About Us: Community Corporate Administration Parent Comments Parent's Corner 
| Bright Beginnings was founded by Kathe Petchel, a former teacher, seeking quality preschool education for her daughters. Over the past 24 years Bright Beginnings has evolved into a full service, high quality preschool taught by teaching professionals. 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 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 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 and Forest Lakes Director 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. |
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