Maureen Birdsell is now QUIPS Director of Learning. From Day 1 of QUIPS she was a Lead teacher for several Programs, namely Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten.
Although she began her working career as a marketing professional with Ford Motor Company, she switched tracks to teach children when her own now 19-year-old was a pre-schooler. She taught 3-6 year olds for over 10 years in the United States prior to her and her family’s decision to move overseas. In recent years Maureen has gained specialisation in literacy and was the Reading Specialist at her previous employer’s Columbia Academy Preschool here in Singapore. She began the first class here at QUIPS and has run a very successful inquiry-based learning program where children have been abuzz with activity and learning!
Maureen is starting her 13th year here in Singapore and has 3 children. Megan, her oldest graduated from University in Texas studying Special Education. Abi is is studying Marine Science in the USA and her 21 year old son, Ian, is in his last year in University studying IT.
Maureen Birdsell
Program Director
Ms Muneera (or Ms Mun) is our Lead Teacher for Fantastic Fireflies Yellow (Toddlers) class this year.
She has 9 years experience working in Early Childhood Education in Singapore . She started off teaching in a brain development center for Early Years.
Seeking more diversity, Mun gained more knowledge teaching in a Mandarin-based kindergarten as an English Language teacher. Being in a bilingual setting widened her understanding in teaching children of diverse backgrounds and also enhanced her understanding of International Preschool practices . Mun is holding a degree in Early Childhood Education and she is thrilled to join the QUIPS family as she can further provide learning opportunities for the children through inquiry and hands on learning. Mun believes that children learn the best when given an opportunity to express themselves and explore through different learning scenarios. Being an avid dancer and singer herself, Mun incorporates a lot of music and movement in her everyday class routine and makes sure everyone is having lots of fun!
In her free time, she enjoys catching live bands, travelling, sports, books and movies.
Muneera Faisal
Teacher - Toddlers
Hanne Adolfsen is Co-Teacher for Ms Mun in the Fantastic Fireflies Yellow (Toddler) class.
Ms Hanne brings aboard her extensive experience, exuberant enthusiasm, and a steady faith in children’s ability to develop and achieve more than they are given credit for. With Early Childhood teaching experience obtained in various countries across the Globe (Australia, Malaysia, Norway, UAE and Singapore), she is one of the most passionate and dynamic members of the Team.
Ms Hanne loves teaching the youngest students and is absolutely thrilled for the new Academic Year to help them thrive.
In her free time, Ms Hanne enjoys cycling, trail walking, cooking and exploring new places with her family.
Hanne Adolfsen
Co-teacher
Bee moved to Singapore from the beautiful island of Boracay, Philippines, to join us as a Co-Teacher in Toddler Class.
She has over 10 years of teaching experience ranging from infants to adults, and is most passionate about working with the youngest preschoolers. She enjoys incorporating stories, art, songs and messy play to her classes.
After getting her degree in Early Childhood Education, Bee gained more experience teaching in the United States and became more interested in the socio-emotional development of children. She believes that Preschool age is the time where good learning habits are formed and positive self-esteem is built.
Outside of school, Bee continues her love for teaching by working on a passion project called BeeCreative. She makes learning materials and craft kits that will help raise funds for impoverished children to be able to access fun and exciting learning activities.
In her free time, she remains as energetic as she is in the classroom. Bee enjoys working out, long swims in the ocean and snorkeling (she is a recreational triathlete (!), and is aiming to complete several big races this year!). She dreams of swimming around an island and to be able to free dive someday.
Bea Angeles
Teacher - Pre Kindergarten
Althea is our Lead teacher for the Creative Caterpillars (Pre-K) class (3-4 year olds).
She is originally from Manila, Philippines, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Early Childhood Education at De La Salle University. Upon moving to Singapore, she gained experience as a Lead Teacher in a local Pre-school with a thematic curriculum. Seeking more challenge in an international set-up, Althea joined a Reggio-inspired International Baccalaureate Pre-school, where she was an Associate Teacher for 3 years. Althea is so happy to be working at QUIPS as she can continue to provide learning opportunities for the children through inquiry, research and hands-on experiences with the International Primary Curriculum. She is very grateful to work with her colleagues at QUIPS, with whom she shares her passion for learning and teaching.
In her free time she enjoys traveling, cycling around Singapore, watching movies and reading books.
Althea Vergara
Teacher - Pre Kindergarten
Ms Paula is in love with Teaching and nurturing the little ones.
