Meet Our Staff

​Our staff consists of loving individuals who have a passion for Early Childhood Education and serving young children and families. Every staff member meets New Jersey State Licensing requirements for their position including Early Childhood Education as well as CPR and First Aid certifications. Sand Hills staff is committed to the opportunity to serve and teach each unique child and family with grace and love. ​

​Mrs. Sara Jones, Director 
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​This is Ms. Sara's 2nd year as Director of our school, but she has been a part of the Sand Hills community in several capacities over the years! Her youngest son attended preschool here, and since then, she has worked as a substitute teacher and our Toddler Time teacher! 
Ms. Sara has her Bachelor’s degree from SUNY New Paltz and her Master’s in Social Work from the University of New England. Before beginning her own family, she worked as a family and child counselor in specialized school and family programs. She has been a resident of Kendall Park for the last 9 years with her husband (a local pastor) and her two boys. 
Ms. Sara loves getting to be a part of this amazing team and getting to know our community’s children and families!

​​Mrs. Symon, Teaching Assistant

This is Mrs. Symon’s 27th year at Sand Hills Preschool as a Teaching Assistant!
A long-time resident of Kendall Park, Mrs. Symon loves spending time with her family and her dog Harley, reading and gardening.  She has two daughters and 4 grandchildren.  It is a joy for her now getting to see her grandchildren come to Sand Hills Preschool too.  Mrs. Symon has a gift of encouraging kids to create and express themselves through art.  She also loves to talk with them and to do music and singing with them.  She says, “I really love getting to know them and their families.”

Mrs. Puri, Lead Teacher 

This is Mrs. Puri’s 7th year teaching at Sand Hills, but she has been a part of our school for even longer as both her children attended our school!
​ Before coming to the United States, Mrs. Puri earned her Masters in Computer Science and was a college instructor.  Mrs. Puri loves working here at Sand Hills because the students and staff feel like family to her.

Mrs. Thomson, Teaching Assistant

Mrs. Thomson has been working as a Teaching Assistant here at Sand Hills for 7 years now.  Mrs. Thomson has been a member of the church here since 1982.  Over the years she also served as a substitute teacher and serves on our school board as well as the Church Session.  She has two grown sons, but her “favorite child” is her precious dog, Sadie.  Mrs. Thomson loves to watch a child finish a project or a task and see their little face light up with the pride of accomplishment!  She loves to hear them proudly proclaim, “I did that all by myself!”

Mrs. Audrey Coleman, Toddler Time Teacher

​This is Ms. Audrey's first year as Toddler Time teacher.  She is looking forward to joining the Sand Hills family as more than just a parent.  Her middle daughter attended preschool here as well as toddler time. Her youngest will be starting out at toddler time this year. Ms. Audrey has her Bachelor’s in Psychology from University of Phoenix.  She has lived in South Brunswick her entire life and is raising her three kids here as well.  She has homeschooled her oldest daughter who just started college. When she is not teaching toddler time you can find her at Girl Scout events with her multiple troops or at the local ice rink.  Ms. Audrey is excited to start this new journey and is looking forward to hearing the most wonderful sound in the world, children playing and laughing, every week.

Mrs. Alka Bhardwaj, Teaching Assistant

Alka moved to South Brunswick in 2007 with her husband and 2 children! A mom of two college kids, Alka loves kids and spending her time volunteering as a language teacher with HindiUSA. She has been teaching kids of all ages over the past 11 years! In her spare time, Alka enjoys music and loves taking care of her garden.