READING FRIENDS ALEDO - Key Persons
We are excited to welcome back Christy for her 14th year with our program! Ms. Christy was instrumental in developing our K-Bridge and Kindergarten curriculum! Christy has a degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina with a concentration on Psychology. Prior to moving to Aledo, Christy taught Kindergarten in Kernersville, North Carolina, where she implemented varied teaching strategies and techniques with much success.
Christy was the perfect addition to our team when we launched this program in 2009 as she has proficiency in Guided Reading, Saxon Math, Write from the Beginning, and Technology Integration - all of which is used in our Kindergarten and K-Bridge programs today. Her classroom management style and her ability to create unique lesson plans proved to be a valuable part of the Kindergarten program.
Christy and her husband, Mike, have been married for 23 years and live in Aledo. They have two sons and a daughter; Grayson (22) is an A&M graduate and currently working on his masters, Gunter (21) is in his third year at Oklahoma State and Maddy (17) is a senior at Aledo High School and a graduate of Reading Friends of Aledo!
Connie is in her 12th year at Reading Friends of Aledo. Like so many of our teachers, we got to know Connie when she would substitute teach for us during the 2008-2009 school year and then asked her to join our team permanently in 2009. Connie has extensive knowledge working with young children as she has been teaching preschool-age children for more than 22 years and is one of the most respected teachers in the community. Connie has been married for 34 years to Terry and they have four children: Brittanie, Briley, Bryce, and Brant, who is also a graduate of Reading Friends K-Bridge program! She also recently became a Grandmother of four! In addition to her numerous specialized training hours in Early Childhood Development, Connie also majored in Child Development at the University of North Texas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Faculty & Staff
- Owner
- Owner of Reading Friends of Aledo
Diane Taylor is the owner of Reading Friends of Aledo. She holds a Business Degree in Management from Texas Wesleyan University, where she graduated with honors. Although her college years and beyond took her down the business path, Diane's goal was to eventually come back to her first love of teaching children.
After 25 years in the banking business, serving as a Senior Vice President at JPMorgan Chase, she and her husband Paul welcomed a new addition to the family. Rainey Taylor was born in 2006 and joined her sister Rachel, who was 10 years old at the time. It was this special and unexpected event in Diane's life that motivated her to make a life change.
When Rachel graduated from Pre-K at the Reading Friends School in Fort Worth at age five, Diane knew that she wanted to be a part of the program. With the emphasis on education in the Aledo area, Diane felt that the time was right to bring Reading Friends to Parker County. The school opened its doors in January 2008 and was expanded to offer a K-Bridge and Kindergarten program in 2009. After ten years in their first location, Diane was able to purchase land and build her dream school in Aledo. She opened the doors of the current location on Bailey Ranch Rd. in January 2019.
Diane is an active member and supporter of the Aledo AdvoCats, served 11 years as the Co-Chair of the Aledo ISD School Health Advisory Committee, served and held an executive position on the Board of Directors of the Aledo Education Foundation from 2014-2022, was a community representative on the Aledo ISD Project 2025 Team, and volunteers her time throughout Parker County. As the owner of Reading Friends of Aledo, she is the sponsor of the Aledo ISD Teacher Crisis Fund and is proud to be an Aledo ISD Bearcat Backer. She also provides Annual Scholarships to Aledo ISD seniors through the Kelli Miller Memorial Scholarship Fund, and is a member of the East Parker County Chamber of Commerce.
Diane has been married to Paul Taylor for 36 years. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, her "inspiration" for becoming an owner of Reading Friends, just graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law, and has taken a position with the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office in Fort Worth. Her youngest daughter, Rainey, who was her "motivation" for opening the school in Aledo, is a junior at Aledo High School. Diane has also been blessed with being named the Guardian of Brooke Miller, age 16, also a junior at AISD, who was the daughter of Kelli Miller, a long-time teacher at Reading Friends, and dear friend, who passed away the first week of school in 2021.
