Shannon Gardner (School Director)

Teacher Shannon has a real passion for building relationships with families and working as a team to nurture children and help them develop a love of learning. She graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in Elementary Education with a concentration in psychology. She then moved to Seattle where she worked at a large, NAEYC accredited child care center for nearly 18 years. She held various positions while there, including assistant and lead teacher, program supervisor, and assistant director. Teacher Shannon has been with Madison Park Cooperative Preschool since 2012 serving first as Head Teacher and since 2019 as School Director.

While not developing the minds of the young children she teaches, Shannon enjoys traveling, knitting, reading, playing games and spending time with friends.

Frances Coppa (Parent Educator)

Frances has been working in the field of education for 20 years.  She has been an elementary teacher, a special education teacher, an administrator, a co-op preschool parent and now a parent educator.  Frances loves cooperative preschool because of the loving support that happens between everyone involved.  It is a way to create a village in an otherwise busy city.  In this role, she focuses on building relationships with kids and their families first. Her goal is to facilitate dialogue and bring topics that are relevant to the challenges and interests of this particular group of families. Frances has 2 elementary aged kids that keep her on her toes.  In her free time, Frances is on outdoor adventures with her family or riding her bike.

Jane Schmidt (Parent Educator)

Jane Schmidt has been a faculty member in the Department of Parent Education at
Seattle Central & North Seattle College since 2013 and has taught parent education
and child development classes to several cooperative preschools in the Seattle
area. Jane is also a Parent Coach in private practice, having founded Parent
Coaching Northwest, LLC in 2012. Through her work, Jane supported hundreds of
families with children of all ages. She especially enjoys working with families with
children through the age of 5 and believes these years to be the most crucial in the
development of every child.

Jane earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Washington
and did her graduate-level training at the Parent Coaching Institute through Seattle
Pacific University.

“Giddy” is the word Jane uses to describe the feeling she gets when she’s in the
classroom with the children, teacher, and parents/caregivers. There is so much
going on! Jane’s primary focus is to help nurture, educate and support each family
member, caretaker, and child wherever they are in their journey. The network of
support each family has just by being part of a co-op community is invaluable. Jane
also joins the parents for monthly meetings, discussing innumerable important
topics bearing on many important topics regarding your child’s emotional, physical,
and cognitive development, as well as supporting and guiding you in your role as a
parent. The meetings promise to be fun and interactive and often an opportunity to
really get to know other parents who are going through many of the same joys and
challenges of parenting.

Jane’s co-op experience began almost 20 years ago when she and her husband
enrolled their twin daughters at Lakewood Cooperative Preschool. She believes it’s
one of the best parenting decisions they made. Jane’s twin daughters are now
young adults, approaching their sophomore year in college. Jane and her family
love heading off into the mountains or traveling most anywhere in the world. Jane
also enjoys cooking/baking, reading, and getting to spend time with her 5 sisters
and extended family.