Contact Information
| Phone: | (707) 864-1800 |
| Fax: | (707) 864-1889 |
| Monday: | 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM |
| Tuesday: | 9:30 AM - 8:00 PM |
| Wednesday: | 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM |
| Thursday: | 9:30 AM - 8:00 PM |
| Friday: | 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM |
| Saturday: | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM |
| Sunday: | Closed |
Meet the Tutors
Our Sylvan trained and certified tutors are dedicated to your child’s success. Working together with you, we will:
- Pinpoint your child’s learning needs using the Sylvan Skills Assessment®
- Develop a personalized learning plan based on your child’s goals
- Offer unique insights about what will work for your child
- Teach each lesson the way your child learns best
- Build a relationship with your child to provide learning that’s fun, engaging and rewarding
Liz Howe
Center Director
Liz Howe is a veteran Sylvan Director. Originally from New York, Liz was a Sylvan Director for eight years in Georgia. She has a Master's of Counseling, speaks Spanish and has two beautiful young children. We are very happy to have Liz leading our team!
Lilly Baca
Administrative Assistant
Lilly Baca joined Sylvan in November 2003. She retired from public schools after twenty-six years. Lilly holds a Master's Degree in Counseling and a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. She supports the Center in both the education and business side of daily operations. Lilly is the main contact for parents needing information about scheduling and conferences. She is our warm and friendly greeter in the lobby area.
Cindy Schubert
Director of Education
Cindy has a degree in Elementary Education from Biola University. She spent years homeschooling her own students to great success. She is an experienced elementary, middle and high school teacher and we are extremely lucky to have Cindy work with our Sylvan students.
Hillary LeDonne
Assistant Director of Education
Hillary went to U.C. Davis where she studied engineering and economics. She is passionate about her family at home and her Sylvan family where she has helped numerous students do better in school. She currently works with students every day on the instructional floor for additional academic support.
Nancy Zawadski
Executive Director
Nancy works effortlessly to support the managerial staff of seven centers. She has worked for Sylvan for ten years. Prior to Sylvan she had a catering company and taught K-8. She gets up a 6 a.m. to take long walks in the Berkeley hills with Dave, her husband of 42 years.
Barbara C Sabbadini
Director of Contract and SES services
Barbara joined Sylvan in June of 2005 as the Center Director of the Lafayette Sylvan Center and then served as the Center Director for Fairfield until 2010. She received her Teaching Credential and Master's Degree in Education at the University of San Francisco. Prior to devoting her energies to Sylvan, she assistant directed a preschool in Marin and taught middle school for five years in San Francisco and Oakland.
Pio Buenaventura
Math Teacher Extraordinaire
Pio has been with the Fairfield Sylvan center since it opened. He graduated from Armijo High School and UC Davis with a degree in Mathematics. He currently teaches for St. Catharine's school and at Sylvan.
Suzy Philip
Program Manager/ Teacher
Suzy Philip has been with Sylvan since 2001. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English and Spanish and has a secondary education teaching credential. Suzy works very hard to support our staff and does a fantastic job of managing our student programs as well as teaching beginning reading.
Lalit Anand
Math Teacher
Lalit has a degree in mechanical engineering and completed a quality control degree at Laney College in Oakland. He teaches many of our higher level math students.
Ellen Hurley
Reading, Math Writing and Study Skills teacher
Ellen went to Catholic University where she studied english and writing. Ellen has a counselling degree and teaches a great majority of our reading and writing students. She is passionate about teaching writing and working with students in general.
Jill Scicluna
Beginning and Academic Reading Teacher
Jill went to Chico State University where she studied elementary education, speech and drama. She currently teaches at a local Fairfield elementary school and works with a great deal of our beginning reading students.
Hazel Foster
Reading and Math Teacher
Hazel went to the University of Washington where she studied Liberal Arts and Communications. She received an M.S. in teacher education from Cal State Eastbay. She also received a degree in Special Education and Education Management in a doctoral program. She loves to travel and read and is passionate about teaching students and seeing the lightbulb go on in their heads.
Brandon Harris
Math, Reading and Study Skills teacher
Brandon is a graduate of Florida University where he studied secondary education and history. He currently teaches History at Franklin Middle School in Vallejo in addition to teaching for us. He is passionate about helping kids and believes in their ability to succeed and exceed their own expectations.
John Taylor
Math teacher
John went to U.C. Davis where he studied Managerial Economics. He is passionate about encouraging others - and he does a wonderful job of doing just that with many of our math students. He was born in Fairfield.
Sharon Ferguson Shaw
Our teacher of all subjects!
Sharon attended BYU, University of Utah, Utah State, Heritage College, St. Mary's College and Sonoma State. She teachs alomost every academic subject at Sylvan with beginning readers sharing table space with Algebra II and Geometry students. Sharon is passionate about the power of reading, math, thinking, writing, her family and developing talent in young minds.
Lana Morrow
Academic Reading teacher
Lana graduated from Chico State University with a degree in liberal arts. She is passionate about friends, family and teaching her Sylvan students.
Charlene Lavorini
Writing, Reading and Study Skills Teacher
Charlene graduated with a degree in Sociology from the U.C. Davis and her Master's Degree at U.S.F. She holds a secondary credential in Social Science and a lifetime credential for Learning Handicapped students. She is passionate about helping kids!
Kathryn Patterson
Reading and SAT instructor
Kathryn studied education and graduated with a degree from Baldwin-Wallace College. She was born in Minnesota and loves swimming, aerobics, hiking, reading and the Peace Jam. She is passionate about teaching our children and doing it well.
Maricel Dela Cruz
Math and Reading Instructor
Maricel graduated from U.C. Berkeley where she studied Integrative Biology. She loves to learn, play volleyball and spend time with family and friends. She is passionate about education, health and her Sylvan students and is currently working toward becoming a doctor.
Jennifer Greenway
Reading and Math instructor
Jennifer has over 10 years of teaching experience and currently teaches for the Travis Unified School District as the English Department Chair. She is a graduate of George Mason University and has experience teaching ESL, gifted and learning disabled students. She is a wonderful addition to our teaching staff.
Carlo Castro
Math, Chemistry and Biology Teacher
Carlo is one of our newest upper level math instructors. Carlo is pre-med currently and works with our students in need of math and science support. His favorite color is green. He enjoys tennis, plays drums and trombone in a marching band - and always roots for Cal!
Crystal Linnet
Writing and Beginning Reading Teacher
Crystal is a wonderful new addition to our staff. She went to North Park University where she studied English and Writing. She was born in Stockton, loves running and camping. She is passionate about her family and just had a new baby.
Franklin Gough
Upper and Lower level math teacher
Franklin is a graduate of St. Pat's in Vallejo and received his degree at UC Riverside. He works with our upper and lower level math students in a very thorough and caring manner. He loves Mexican food and prime rib, likes Hip Hop and R & B and roots for the Warriers.
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