Diane is proud to introduce the real magic behind Reading Friends….her dynamic team of teachers and front office professionals!
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Faculty & Staff
Janet joined Reading Friends of Aledo during the 2012 school year as the Assistant Director. She graduated in 1990 from Texas Christian University with a BA in Education. Janet spent eight years with the Fort Worth ISD, teaching young children, before deciding to start a family of her own. Janet enjoyed raising her four children and volunteering at their schools for the next 12 years. When her youngest child went off to school, Janet decided that she needed to find something that would allow her to be with young children, yet be available for her own children at the end of her day. Reading Friends of Aledo was the perfect fit! Janet was promoted to Director of the Preschool in 2013 and welcomed Sharon Gribble that same year as Assistant Director. Janet and her husband, Tom, have been married for 27 years and have four children, Anna, Lily, Rubye, and Tommy.
Kathryn Allen is in her fifth year at Reading Friends and has taught Kindergarten, K-bridge, and is in her third year of teaching our Primary (3's) and Developmental (2's) students, which is her true passion.
She has worked with children for over 21 years and is very passionate about what she does. Majoring in Early Childhood Development lead her to a profession teaching preschool. She has enhanced the Developmental curriculum by adding new songs, books, puppets, and activities.
Kathryn has been married for 26 years and just completed building her forever home with her husband, Cory. It will have room for a garden, fruit orchard, farm animals and her favorite: live Christmas trees!
Her son, Conner, is in the US Navy and is stationed in San Diego on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. Her daughter, Samantha, attends Weatherford Junior College and also works at Reading Friends of Aledo between semesters.
Kathryn is very happy to be assuming her new role as the Primary Language teacher for the upcoming school year!
Ms Linda‘s interest in Reading Friends began three years ago when two of her grandchildren were attending the school. The following year she became a substitute teacher at RFA and knew that was what she wanted to do full-time. The next two years she taught in the Development and Primary classes. This is Linda's 3rd year as the Math teacher for the Primary classes. Ms. Linda received a BA degree in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. She worked in her field of study at the Tandy Corporation for two years before becoming a stay at home mom and working alongside her husband in his computer business. During these years, she also consistently taught four year old Sunday school classes, as well as Sunday and Wednesday evenings, VBS, and once a month Friday Couples Night Out at her church. She also taught the Bible Class at TAFA, a home school group, for 9 years while home schooling her 4th of four children. Ms. Linda enjoys reading, swimming, and preparing for and working with her students at RFA. The loves of her life are her high school boyfriend and husband, Tim, her four daughters, and her 14 grandchildren, one of which is newborn in September. We adore Ms. Linda and her passion for the children at Reading Friends of Aledo!
Ms. Molly has been married to her husband, Jonathan, for 16 years and they have two sons, Hank (13), and Max (10). Ms Molly attended Texas Christian University where she obtained a degree in education. When people are asked to describe Ms. Molly, most people say "calm". She has a special way with her students and her calmness comes across in her classroom managment skills. Her students absolutely LOVE Ms. Molly, as do their parents and her co-workers.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director
- Member of the Faculty & Staff
Ms. Sharon's daughter, Alyssa, was in our very first Pre-K class when we first opened in January of 2008 and her son, Sean, was in the first kinder-bridge class. Once all her children were in school, she starting subbing for us and has been a permanent addition to our staff for over ten years as our Assistant Director.
Ms. Sharon graduated from Texas A&M University as a civil engineer and worked in that field for a year and a half before following her husband, David, of 30 years, around the country with the Marine Corps. David was a Marine Corps pilot flying the F-18 for 15 1/5 years and now flies for UPS.
Ms. Sharon and her family have lived in Aledo for 19 years. She enjoys exercising, gardening, and spending time with her 4 children Morgan, Kyle, Alyssa and Sean. She feels incredibly blessed to work at RFA with amazing ladies and the best families that make up the happy place.