Bright Beginnings was founded by Kathe Petchel, a former teacher, seeking quality preschool education for her daughters. Over the past 25 years Bright Beginnings has evolved into a full service, high quality preschool taught by teaching professionals. Laura graduated from Piedmont Virginia Community College with a CSC in Early Childhood Development along with courses in Business Administration and Management. Laura has also been active in continuing her education of early childhood through VAECE Conferences, The Virginia Arnold Lecture in Child and Adolescent Literature featuring Jan Brett, author and illustrator, and 101 Great Activities for Children, to highlight a few.

Presently Bright Beginnings is managed by the Executive Directors, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Admissions Director who work in tandem with the site directors.

Laura Tomaine - CFO/Executive Director

Laura started at Bright Beginnings in the Fall of 1990. In the past, Laura taught the two year old program at our Earlysville location and was the director at our Charlottesville location. Now she is the CFO, managing the business related aspects of Bright Beginnings.

Laura graduated from Piedmont Virginia Community College with a CSC in Child Care along with courses in Business Administration and Management. Laura has also been active in continuing her education of early childhood through VAECE Conferences, The Virginia Arnold Lecture in Child and Adolescent Literature featuring Jan Brett, author and illustrator, and 101 Great Activities for Children, to highlight a few.

Laura works closely with our Assistant Executive Director and Director Team with an emphasis on training and staff development, effective communication including organizing weekly director and staff meeting agendas, maintaining licensing standards and supporting all aspects of the quality program we offer.

P.J. Gilbert - Assistant Executive Director & Director, Forest Lakes and Crozet

P. J. began her career at Bright Beginnings in 1999 and serves as the Director at the Forest Lakes facility and works administratively as Bright Beginnings' Assistant Executive Director. Prior to her present position, P.J. has directed our Mill Creek facility as well as our Crozet location.

P.J. has over sixteen years of experience working with young children. Before joining Bright Beginnings, P.J. operated a licensed in-home child care facility. P.J.'s education includes training in early childhood education, business and management.

Besides directing our Forest Lakes facility, P.J. is responsible for the quality of our program at all of our locations. She works very hard to assure parents that the curriculum and program are of the highest quality and that all of our children are very well prepared for kindergarten. She is also responsible for hiring, orienting and training new staff members as well as working with their mentors. On a daily basis P.J. is available to answer questions and consults with parents, staff, and administration. Strong customer service and communication between teachers and families is a high priority for P.J.'s management team.

Ms. Casey - Director, Crozet

Ms. Casey received her Bachelor’s Degree from Virginia Tech in May 2009. She also graduated from Bright Beginnings Preschool! Casey taught at Bright Beginnings as a teacher assistant during high school and full-time as a teacher during college, so she comes to us with over five years experience! She enjoys spending time with her dog Payton and loves football season!

Amy Hourigan - Director, Mill Creek

Ms. Amy was born and raised in Massachusetts and relocated to Richmond with her family in 2005. Amy continued working towards her degree in education and liberal arts at the University of Richmond until March when her family relocated here to Charlottesville. Prior to coming to Bright Beginnings, Amy taught three year olds in a Richmond preschool before crossing over to the administrative branch of education. After working as an assistant director for two years at a large preschool, Amy is very excited to join the team here at Bright Beginnings. Amy has two children ages five and two, and enjoys gardening, cooking, arts and crafts, and exercising.