Danielle Endes was the Special Education Teacher at the Dillon Center from 2013- 2017. She is now serving as the Assistant Director and Special Education Coordinator. Danielle received her first M.A. in Special Education and her second M.A. in Educational Leadership, both from St. Joseph’s College.

Katherine Goldsmith has been the school nurse at the Dillon Center since 2001. During this time Katherine also ran the Toddler playgroup as well as the After School Program. Starting in August of 2017, Katherine took on a new challenge of being the Executive Administrative Assistant at the Dillon Center.

Gina has been the special education teacher in Classroom 1 since 2017. She completed her M.A. in literacy and cognition at St. Joseph’s College. In the classroom, Gina loves to read stories, play pretend, and do cooking activities with her students!

Emmy has been at the Dillon Center since 2016. She completed her M.A. in Early Childhood Education with an extension in Special Education at Brooklyn College. She loves working with younger children and enjoys cooking, singing songs and art projects!

Merlina is the Special Education Assistant Teacher in Classroom One. She has been working in the Inclusion classroom since 2002.  She is the mother of three children, the oldest of whom is a Dillon Center alum. She has a passion for working with young children, and helping them to grow. She loves planning big art projects such as murals, paper mache, and puppet making.

Rod is an assistant teacher in Classroom 2. Rod started at the Dillon Center in 2021 but has 9 years of experience working in early childhood. He loves to read books, explore nature and learn what fascinates his students. He enjoys doing messy art projects in the classroom that allow the children to express themselves.

Sameena Rahman was born in India and immigrated to the United States in 1983. She completed her M.A. in literacy and cognition at St. Joseph’s College. Sameena has worked at the Dillon Center since 1995.

Ms. Emily loves young children and enjoys learning from them as well as teaching them. She is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College with a Master’s in Literacy and Cognition. Ms. Emily is the mother of eight grown children and a Girl Scout Leader for over 25 years.

Miss Peggy has been at the Dillon Center since 1995. Even after all that time, she is still excited to play with the children every day. She especially likes to bake and cook with them.

Melyssa is passionate about early childhood and enjoys watching children learn and grow in the classroom. She has been a teacher at Dillon since 2018. Melyssa is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College with a B.A. in Speech. She also has a M.S.Ed from Brooklyn College in Early Childhood Education with an extension in Special Education. Her favorite activities in the classroom include singing songs and doing art projects!

Shannon is an assistant teacher in Classroom 4. She enjoys cooking, doing puzzles and reading books. She got to know and love Dillon when she was a Child Study major at St. Joseph’s College, and has loved being a teacher at the Dillon Center since January of 2019.

Maria is an assistant teacher in Classroom 4. She started at the Dillon Center in September of 2019, having worked at another preschool for many years that unfortunately closed down. Maria loves to tell stories, do art projects, and play outside with her students.

Sister Patricia Dittmer received her B.A. from St. Joseph’s College, her M.S. in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and her P.D. in Supervision and Leadership. She is the co-author of the book Look Listen and Plan — Developing Literacy in Young Children. Sister Patricia is also a Consultant at Catholic School Academy, and an Instructor of Early Childhood Education at St. Joseph’s College. She has a passion for art and creativity, music and movement, and learning.

Victoria Contreras has been at Dillon since 2001. She enjoys singing songs, reading stories and cooking with the children. Sometimes she plans activities in Spanish because she is bilingual.