Management Team
Elizabeth Newman, Executive Director
Elizabeth embodies the spirit of our Children’s Academies. Her unique experience as a student, teacher, manager, director and now parent of multiple children at the academies! Elizabeth’s face even served as the logo of the Academies for most of Maryville Children’s Academy’s formative years! Beginning in 1993 as a Pre-K I student, Elizabeth and her siblings spent countless hours making memories at Maryville Children’s Academy, both during and after work hours. Since graduating MCA, Elizabeth has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management concentrating in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee, and garnered experience in almost every role at Westland, Ebenezer, and Maryville Children’s Academy before ascending to the role of Executive Director in 2014. As the Executive Director, Elizabeth oversees all three centers while working together with our incredible teachers and Founder to provide the best childcare East Tennessee has to offer. Her mission is simple: enhance the lives of every student, parent, and teacher she encounters by creating an atmosphere of love, confidence, and capability.
Katelin Giordano, Director
Katelin Giordano, born and raised in Clearwater, Florida, has dreamed of teaching children for as long as she can remember. In pursuit of that goal, Ms. Kate graduated from Liberty University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Studies. Ms. Kate has now been a part of the ECA family for five years. She cared for our toddlers and infants while pursuing her degree, and upon graduating, worked her way to Assistant Director. She has loved working with our families and their children in that capacity for more than two years where she displayed her dedication to our families and passion for their children!
At home, Ms. Kate loves spending time with her husband and Son, her three dogs, and friends. She loves exploring and experiencing new things, decorating, and antiquing! Her curious nature and adventurous spirit color everything she does and she is incredibly excited to bring those qualities to the Director role at ECA.
Ashley Raby, Curriculum Director
Ms. Ashley is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She moved to Tennessee her senior year of high school, where she met her husband Archie, whom she married in 2010. They have two beautiful girls, with their oldest in elementary school and youngest attending WCA. Ms. Ashley has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Tennessee Tech University and has worked in education since 2009. Her experience has taught her that curriculum is essential for the growing of young minds and this inspires her to continue her early education work daily. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, taking hikes and spending time with her family.
Ashley has been with the Children’s Academy since 2016, where she started teaching in the Pre-K I classroom but quickly became the Director of Curriculum for all three of the centers. Curriculum is the backbone of early childhood education. We make continuous changes to our lessons, adapting to new ways of teaching and learning in our centers!
Alyssa Ramos, Assistant Director
Alyssa Ramos was born and raised in Brentwood, TN. She relocated to Knoxville in 2002 and attended Bluegrass Elementary. She has over 12 years’ experience working with children of all ages. She started working at ECA in 2020 in our Pre-K Two classroom and excelled as a teacher for our young students. Ms. Alyssa has an Associate’s Degree in Science of Teaching from Pellissippi State Community College. She has a 6-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, whom currently attends ECA. On the weekends, Ms. Alyssa enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, fishing, going to the park and attending church. Alyssa is excited to start this new adventure in her career as Assistant Director at Ebenezer Children’s Academy.
Ebenezer Children’s Academy - 1532 Ebenezer Road, Knoxville TN 37922