Credentials

• Taught at Gladwyne Elementary School in the Lower Merion School District, ranked the 4th best district in Pennsylvania and among the top 100 in the nation

• Recognized by Lower Merion School District in their District Digest for using differentiated instruction in her classroom

• Provided instruction in Title I schools in New Mexico, giving Miss Tonya a well-rounded perspective on equity and differentiated instruction

• Facilitated a summer reading program at Albuquerque Academy called The Peterson Learning Support Program, which focused on students with learning disabilities

• Co-created a full inclusion program called the Children's Healthy Integrated Learning Environment of the Sciences (C.H.I.L.E.S), which received the 1994 Intel Grant

• Attended 314 hours of Even Start professional development in early childhood and dual language training

• Preschool training included Tools of the Mind, Nurtured Heart, Brain Gym, Early Learning Guidelines, Essential Indicators and Rubrics

• 30+ years of working with full inclusion and heterogeneous grouping

• Highlighted by the Video Journal of Education in 1995 for full inclusion and heterogeneous grouping PD video for full inclusion two years before state mandates

• Developed a child-centered curriculum that significantly enhanced dual language success by fostering family, daycare and preschool engagement

• Hired and trained childcare staff and developed the educational goals which prepared daycare children to transition into my preschool curriculum

• Created 1 2 3 Super Empowered ! Language Infusion Resource, A Course Workbook 2024

• Authored Tell Me Again How We Became Such a Happy Family (coming soon)

• Coauthored The Art of Connection: 365 Days of Abundance in 2025

• Won 1993 "Top Teach" award for her work at Wherry Elementary