Moon Bishop, Executive Director
Moon Bishop began her educational career working with young students at The Tennessee School for the Blind where she discovered her talent and passion for teaching. From there Moon worked with at-risk teens and preschoolers in therapeutic settings until taking a position as a nanny with a local Nashville family. It was through these positions that she fell in love with Early Childhood, and, when the two girls in her care headed to elementary school, Moon began working at a local preschool where she won their southeast regional Growing Up Happy Award, an honor inspired by Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo.)
After a very short side venture into the Corporate world, Moon joined The Temple Preschool as a teacher in 2011 and worked in the classroom for four years before transitioning to become the Preschool’s first Pedagogista (Curriculum Director); she held this position for almost two years before moving to Chattanooga to care for an aging mother-in-law.
While in Chattanooga, Moon continued her work in early childhood as the Atelierista (Arts Educator) and Pedagogical Coach at Highland Plaza United Methodist Preschool, a well-established Reggio-Inspired program. Moon held this position for two years before returning to Nashville where she worked as a Pedagogical Consultant and Trainer for two more years before rejoining her beloved Temple Preschool in 2019 as Co-Director and Parent Liaison, part of a three-pronged Leadership Team.
In July of 2021, Moon was promoted to Executive Director of the preschool, and is honored to be charged with such a tremendous and important task as running the school she has loved for ten years.
For thirty years now, Moon Bishop has been capturing—and holding—the short attention span of young children and adult audiences. An artist as well as an educator, Moon also facilitates workshops, trainings, and presentations through various state-wide arts and education programs for Pre-K through 12th grade educators. An established Arts Integration Specialist, Lead Teaching Artist for Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s educational outreach programs, and an active member of the Tennessee Reggio Study Group, Moon is also co-creator of A Child’s Guide to the City and the Inspired Teachers Group.
Email Miss Moon at moon@templenashville.org.
Candice Stern, Assistant Director
With an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and over 15 years of early childhood teaching experience, Candice has a passion and enthusiasm for the art of teaching young children. Before becoming an early childhood educator at the age of 20, Candice was working for General Electric and starting her career as an insurance agent. One day she decided that she would rather follow her heart so she left the corporate world for a classroom full of toddlers.
Once she left the corporate world, she began pursuing a degree in Early Childhood. She put herself through school working at small childcare centers and taking one class at a time. After earning her Associates Degree, she began taking classes at Florida International University to work towards earning a Bachelor’s Degree. She should graduate within the next year and a half.
Before moving to Nashville in 2017, Candice worked primarily for Jewish preschools in Florida. From 2012-2017 she worked at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton. This is where Candice gained her knowledge of Reggio Emilia education and her love of working with children of differing abilities. At TBE Candice taught in an inclusive classroom where she worked closely with families and therapists to create an environment in which all children could thrive.
After moving to Nashville, Candice began working for The Temple Preschool as a three-year-old teacher. Under the direction of former director Corye Nelson, she began mentoring teachers and showed her passion and love for helping others succeed. In 2019, Corye asked her to become the Pedagogista for our program. She began working with teachers as a mentor and supervisor.
Candice loves working with teachers to help them support families and children. Her passion for early childhood education is what drives her to train, mentor, and continue learning. She is honored to have the opportunity to work alongside such amazing educators and leadership team members each day and looks forward to being a part of the continued growth of our school and community.