About the Conference

Fretta Reitzes has been a classroom teacher, educational therapist, teaching artist, parent educator, and author. During her thirty-five year tenure at the 92^nd Street Y, she was the founder and director of the annual Wonderplay Conference, director of the Y’s Goldman Center for Youth & Family, and director of the Parenting Center. Presently, she consults with early childhood teachers, administrators, and school leadership. In 2016, Reitzes developed On-Kindness, a project that provides tools and perspectives about creating a culture of kindness and presents lectures/ workshops at schools, universities and community centers. She is adjunct faculty at City College’s Center for Worker Education in New York City. Reitzes is co-author of Teaching Kindergarten: Learner-Centered Classrooms for the 21st Century (Teachers College Press, 2015); WonderPlay, and WonderPlay Too! (Running Press, 1995 and 2005), and The Right to Learn: Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Work in High-Needs Schools (Bank Street College’s Occasional Paper Series, Number 25, 2010). She holds an MSEd in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College.

Advisory Team

Arturo Argüero
Manager of Educator Development, The New York Public Library
MA in Cultural Studies in Education, University of Texas at Austin; BFA in Visual Art Studies, University of Texas at Austin

Jaquetta Bustion
Music Teacher, K–5th Grade, Community Roots Charter School
MS in Music and Music Education, Teachers College; BA in Music and Comparative Literature (English and French), Brown University

Renee Dinnerstein
Early Childhood Consultant
MA in Early Childhood Education, Brooklyn College, CCNY; BA in Sociology, Brooklyn College, CCNY

Anne Montero
Kindergarten Head Teacher, Packer Collegiate Institute
MSEd in Special & General Childhood Education, Bank Street Graduate School of Education; BA in American Studies, Barnard College

Soyoung Park
Director of Early Childhood and Childhood Special Education Online Programs, Bank Street College
BA in Sociology, Brown University; MPS in Early Childhood General and Special Education, Manhattanville College; PhD in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education, Stanford University

Jane Parkes
Demonstration Teacher, Pre-K & Kindergarten Teacher, UCLA Lab School
MSEd in Early Childhood and General Childhood Education, Bank Street Graduate School of Education; BA: Literature, Yale University

Fanny Roman
Kindergarten Teacher, The Active Learning Elementary School
MSEd in Early Childhood Literacy & Bilingual Education (Spanish), Queens College; BA in Early Childhood Education, Queens College

Laura Sedlock
Early Childhood Instructional Coordinator, Division of Early Childhood, NYC Public Schools
MSEd in Educational Leadership, Hunter College; MSEd in Early Childhood & Elementary Education, Bank Street Graduate School of Education; BA in English Literature, Wesleyan University

Meg Walker Smanick
Transitional Kindergarten Teacher, Thames River Magnet School
MA in Childhood Education, New York University; BA in Sociology, Franklin and Marshall College

Alisa Soriana
Educational Consultant
MSEd in Early Childhood Education, Bank Street Graduate School of Education; BA in Psychology, Wesleyan University

Past Conferences