Ms Paula has been in Early Childhood education close to 15 years now.
She holds Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary education specializing in Early Childhood. Having taught in various set-ups in Singapore, Ms Paula chose QUIPS as its values and philosophy goes closely with what Ms Paula believes in. She is a strong advocate of learning through play and authentic experiences, and finds the biggest joy in watching her students solving problems as they play together.
Having lived in Singapore for the most part of her life she is now a proud Citizen of the country. She has a son Noah who is a pre-school student himself.
Paula Angela Cabisada
Co-teacher
This Academic year Ms Corine is the Lead Teacher in our Creative Caterpillars. She has had years of teaching experience with local preschools prior to joining Quayside Isle Preparatory School as Kindergarten teacher.
Having worked in both Theme-based and Montessori settings, she has acquired the skills required to engage children of various learning styles. She enjoys teaching young children, especially during Art and craft lessons, where the children’s work revolves around exploration and self expression. To develop herself further both professionally and as an individual, she is equipping herself with the knowledge and skills to work with Dyslexic children in the future.
On a more personal note, Corine is married with three children. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with family, taking walks and cycling in the park, as well as knitting and painting.
Corine Goh
Teacher - Pre Kindergarten
Amy is our Co-Teacher for Creative Caterpillars (Pre-K) this year.
She used to have a fear for children and she entered Early Childhood industry to overcome her fear. Now she is an Early Childhood educator who is highly passionate about teaching. She is always on a constant journey to seek her purpose as an educator.
She brings aboard 6 years of teaching experiences working with young children 2 to 6 in Singapore Preschools. She has worked and developed various curricula in Theme Based, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Multiple intelligence settings, acquiring skills to engage children with various learning styles. Amy is holding a Degree in Chinese Studies and a diploma in Early Childhood Education (Leadership). She has embarked on various educational projects in developing integrated art and science curriculum, educational videos and worked with a school in Sri Lanka in curriculum development and staff training.
Amy believes each child is different and unique in their own way and she aims to unleash a child’s potential and nurture children into confident individuals who will be able to undertake and resolve challenges independently.
In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading books and watching movies.
Amy Zhuo
Co-teacher
Maria Salangsang is Lead Teacher in the Determined Dragonflies (K1) class.
Maria joins us with her endless enthusiasm, creative potential and a firm belief that every child is unique and special in many ways. She graduates with a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood education and has a particular interest in special and inclusive Education.
She is an inquisitive teacher who is always pushing herself to finding different ways to teach more effectively. If there is one word to describe Maria, it would probably be ‘Musical’. She enjoys sharing her love for music and arts with her class and adores seeing them dance and jump to rhythm and beats. Students feel very ‘at home’ in Ms Maria’s class because of her very nurturing approach to everyone.
Maria likes listening to music and plays the guitar and keyboard in her free time.
Maria is from Manila, in the Philippines but loves to travel outside of the Region and explore European countries and cultural heritage.
Maria Salangsang
Teacher- Kindergarten
This Year Wai Heng is working as a Co-teacher in the Determined Dragonflies Class (K1).
Wai Heng has over 25 years of teaching experience working with young children from 2 to 6 years of age in local preschools, during which she has assumed various roles from teacher, senior teacher, to vice-principal and principal. She has a Diploma in Early Childhood Education (Leadership), and as part of her professional development, she has visited various overseas Early Childhood centres in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, to observe and explore ideas to improve her own methodology.
Wai Heng loves spending time interacting with children, observing each child’s individual development and learning needs, and applying appropriate strategies and intervention techniques to best support their development. She enjoys singing, reading and doing craft work with young children.
Wai Heng likes to travel and in her free time she enjoys crafting, crocheting and swimming.
Wai Heng Yim
Co-teacher
Jayeeta Biswas will lead the teachers at QuIPS this year. She is a long term Singapore resident and has been an Early Childhood Education teacher here for over 15 years. Jayeeta has taught early primary grades and is now back to Early Childhood environment, an age group she is particularly inspired by. Jayeeta has an infectious energy about her and her talent lies in introducing science in fun ways to children. She led a successful composting unit in her previous job at Manasseh Meyer School and we look forward to more classroom adventures with her this year. Jayeeta is an integral part of our team and is always there to share her knowledge on various techniques and approaches!
Jayeeta is originally from India and has two children, Ishan (16 yrs) and Eeshika (14 yrs). Welcome on board Jayeeta!
Jayeeta Biswas
Principal
This year Ms Jin Yi is moving to work with Helpful Hornets (K2) as Co-Teacher.
