Families

Robin Mauro has been working in the area of Early Childhood and Special Education for more than 20 years. As a NYS licensed teacher, she has held positions as a classroom teacher, Special Education Itinerant Teacher, Educational Evaluator and Preschool Program Director. Robin has developed and managed programs for both private and public schools throughout NYC including Early Intervention and Head Start. Robin is an advocate for children who has devoted her career to providing equitable and positive learning opportunities for all children through an interdisciplinary approach and collaboration with parents, teachers and related service providers. Robin Mauro has earned a BS in Early Childhood Special Education and an MSEd in Advanced Learning Disabilities from Hunter College, NY.
Robin is a native New Yorker and mom to 2 grown-up city kids.

Latisha brings 11 years of experience in education servicing families and supporting the professional development of staff. Latisha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Her experience includes 8 years of providing supervision to staff and family engagement to families in Head Start. She also served as a Family and Community Specialist in a Charter School for 3 years. Her goal as a leader is to provide professional development to support staff with mastery of their domains. Latisha holds a Family Development Credential and is a Certified Parenting Journey Facilitator.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

– Maya Angelou

Odette has a bachelor’s degree in science and a dual master’s in early childhood and childhood education.

Odette began her career 22 years ago as a family child care provider in the Bronx, understanding the need and growth opportunities for the children and families she served. Odette has invested most of her career supporting educators as well as developing research-based professional development. She has been a guest speaker for various international organizations as well as for the World Forum of Childhood Education.

Odette is a CDA instructor, a certified infant and toddler specialist for the Program for Infant Toddler Care-West Ed California and serves as an adjunct professor for the Early Childhood Education Department of Bergen Community College. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in leadership with a concentration in early childhood.

Odette has held various administrative positions focusing on early childhood education and family child care. Her passion has led her to work closely with the providers and families in UNECE Bronx Network and she hopes to ensure that the bond of collaboration and best practices are consistently met.

With over 36 years of educational experience in both teaching and administration, Maggie’s experience spans Early Childhood to High School, with deep experience in both leadership and professional development.

Maggie is an Infant and Toddler Specialist for the State of New Jersey and has developed many curricula, the most recent of which was in collaboration with the Bronx Community Health Network and Day Care Council of New York. She has taught at Montclair State University, Grand Canyon University, Passaic Community College, and Bergen Community College for the past seven years as an Adjunct Professor. Prior to that, she worked for the Archdioceses of Miami for more than 10 years serving as a Catholic School Principal. In that role, she took a school that was going to closed and doubled enrollment within a year. Maggie has presented at many conferences, including in front of eighty-nine countries at a World Forum.

Jackie Zaita is an Early Childhood professional with more than 20 years’ experience in the field. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Special Education/Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

Her experience includes seven years providing direct training and technical assistance/coaching to family childcare providers and more than 13 years teaching the Child Development Associate (CDA) 120-hour course through which she has helped prepare the candidates to successfully achieve the credential. As part of her professional practice, she has worked in many roles from classroom teacher to director of an NAEYC Accredited program to facilitating Professional Learning sessions. It was during the process of NAEYC accreditation that she began to gain a passion for coaching and mentoring staff.

Her pedagogy employs a relationship-based approach and her goal as a leader and mentor is to provoke learning through reflective conversations. She truly values the adult learning process and appreciates that every early childhood professional has individual strengths that can be built upon.

She has a wide range of credentials including the NYS Training and Technical Assistance Professional Credential in which she achieved Master Cadre for the NYS Pyramid Model. 

The Manhattan Network provides free “3K for All” school services to 3-year-old children aligned to the NYC Department of Education’s calendar. These services are for 180 days from September through June of each school year and are offered for 6 hours and 20 minutes per day. Seats in the “3K for All” program are based on birth year and are in Community School Districts 4, 5 and 6.

Children must meet all the following requirements to participate in the Manhattan Network’s “3K for All” program:

• Children must turn 3 by Dec. 31 of the school year.
• Children must be residents of New York City to participate in the Manhattan Network’s “3K for All” program. Children participating in this service model do not need to have documented proof of citizenship or legal immigration status.
• There are no family fees to participate in “3K for All” school programs. Programs are permitted to offer fee-based services outside of Department of Education-funded hours. However, participation in these fee-based services is completely voluntary for families attending a “3K for All” school program. There are no family income requirements.

Application and Admission Process:

The “3K for All” admission process allows families to apply to free, full-day “3K for All” programs through the network, District Schools, pre-K centers, and NYCEECs using the same application. Families may apply online, over the phone or in person.

UNECE help families complete their “3K for All” application process in this centralized admissions process.

The Bronx Network and Staten Island Network both provide extended day or extended year services with eight to 10 hours of programming to children from ages 6 weeks to 3 years who are eligible under the Child Care Block Grant requirements. Families must meet all applicable federal and state eligibility requirements, including New York State Child Care Block Grant and Office of Children and Family Services guidelines, to participate in this service model.

Children must meet also meet all the following requirements to participate in the Bronx and Staten Island networks’ extended services:

• Children under the age of 2 must be between 6 weeks and 24 months; children over 2 years must be over 24 months, but not age-eligible to participate in a 3-K program.
• Children must be residents of New York City. Children participating in the extended service model must have documented proof of citizenship or legal immigration status.
• Families seeking extended services must provide documentation through a central enrollment process to determine whether they meet the necessary income and work requirements.

UNECE supports families throughout the childcare application process.