Joanne Ruelos Diaz
Personal Website
Over the years, Joanne’s roles have included writing and editing licensed books based on television and toy properties for companies such as Scholastic, Mattel, and Penguin Random House as well as classroom literacy materials for McGraw-Hill and other educational publishers. Recently, she has been working on literacy programs with Sesame Workshop that introduce children to social-emotional strategies and skills using books and media.
helloSOMA
Neighborhood Resource Guide
helloSOMA is a home for the information you need as you make South Orange & Maplewood your home. This site was created as a labor of love with the intention to help new families moving to the area learn the lay of the land.
Story Players
dramatic arts enrichment program
Founded by Sarah Paige, Story Players facilitates a series of energetic theatre games that that focus on using voice, body movement and storytelling skills. Students learn social and emotional competencies, empathy, fictional character development and story structure all while exercising their innate silliness and creativity.
Neighborhood Co-op Preschool
PreSchool Website
The Neighborhood Cooperative provides each individual child with a warm and enriching first school experience. Using a guided play based approach, teachers work to create classroom environments that encourage hands on exploration and discovery.
Jen Simon
Personal Website
Jen’s biggest secret went viral — although she was a mom, she was addicted to prescriptions pills. After her explosive Washington Post essay, she has been contacted by hundreds of women all saying the same thing: this was my story too. Jen has written about her addiction for Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Babble, and The TODAY Show.