at the Co-op, she was in the childcare industry for six years. She has four beautiful daughters who are all alumni of the Co-op. She is a past president of the Co-op’s board, was a certified Emergency Medical Technician from 1998-2003, and is currently a member of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Clarence Center Fire Company. She has been coaching travel soccer for the Town of Clarence year-round for many years.

Miss Jess shows the students what it means to be helpful, patient, and kind to others each and every day.