Allison Hart, Kindergarten

Allison Hart is entering her ninth year of teaching Kindergarten, having spent one year in Devon before coming here to Green Woods in 2002. She did her undergraduate work at Cabrini College, with a dual Early Childhood and Elementary Education degree. She has also recently completed her Master’s of Science in Education at Saint Joseph’s University, with certifications in Reading Specialist and Special Education. Allison enjoys teaching five and six year olds, and especially enjoys being a part of the process of learning to read!

Allison grew up in Delaware County, and then moved to several locations in the Philadelphia area before returning back to Delaware County three years ago. She is married to Michael Fineberg, and also shares her home with a cat named Jack and a dog named Apple. They are expecting their first child in December of this year, and are very excited about the addition to the family!  Allison is looking forward to another great year at Green Woods!

Melinda Coughlin, Special Ed Coordinator

Melinda Coughlin joined our team at GWCS in January 2006.  She has been employed in the field of special education for approximately 20 years.  During those years as a teacher and as an administrator, she has worked with diverse special needs populations including children and adolescents with acquired brain injuries, learning disabilities, developmental delays, psychiatric disorders, hearing impairments, and chronic health impairments.  Highlights of her career include the development of the special education program in a large urban charter school, the development of school programs at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); the creation and implementation of a school reentry protocol for children with acquired brain injury served at Children's Seashore House of CHOP; and the reorganization and revitalization of an early intervention program serving the birth to three year old special needs population. 

Mrs. Coughlin completed her undergraduate program at Towson University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.  She obtained her Masters of Education in Special Education at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD and is completing the special education supervisory certification at Arcadia University.

Mrs. Coughlin is married and mother of three daughters, ages 23, 21 and 20 and two pugs.  In her “free time” she is an avid gardener.

After working in a large urban middle school and high school for five years, I was ready for a change.  I looked for a position in an elementary school that is committed to the development of the whole child, committed to creating life-long learners and thinkers, and committed to building a community where staff, parents, and students are all stakeholders engaged in the creating and maintaining an academically stimulating and nurturing environment for the families it serves.  I found those qualities/characteristics at GWCS.

GWCS is an exciting place to be!  The setting and integrated curriculum are unique, but for me as the special education coordinator, even more important is the interest in and dedication of this team of professionals in meeting the needs of all of our students.