St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School

Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Susan Crossin

“Mrs. Crossin is one of the most caring, funny, and generous people I have ever worked with and known. Her deep love and dedication to her students and their success is inspiring. As a colleague, she will bend over backwards to help you. As a friend, she is loyal and supportive no matter what.”
- Stephanie Quinones, 4th Grade Teacher

Over the course of her 31 year long teaching career spanning many grades, Mrs. Crossin has had one constant through it all: her passion and dedication to her students’ success. She views her teaching style as ever-changing year to year to meet the specific and unique needs of each of her students. Through her individualized approach, Mrs. Crossin hopes her students leave her classroom at the end of the school year saying, “I did it even when it was a challenge; I am so proud of my effort!”

Here at St. Thomas, Mrs. Crossin values the connection she has with her students, their families, and her colleagues alike. As a proud St. Thomas alum parent to her own children, Mrs. Crossin deeply understands and values the importance of community and connection within our St. Thomas family.

When she’s not teaching, you can find Mrs. Crossin wishing she had the super power to blink her eyes and be at the beach, gardening, or spending time with her family.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Ms. Krystal Garcia

Ms. Garcia has been a teacher at St. Thomas for 12 years, but her passion for teaching has been a constant since she was a child. Teaching her siblings at home and helping her own teachers at school during teacher work days helped her foster this passion, and ultimately led to her joining the Teaching Magnet at Miami Senior High School. After graduation, she continued teaching in a variety of settings before settling at St. Thomas.

Ms. Garcia’s PK3 classroom is always creative, fun, and full of discovery. She prioritizes combining students’ interests with their actual needs to prepare them to be exceptional learners for life. Ms. Garcia hopes that through this approach, her students learn to be daring, open to new experiences, curious, and most importantly, kind.

When not at St. Thomas, Ms. Garcia can be found laying on a beach somewhere, practicing yoga, and reading books. She especially enjoys reading as new books take her places to which she has never been. Similarly, when she is traveling, her favorite destinations are new wonders of the world she has yet to discover and explore.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Frances Rosen

Mrs. Rosen was inspired to pursue a career in education by her seventh grade P.E. Teacher. She became a High School Physical and Health Education teacher 38 years ago in her hometown of Toronto, Canada with the goal of making every student feel special with the ability to be successful. After a couple of years of teaching, she moved to Miami to continue her teaching career. She has been teaching at St. Thomas for the past 21 years.

In her 5th grade science classroom, Mrs. Rosen provides an atmosphere for children where their opinions and answers count. Through collaborative and project based lessons and experiments, she helps them understand the philosophy of St. Thomas’ former Rector, Father Tobin, “Every setback is a set up for a comeback”.

Mrs. Rosen enjoys spending time with her family, including her 2 daughters and 3 dogs. She loves celebrating her favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, by gathering family from near and far for a fabulous meal for which they are all grateful. Her wish is to have the superpower to establish peace throughout the world and end hatred and hunger.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Carolina Karam

“Mrs. Karam meets her students where they are not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. She connects with students in a meaningful way. Her students feel safe, included and seen in her classroom.”
- Luciana De-Benedictis, School Counselor

Mrs. Karam has shared her passion for teaching with St. Thomas for 16 years! In her Spanish classroom, her teaching style starts with getting to know her students. Building rapport and understanding how each individual student can successfully learn are some ways Mrs. Karam helps her students become motivated and invested in their own educational experience.

When asked what she loves most about St. Thomas, her answer is easy: the amazing community. From sharing laughter with her students daily to spending time with her colleagues who have become close friends, Mrs. Karam fully embraces our strong community. She knows that each of her students can make a difference, and that they are global citizens in an amazing world filled with fascinating cultures and diversity.

Mrs. Karam enjoys spending time with her two children, Isabela and Juan Lucas, cheering on her favorite sports teams, Flamengo from Brazil and the Boston Celtics, and imagining she can time travel to visit historical places and moments in time.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Barbara McPhillips

Mrs. McPhillips discovered her passion for teaching at a young age. Through tutoring underprivileged students in high school, she learned that she could make a difference in someone’s life. Her own studies brought her to Quito, Ecuador, where she completed her student teaching semester as an exchange student at the American School of Quito. She continued teaching in Quito for two years before following her passion to teach in Caracas, Venezuela and Bogota, Colombia. Mrs. McPhillips settled in Miami where she taught reading to dyslexic and learning disabled children for six years before making St. Thomas her home. Now, she is beginning her 21st year of teaching at St. Thomas.

