Alef Staff

Kofim (Monkeys)

Loretta Blue

Loretta Blue has been teaching preschool since 1998 and has years of experience under her belt. Before joining the staff, she owned and operated Plastercraft, an art studio for children in Rockville. When she joined Gan Ami, she worked her first two years as a teacher in the summer program. She enjoyed it so much that she then became a teacher in the two-year-old program! Loretta has 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Her youngest child is a Gan Ami graduate!

Prachim (Flowers)

Loretta Blue

Loretta Blue has been teaching preschool since 1998 and has years of experience under her belt. Before joining the staff, she owned and operated Plastercraft, an art studio for children in Rockville. When she joined Gan Ami, she worked her first two years as a teacher in the summer program. She enjoyed it so much that she then became a teacher in the two-year-old program! Loretta has 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Her youngest child is a Gan Ami graduate!

Karen Porter

 Karen is a native Washingtonian whose two sons both went to Hebrew school and were Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth Ami. Working in the medical field for more than 20 years, she was forced to retire due to COVID. Loving children, she wanted to go back to work part time. Karen is married to her husband Doug; both of her sons are happily married as well, and she welcomed her first grandchild in July 2022.   

Bet Staff

Chaverim (Friends)

Stacy Rubinstein

Stacy returned “home” to work at Gan Ami in the fall of 2018. Stacy was raised in Montgomery County, graduated from Walter Johnson High School and returned post college. After seeing how Gan Ami teachers welcomed her family, she was inspired to become an early childhood educator. She participated in training in 2012-13, and then taught at Washington Hebrew Congregation for 4 years. Her son Jake completed Gan Ami in 2016, and her daughter Maddie in 2018. Now it’s her turn, and she couldn’t be happier! When not in school, you can find Stacy selling packages for a wedding photography company, having silly dance parties with her children, and attending lots of hockey games (Go Caps!).

Beverlee Diamond

Beverlee Diamond, a mother of three Temple Beth Ami Nursery School alums. Beverlee is from Cape Town, South Africa, where she received her degree in Marketing. Beverlee and her husband Shaun immigrated to the United States in 1993.  After spending so much time in the halls of  Temple Beth Ami, she found a special community and a love for educating children.  Beverlee starts every morning with a Peloton class and ends every night watching her youngest daughter, Bianca, play soccer.   Beverlee’s son Cameron works in the family furniture business. Beverlee’s middle child, Tori, is a 2021 graduate from CESJDS and is currently in school in NYC. Judaism  plays a pivotal role in Beverlee’s life and that of her family. 

Doobim (Teddy Bears) 

Bari Handelman

Bari has lived and worked in the Greater Washington area for many years. Originally from Connecticut, she earned a degree in education from New York University.  She has always enjoyed working for the Jewish community, first as an Executive Assistant and later as an early childhood teacher.  She has taught parent-child classes, 2 year olds, and enrichment for 3-5 year olds, as well as led tot services for Shabbat and holidays.  She joined the Gan Ami staff in September 2014 as our Parent-Child class expert. She lives in Gaithersburg with her husband, Brian, and two children, Hannah and Max.             

 Greg has lived in Montgomery county his entire life.  His two children, Sara and Matthew, are Gan Ami alumni.  As a stay-at-home dad, Greg began with volunteering at school events, then helped with the afternoon enrichment classes, and eventually began substituting in almost all the classes. This inspired him to pursue additional education in the field of Early Childhood Education. Greg completed the Early Childhood Certificate through Montgomery College. After a few years on the Beth Ami staff, Greg was ‘on loan’ for the 2020-2021 school year to Ohr Kodesh ECC.  He is very excited to be back as a part of the Gan Ami staff!  Greg lives in Germantown with his children and his super awesome, amazing, spectacular wife, Stacy.

Nancy Yarvin

A former Gan Ami parent of two, Nancy was excited to begin working at Gan Ami in the fall of 2008. She has worked in our school as an assistant in the Ladybug Dalet classroom, lead teacher in the “Bets to Be” and Kangaroo classrooms, part of the Bet Support Team, and the assistant for the Jungle Friends. She was thrilled for her next step as Lead Teacher  in a Dalet class for four years. Nancy is thrilled to return to a Bet class and introduce some of our youngest students to Gan Ami.  Nancy spent many years working as a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist. She loves incorporating her vast experience and knowledge of early childhood speech and language development into the classroom.

Dina Sharnoff

Dina grew up in Montgomery County and graduated from University of Maryland. After college, Dina taught in MCPS for 8 years, both Kindergarten and First grade. Dina and her husband Michael welcomed their daughter Simona in 2017 and son Danny in 2019. Simona graduated from Gan Ami in 2021 and Danny will be a Gimel this year. Dina is very excited to be back in the classroom to help children blossom and nurture their creativity and intellectual growth. In her spare time, you will see Dina taking her kids to activities, doing jazzercise, and spending time with friends and family.