She graduated from Nanjing Normal University in China specializing in Professional Teacher Training. She has over 12 years of primary school teaching experience in China. She is also a qualified Early Childhood Chinese teacher in Singapore and has been teaching in local pre-schools and MOE Kindergartens for the past 10 years. She always strives to create a conducive learning environment for the children, and bring out the child’s best abilities.
Her hobbies include reading and travelling with her family. She is a mother of two adorable boys, Wei Xuan aged 17 and Xiu Qi aged 9 years old.
Jin Yi (Jin Laoshi)
Co-teacher
Lucy has joined Quips with over 20 years of experience working with young children in Singapore and holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Chinese Education from UniSIM.
Initially qualified and working in the textile industry in China, Lucy went back to school after moving to Singapore in 1997 to earn her Diploma in Pre-School Education and after working as Chinese kindergarten Teacher between 2009 and 2013, she has joined QUIPS to input and enrich the curriculum with her experience. Many of the teaching materials she developed during her practice are now adopted by PCF and the Ministry of Education and we are proud to have her on our team. In 2017 Lucy completed her 4-years course to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.
Lucy enjoys working with kids and learning with them. She is striving to make learning Chinese a fun, enjoyable and enriching experience for everyone, regardless of nationality and background.
Lucy enjoys cycling, playing table-tennis and badminton. Her son, now 28, is currently doing his Master’s Degree in London.
Lucy ChuanYu
Mandarin Teacher
Ms Stephanie is our Music/Speech&Drama Teacher. She has joined us this year with some fascinating ideas and performances in mind!
In her lessons Ms Stephanie not only teachers the students the basics of music literacy, but educates them about the most famous World composers and their creations. Students sing and dance learning to follow the rhythm. Drama element of the classes helps students build confidence and develop their imagination and creativity.
Ms Stephanie
Music Teacher
Sharon Solomon is the Founder and CEO of Quayside Isle Preparatory School.
Sharon began her journey as a student, struggling to learn. Her own experiences shaped her decision to venture down a path to help the differentiated learner – the one who “falls through the cracks”, the “teacher’s nightmare”, the “parent’s dilemma”.
After teaching in private clinics, working with diverse learners over several years, and partnering with the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) to set up its first ever library catering to the dyslexic reader, the vision for her own school was formed.
Today, through the first school she founded, the Winstedt School, and the Ronald McDonald House Charity, of which she is a member of its executive committee, she is creating a library for the new wing of the National University Hospital paediatric ward set to be opened later this year. Fully committed to sponsoring and maintaining this library, Sharon hopes to reach out to these chronically sick children and families.
A former journalist at CNBC Asia, Sharon Solomon has held positions in AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research), the Manasseh Meyer International School and Ronald McDonald House Charities. Sharon Solomon remains a strong advocate for children’s rights and learning disabilities both locally and internationally, documenting the changing landscape of education in the global arena.
Sharon Solomon
Founder
Olga Prokazova is the Education Manager at our school.
She is our friendly problem-solver and what many don’t know is that she is also a trained in Education, specializing in languages, and was English Course content developer in Shanghai in her previous job.
At Quips, Olga looks after admissions, school accreditation and licensing matters, communications and marketing and she even provides ad hoc technology support to our staff. She works closely with the Director to determine school growth and is the presence we rely on when everyone else is on holiday!
Olga arrived in Singapore in the spring of 2013 and is originally from Moscow. She is our beach volleyball, CrossFit and Spartan race geek. Olga is a certified personal trainer, Spartan SGX Coach and she has recently obtained Kids Coaching certification in Singapore.
Olga Prokazova
Education Manager
Merisa is a Yoga Alliance RYT200 certified Yoga instructor who has also successfully completed her Children’s Yoga Certification RCYS. As an enthusiastic yoga practitioner who has been practicing yoga for over 10 years, she aspires to share the philosophy of yoga with children, as she sees the importance of cultivating and imparting the notion of mindfulness and healthy living to them at an early age.
She immensely enjoys being around children and is passionate about creating classes that encourage her students to explore various aspects of yoga, particularly mindful and breathing practices. She hopes to empower children with lifelong learnings of trust, communication and interest in well-being through her creative and fun way of teaching.
Merisa is a mother to a 8-year-old girl. She wholeheartedly believes that yoga and mindfulness help her to be a more present mother. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, reading and doing yoga with her girl.
Ms Merisa Chu
Yoga Teacher