Team Biographies

Genevieve D'Arcy - genevievedarcy@gmail.com

Genevieve D’Arcy, Ph.D.  taught elementary school for eleven years. She is currently working as an Educational Consultant with Baystate Academy Charter Public School in Springfield, MA and continues to support CCRSJ. She was a demonstration teacher at the UCLA Lab School for seven years, teaching at the Primary, Intermediate, and Upper levels, and continues to work in Outreach for the Critical Thinking Institute and the Cognitively Guided Instruction Institute. She has also worked for Melrose Elementary; Miami-Dade County Public Schools, FL; and Main Street School, Irvington Union-Free School District, NY.  

Cyrene St. Amant - cystaa@gmail.com  

Cyrene St. Amant has been teaching for over 20 years. She is currently a Reading Specialist at Round Meadow Elementary School in Las Virgenes Unified School District. She worked as demonstration teacher for UCLA Lab School at the Early Childhood Level (5- to 6-year olds) for three years prior to her current position. She has also worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District at Florence Griffith-Joyner Elementary School and at The Accelerated School, Los Angeles. She has participated in the following professional development: California Reading and Literature Project Fellow; American Educational Research Association; National Association of Multicultural Educators; UCLA Summer Program for Graduate Research; Los Angeles Writing Project Fellow, California State University Los Angeles; Academic English Mastery Program.

Carla Anne Thomas - carlanne@ucla.edu

Carla-Anne Thomas has been teaching for 16 years. She has worked at the Lab school for the last 8 years. She is currently teaching in the Primary Level (6- to 7-year olds). She is a 50% classroom teacher and 50% Literacy Specialist. Carla-Anne has worked at John Muir School Elementary School in Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District; Kelter Center, Los Angeles; William Anderson Elementary School, Lawndale; and John Muir Middle School, Burbank. She has participated in the following professional development: Lucy Calkins Writers Project; California Teach Program, UCLA (mentoring program); is a graduate of UCLA’s Principal Leadership Program; Cotsen Fellow – Santa Monica; Smart Board Training; CGI Math conferences; Kelter Center Training – Linda Mood Bell; Special Education, SMARTS in the schools (artist/teacher workshops); American Memory – Library of Congress; English Learners in California Symposium; Critical Thinking Institute, Principal Leadership Institute.    

Chris Wilson - chriswilson@ucla.edu

Christopher Wilson has been teaching for 19 years. He is currently a demonstration teacher in the Primary Level (6- to 8-year olds). He has worked at UCLA Lab School for five years and was previously at J.H. McGaugh Elementary School, Los Alamitos Unified School District. He has participated in the following professional development: Cotsen Family Foundation Art of Teaching Mentor; Coaching Strategies for Leaders, Orange County Department of Education; Smart Board & BrightLink Training; Alvarado Writing Institute; Critical Thinking Institute, Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI); Library of Congress Primary Source Training, Washington, DC.

Shernice Lazare - shernice.lazare@ucla.edu