Lucy Cifuentes

Director of Education

Lucy Cifuentes has been with Sylvan since March 1998. Her journey with Sylvan started as a test proctor at the Sylvan Learning Center in Miami Lakes. From there, she became much more involved on the educational side of the center operations and progressed through the positions of teacher assistant, tester, program manager and Assistant Director of Education. Upon completion of her Bachelor’s Degree in English, Lucy was promoted to the Director of Education position in Miami Lakes, which she held for over 5 years. During this time, she was also able to obtain her Master’s Degree in Education and have her two beautiful children, Sophia and Sebastian. In February of 2006, she was recognized for her hard work and academic center standards, and was promoted to District Education Manager of the Miami District. She held this position for over 2 years before she was transferred back to her home center of Miami Lakes as the Center Director. During this time, she was able to forge many relationships with the local community of parents and schools. In April of 2010, she was transferred to the Aventura center as the Director of Education. Over her many years of service, Lucy has been recognized for the academic performance of her students at both the center and district level. In her new center, she continues to strive to meet the needs of her students and families by upholding to the Sylvan standards of academic excellence and providing the individual attention that provides each student the opportunity to improve their confidence and allow them to succeed.

Lyssa Fordin

Teacher

Lyssa been part of Florida's public school system for the past 15 years. She hold a bachelor's degree from The University of Florida in special education, and is certified in Specific Learning Disabilities grades K-12 as well as math grades 5-9. "I am proud to say that I have been part of the Sylvan family since July 2007. I thoroughly enjoy the individualized attention I am able to give the students at Sylvan."

Cynthia Deal

Teacher

Cynthia attended the University of Miami beginning in 1985 where she received both a bachelor's in music education, as well as, a master's in specific learning disabilities and emotional handicapped. She began teaching ESE in 1989 at North Beach Elementary and continued to do so for she next 15 years. Afterwards, she had the opportunity to teach in the area she loves most - music. She is now a full-time music teacher at Fulford Elementary, where she specializes in general music and stringed instrument instruction.

Karen Durham

Teacher

Karen graduated from Florida International University with a BA in International Relations. She worked as a Police Dispatcher for over 5 years and decided to become a teacher after volunteering with an elementary school class. For the last 7 years, she has been teaching 4th grade at Eneida M. Hartner Elementary School. Karen has had the opportunity to work with students of varying exceptionalities, but continues to work at an inner city school due to the tremendous amount of satisfaction she gets from the successes of her students.

Sandy Plank

Teacher