Our Staff

Melanie is very excited to serve as the Assistant Head of School at Harlem Hebrew. Melanie brings over twelve years of experience as a teacher, Dean of Students, and administrator. Melanie received her Master’s in Educational Leadership and a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at The College of New Jersey. Melanie resides in New Jersey with her family, including her fourteen year old daughter and twenty one month old son. She is looking forward to meeting and getting to know the Harlem Hebrew team members and students this school year!

Contact Melanie: mhinds@harlemhebrewcharter.org

Rachael is excited to be taking on this new role as she begins her fourth year at Harlem Hebrew. Rachael was a founding 2nd grade teacher in 2014 and then spent a year in Israel with her family. She returned to Harlem Hebrew in 2016 as a founding 4th grade teacher and continued in that grade this past year as well. Prior to joining the Harlem Hebrew team, Rachael spent four years teaching at a private school in Boston. Rachael received a Masters in Literacy from Wheelock College and an undergraduate degree from Boston University in Elementary Education. She lives in Washington Heights with her husband and their 8 month old daughter.

Contact Rachel: rbesser@harlemhebrewcharter.org

Prior to joining HHLA, Ursula supported both established organizations, entrepreneurial ventures and non-profits managing them through their stages of creation, growth, finance and human resources. Ursula is most proud of her ability to successfully bring on board a range of experiences to HHLA in finance, human resources and operations. In her role at HHLA, Ursula will continue to manage the day to day HR needs of the staff and to also meet the operational aspects of the school. Ursula holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and plans on continuing her studies in obtaining her Master’s degree.

Contact Ursula: uvericain@harlemhebrewcharter.org

Sarah is an LMSW who has extensive experience working with children and families. Sarah has been working in the nonprofit world her entire career, but this is her first school experience. She has been a camp counselor, a camp director, a crisis intervention social worker and an executive director. She has her MSW from Yeshiva University – Wurzweiler School of Social work and her undergraduate degree from Central Connecticut State University. She has two HHLA students, Jonah, a founding Kindergartener who is entering 5th grade this year and Stella, an enthusiastic rising 2nd grader. Sarah lives in Washington Heights with her HHLA students, husband Seth and devilish Chocolate Lab, Cocoa.

Contact Info: sguthartz@harlemhebrewcharter.org