Meet Our Leaders of PLAY
Our Founders
Anastasia Chandler, Executive Director
Anastasia is a Palm Beach County native who grew up caring for children, playing sports, and creating art of one kind or another throughout her life. She studied education and writing in college and came into the Early Childhood field with a vision for growth through hands-on learning and the arts, and a strong background in youth programming from years of program management for the YMCA. She discovered our former preschool as a parent of two boys, while teaching mom-and-me classes, graduated to a 3’s teacher once they moved to elementary school, and eventually took over as Preschool Director. A drive to give all families the same gifts of community, connection, and creative learning that her family got from the school has led her passion for making The P.L.A.Y. School the unique place it is today. Anastasia serves as the Executive Director and Preschool Director of The P.L.A.Y. School.
Megan Baraldi, Development Director
Megan developed her passion for education and youth development through her experience coaching youth volleyball in Connecticut. Additionally, she loves to travel and learn about the world with her husband and two children. She speaks fluent Spanish and has tutored English language learners as well as children learning Spanish. After moving to Florida, she began teaching preschool. Megan quickly fell in love with our learn-through-play curriculum and embraced our Parents-as-Partners philosophy. We were blessed to have her bilingual education skills and big heart added to our team experience. Throughout her time at our former school, her dream of opening her own inclusive, play-based school to grow and spread our mission solidified, and when that school closed, she seized the moment to make her dream a reality. Megan now serves as the Development Director and Lead Teacher of The P.L.A.Y. School.


Our Teachers
Jennifer DeFalco

Lauren Gumalak

Jennifer Long

Maria Pietanza
Ms. Maria was born in Venezuela to Italian parents. She graduated from Universidad de el Zulia with a degree in Early Childhood. She taught pre-K and Twos for ten years before moving to South Florida and joining our team. Ms. Maria has a special interest in always finding new and interactive activities that allow our students to embrace the current unit of study through play and inquiry, and she loves to expose the students to fun song and dance from her multiple languages and cultures. Maria is happily married for over 30 years and has three grown boys.

Alicia Shumway
Miss Alicia came to The P.L.A.Y. School after moving to Florida from Texas, where she taught a range of preschool elective classes, as well as in a Threes room. Previous to that, she taught Twos in Texas and served as a Special Needs teacher. Miss Alicia recently finished the rigorous National CDA curriculum to teach VPK in Florida and has a degree in Computer Animation, which makes her an awesome resource for creative art projects here at school. One of our favorite qualities of hers is her endless mental library of awesome old-school songs and finger rhymes, which the kids love! Alicia and her husband have been married for 24 years and have raised her 22-year-old daughter as well as helping to raise her 5-year-old grandaughter.

Join Our Community of Educators
We are always looking for flexible, fun teachers to join our community as leads, substitutes, or floaters! If you have a DCF 40-hour certification or a FL teacher’s certificate, love to PLAY, and would like to join our sub list, please email us.