Skip to Main Content Skip to Main Navigation
search this website
search this website

Lehman College Logo Click Here to go back to Homepage

Child Care Center at Lehman College

Our Staf

Jaci Maurer, Director

Jaci MaurerJaci Maurer is the director of the Lehman College Child Care Center (managed by Imagine Early Learning Centers) at CUNY. She has been employed with Imagine Early Learning Center since 1993, and has worked at The Lehman Collage Student Child Care since 2002. In addition, Jaci serves on the CUNY Child Care Council and is an active member of the National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers as well as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She has also served as the Vice President on the board of Imagine's Kids for Kids, Inc board of directors and worked as an adjunct instructor, teaching literacy methods at Lehman College. She received her B.S. and M.S. at Pace University in Elementary Education. In her spare time, she likes to spend time in the outdoors and spending time with family and friends.


Tanya Evans-Ransom, Assistant Director

Tanya Evans-RansomTanya Evans-Ransom began her career in the Early Childhood field in 2004. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Lehman College. Tanya became a three year olds assistant teacher in 2009 at Lehman College. In 2011, Tanya accepted a position at Mt. Saini as CoHead Teacher in the two's classroom. In September 2012, Tanya returned to Lehman College as a Head teacher in the 2's classroom. In September 2022 she was promoted to Assistant Director.


Kathy Perez-Brito, Office Coordinator

Kathy Perez-BritoKathy Perez-Brito started started at Imagine as a work study student in 2015 and was hired as an assistant teacher 2016. In 2018, Kathy graduated from Lehman College earning her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and soon after accepted a position as Office Coordinator. She has been married for 19 years and is a mother of two boys. Kathy loves to travel and spend time with her family.

 

Xiomara Aquino, Student Development and Family Coordinator

Xiomara AquinoXiomara Aquino has worked in the education system since 2018 and enjoys seeing students grow academically. She started her education at BMCC with an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts and later trasferred to Lehman College to finish her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. In Xiomara's spare time, she enjoys dancing, singing, and spending time with her husband and son.

 

Daphne Rodriquez, Head Teacher of the Four-Year-Old Class

Daphne RodriguezDaphne Rodriguez has been working in Early Childhood since 2000. She joined the Lehman College Student Child Care Center in 2019. She has always had a passion for teaching young children. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology with a minor in Early Education from City College. She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. In her spare time she enjoys reading and spending quality time with her family.


Johanna Rojas, Assistant Teacher of the Four-Year-Old Class

Johanna RojasJohanna Rojas began her career in Early Childhood as a work study student at the Lehman College Student Child Care in 2002. She was soon hired as an assistant teacher and has worked with children ages 2 years to 12 years old. Johanna earned a Bachelor's Degree in Child Studies from Post University and she is planning to pursue a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education in the near future. In her spare time Johanna enjoys going on walks.


Stephanie Garcia, Head Teacher of the Three-Year-Old Class

Stephanie GarciaStephanie has Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education. Stephanie is passionate about teaching, "I thrive on creating an inclusive environment where the children can come to learn and play!" She also enjoys traveling with her husband and trying new tasty foods.


Adriana Arias, Assistant Teacher of the Three-Year-Old-Class

Adriana AriasAdriana has worked in Early Childhood Education since 2017. She was hired at the Lehman College Student Child Care Center April 2022. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Lehman College and is currently working towards her Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education. She is fluent in English and Spanish and strives to push herself to learn more about each culture. She loves children and enjoys their imagination and creativity. She enjoys reading and sometimes singing. "It fills my heart watching children grow to become little adults and explore new parts of the world as they move forward"


Chiniqua Meeks, Head Teacher of the Two-Year-Old Class

Chinqua MeeksChiniqua Meeks earned an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education in 2004. She began working in an Early Childhood setting in 2003 and has been working with children ever since. In 2022, She completed her Bachelor's in Speech Language Pathology and plans to pursue her Master's Degree in Early Education. In her spare time, she enjoys creating D.I.Y items and activites, reading, listening to music and watching movies/shows in different lanuages.


Hasra Bocus, Assistant Teacher of the Two-Year- Old Class

Hasra BocusHasra Bocus earned an Associate's Degree in Dietetics and Nutrition from Bronx Community College. She transferred to Lehman College and began working at The Lehman College Student Child Care Center as a work study student in 2011. In 2013, she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Health Education and accepted a position as an assistant teacher at the center in 2014. In Hasra's spare time, she enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time with her family.


Caryn O'Connor, President

Caryn O' ConnerCaryn O' Conner earned a BA in Psycology from Hamilton College and an MS in Child Development and Family Studies/Early Childhood Education from Purdue University. Caryn worked with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in University Lab school programs for six years and in Special Education for one year. She joined Innovative Learning Centers (ILC) in 1994 as a Head Pre-School Teacher and Assistant Director at Mt.Sinai Kids. She was promoted to Director at the Brooklyn Heights center, where she supervised a staff of veteran teachers and led the center to reaccreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Later, Caryn served as an assessor for NAEYC, conducting accreditation visits for several years. In 2001, Caryn became Executive Director at Imagine, providing assistance in curriculum development, staff supervision, preperation for NAEYC accredition and supervising daily perations at several centers. Vice president since 2005, Caryn sits on the Imagine Executive board and leads Imagine's Senior Manegment Team in all aspects of center operations. Caryn is also the proud mom of daughter Tess, an alum of Imagine Port Washington.


Debbie Bermudez, Vice President/Exective Director

Debbie BermudezDebbie Bermudez joined the Imagine team as Executive Director in September 2019 with over 35 years of experience in Early Childhood Education. Debbie was the former Director at our Mt Sinai location when it was operated by Innovative Learning Centers, the business Imagine was built on. For the past 20 years, Debbie has supported center teams across the northeast portion of the US in roles as Regional Manager and VP of Operations. Through her experience, she has worked with two of the largest early Childhood Education providers (Bright Horizons and Kindercare) and has supported up to 80 centers. She possesses a BS in elementary Education from SUNY Oneonta and a MS in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from Hunter College. After living in Massachusetts for 13 years, Debbie has recently relocated back to NY where she lived for most of her life. She and her husband are excited about their new home. Their daughter is a recent graduate of Ithica College and now lives in Syracuse, NY.


Cora Zoccolo-Ungaro, Executive Director

Cora Zoccolo-UngaroCora Zoccolo-Ungaro has worked in the field of Child Care for more than ten years. She has her BA in Psycology and her MS in Teaching from Iona College. Cora spent seven years as a Child Care Coordinator with the Federal Government, General Services Administration Office of Child Care before joining Imagine in May 2007. Cora serves as Executive Director, NAEYC/Traning Coordinator, providing training and support on the accreditation process, and is the proud mother of three.