Meet the Wellesley Team

Meet the Wellesley Team

Meet the Wellesley Team

Meet the Wellesley Team

Meet the Wellesley Team

The Scalliwags Child Care team consists of teachers and support staff who have been carefully selected to create and deliver an excellent infant toddler childcare program. The staffs are very experienced and highly qualified, but not only that, they all have caring, fun-loving personalities and want to deliver the very best experience to your child, every day.

Lorraine Cronin

Lorraine Cronin


Owner

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The care of children has been Lorraine's lifelong passion; she has been taking care of children since she was a teenager. Twenty years ago, she began her career as a professional nanny and has never looked back; eighteen years ago she arrived in Wellesley to care for two children and two years later she began working for a family with four amazing children, where she remained for fourteen happy years. Lorraine now finds herself happily entrenched, both living and working in town!


Throughout her journey Lorraine has always dreamed of owning an Infant Toddler Childcare Center; somewhere she could bring her wealth of experience, learning of, and passion for childcare to other children. Lorraine grasped the opportunity to do so as soon as it presented itself earlier this year and so Scalliwags Child Care was born.


Many people ask Lorraine what the name Scalliwags means and where it comes from. The word is used as a term of endearment in Ireland (from where Lorraine was born and raised) for children who are confident, fun, vivacious, mischievous, and curious and it came to her while she was out walking one morning along Brook Path. Scalliwags Child Care perfectly captures the essence of the experience that Lorraine envisages for the children in her center!


Vision and values


Lorraine is a Licensed EEC Early Childhood Educator, she has a strong set of core principles for the Scalliwags Child Care center. She is committed to offering an exemplary childcare experience to each child that is entrusted to Scalliwags' care. This strong commitment has informed the approach taken to the creation of the Scalliwags Child Care physical environment; the employment of the Scalliwags Child Care learning and support staff; the adoption of the Scalliwags Child Care emergent/play-based curriculum and the creation and development of valuable relationships with parents and children. Lorraine wants to ensure that the Scalliwags Child Care experience is and remains exceptional.


Lorraine lives in Wellesley with her husband Denis and her son Conor.


​​​​​​​Please do not hesitate to contact Lorraine directly if there is anything that you wish to discuss with her about Scalliwags Child Care and your child.

Mary Spognardi

Lisa Jaeger


Regional Director

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Lisa joined Scalliwags in the early Summer of 2022 as the Regional Director. Lisa spent the last
five years at the Sudbury Co-Op as the Assistant Director and Co Lead Teacher of the Toddler
room. Lisa has over 30 years experience teaching in both a center and owning her own home
daycare for over 15 years. In her extensive experiences nurturing young children, Lisa has
learned the importance of listening first. Her proactive management for handling transitions, and support for building goodbye routines are critical in managing separation anxiety. Lisa enjoys taking walks, spending time with her three dogs, crafting and spending time with her family. Lisa resides in Framingham with her husband of 23 years and their three daughters.

Our Amazing Teachers

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Bonnie Shumrak

Bonnie Shumrak


Assistant Director/Teacher


Bonnie is EEC Director/Teacher certified in Infant, Toddler Preschool classrooms. Bonnie has worked in the Early Childhood Education field for over 15 Years. She graduated from Natick High as well as Salem State College with a Bachelors's in Early Childhood Education.

Bonnie also likes to teach Learn To Skate at Babson and FMC Ice Sports in West Roxbury. Bonnie has been coaching since high school. Teaching children is her passion! Her favorite color is blue, her favorite kind of food is Italian and she is also a huge NKOTBSB Fan! Bonnie resides in Natick, MA with her Dog Rusty.

Katelyn Leonardo

Molly Banis


Director/Teacher

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Molly is Director/Lead Teacher certified in Infant/Toddler/Preschool classrooms. She began working with children in high school through an after school job at a daycare and babysitting. She went on to graduate from Northeastern University with a degree in Business Administration and concentration in Finance. After a few years in the field she realized childcare was her true passion and made the switch and never looked back!

Molly loves to travel and has been to five of the seven continents! She also enjoys spending quality time at home with her husband Mark, daughter Everly, and dog Biscuits!

Megan

Ruth Vega


Lead Teacher

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Ruth joined the Scalliwags team in January of 2022 and brings 16 years of experience! She has obtained her CDA and is Lead Teacher certified through her education at Urban College of Boston and Mass Bay Community College. Ruth enjoys teaching children of all ages and watching them learn something new!

In her free time Ruth enjoys dancing, walking her dog, and spending time with her family! She also loves to travel and see new places. Ruth currently resides in Framingham, MA.

Megan

Evelyn Zepeda


Lead Teacher


Evelyn is lead teacher certified for infants and toddlers as well as preschool. Evelyn has worked in the Early Childhood Education field for over 10 years.

Evelyn started off as a teachers assistant in an infant classroom before getting certified. Once she became an EEC certified teacher she decided to work with the Toddler age group.

The reason Evelyn chose to work with kids and become a teacher is because she loves working with children. She enjoys teaching them new skills and helping to shape them into the person that they would like to be.

Evelyn lives in South Grafton with her husband and three children, two daughters and one son. She also has a chihuahua dog named Bambi.

Evelyn loves to go back home every year to her country Guatemala where she was born. She enjoys visiting her family.

Megan

Melissa Bautista


Teacher


Melissa is certified as an EEC Infant/Toddler Teacher. She moved to the United States in 2013 from Guatemala and graduated from Framingham High School in 2017. She is studying for her associate degree in Early Childhood Education at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester. Melissa's teaching philosophy promotes learning through play and activities, as play allows children to develop physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Her responsibility as a teacher is to guide the little minds of the future as they reach new milestones and gain new skills as they grow. She currently lives in Worcester with her husband Edwin, her daughter Ayrin and her dog Luna.

Megan

Keren Goldstein


Assistant Teacher


Keren recently joined the Scalliwags team and brings years of experience! She started working with children at the age of 12 at her mother’s daycare and for the past 23 years she has been a nanny. She has always loved children and enjoys being silly and making them laugh and smile! She also enjoys activities where she can sing and dance! Keren currently resides in Wayland, MA.

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