Mrs. McPhillips views her teaching style as joyful. She knows that when something is fun for her students, they can achieve what they never knew might be possible. By embodying her favorite quote, “No dream is too big”, Mrs. McPhillips instills a desire to reach new heights and achieve greatness in her first grade students. Her hope for this school year is that her students develop a love of reading that tempts them to bring a flashlight to bed to read into the night.

When she’s away from her classroom, Mrs. McPhillips enjoys taking ballet classes, traveling, and brainstorming new costume ideas for her favorite holiday, Halloween.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Neifer De Armas

Educating and caring for our youngest students has been at the forefront of Mrs. Neifer’s life since her teenage years. Through participating in her high school’s Early Childhood program, she earned her Child Development Associate certification upon graduation. She continued studying at Miami Dade College and working in Early Childhood Education until she ultimately made St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School her home 8 years ago.

In her PK4 classroom, Mrs. Neifer has integrated a “work hard, play hard” philosophy. Structure helps keep her students safe and engaged so they can work towards becoming kind, confident, and strong lifelong learners. By describing her classroom as “colorful, energetic, and sweaty”, Mrs. Neifer fully embraces what it means to teach preschoolers and to provide a nurturing environment for the whole child.

In her free time, you can find Mrs. Neifer enjoying time with her 2 dogs, Winston and Peggy, hiking, or wishing she had the power to fly so she could visit her favorite place, New York City.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Rocher

Mrs. Rocher has been at St. Thomas for seven lucky years!

Since she was a little girl, Mrs. Rocher displayed a passion for teaching. She recalls playing school with her younger brother and dolls, and it was apparent that her nurturing personality would bode well in a classroom. Before teaching at schools, Mrs. Rocher was a swim instructor for four years, teaching children as young as six months old how to survive and thrive in a pool. She switched the towel for a smartboard and began teaching second-grade children with special needs at a small private school. This was an incredibly inspiring learning opportunity and many of the skills she learned she has brought to St. Thomas. Since joining our school, Mrs. Rocher has been a vital part of the lower elementary division team, having held roles as Associate and Lead Teacher in Kindergarten and Sr. PK classes. Her teaching style is very interactive and play-based. She believes “creating a positive and joyful learning experience fosters a love for learning that will lay a solid foundation for their future educational journey.” Upon graduating from kindergarten, she hopes her students will gain confidence, learn how to work and play independently and in group settings, and, most importantly, be respectful, responsible, and polite.

Originally from Miami, Mrs. Rocher went to St. Brendan High School and graduated Summa Cum Lade from Florida International University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She is the proud fur mother of Bo, a four-year-old dog she and her husband adopted. As a proud Miamian, she cheers for the Heat, Dolphins, Marlins, Florida Panthers, and University of Miami teams. You can find her at the beach when she is not working out or doing dance cardio.
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Faculty Friday Spotlight Series - Mrs. Crews

Mrs. Crews has been at St. Thomas for 27 years!

St. Thomas has been a part of Mrs. Crews’ life for as far as she can remember. She first joined our community as a student and fell in love with being in a school setting. She used to take the lessons learned in her kindergarten class and pretend to teach them to her sisters. Following her elementary school graduation, she attended Palmer Trinity and then Sewanee. True to her roots, Mrs. Crews returned to Palmer to teach Art History before joining St. Thomas as a Kindergarten teacher. For 12 years, she enjoyed hearing her students share their ideas and “what if?” questions before taking on the role of Art Teacher. Over the course of 15 years, she has inspired kindergarten - fifth-grade students to be creative, gain confidence in their abilities, and, most importantly, have fun! During her tenure, she has implemented a thorough art history curriculum and launched the Great Art program, which exposes students to artists and brings their art to life using our campus as her canvas.

The Miami native is the proud mother of two daughters who have followed her footsteps to St. Thomas and Palmer Trinity. She enjoys spending her afternoons walking with friends and reading while continuously discovering art around her. It is no surprise that her favorite art pieces are almost always based on nature.
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