Courtney Collins, 4th/5th Grade Teacher (Ms. Collins)

Courtney Collins was born in Oklahoma and moved to Houston when she was in the first grade. She went to college in New Orleans and got her Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Loyola University. She then went on to work in television in Los Angeles before she was called home to be with her family and begin her career as a teacher. After her return to Houston, Ms. Collins earned a Master’s degree in Educational Technology from the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley and has spent the last 10 years teaching in the Houston area. Ms. Collins loves spending time with her friends and family, reading every book she can get her hands on, and going to the theater and movies. She is incredibly excited to be joining the Beth Yeshurun community and getting to know the families and children she will be teaching. “I love being able to make learning fun and interesting. Watching a child’s face change as they grasp a difficult concept is the greatest joy for a teacher.”

Paula Singer, 4th/5th Grade Teacher (Mrs. Singer)

Paula Singer is from Wharton, Texas, and has lived in Houston for the past 42 years with her husband, Kenny. She earned her BS in education and psychology from the University of Texas in Austin and completed post bac studies in early childhood from U of H. Mrs. Singer is the proud parent of three amazing adults, a physicist and engineer, a nurse, and an actress, and is grateful to have one of them still living in Houston. She is the “Yaya” to four beautiful grandchildren. Julian, 3, is a student at BYDS and Myles, 18 months, will start in CDO at BYDS this year. Her other 1-year old twin grandchildren live in Pasadena, CA. With her youngest child living in New York City, Mrs. Singer devotes as much time as she can flying to one coast or another. She also loves to keep up with alumni students by helping them with their studies in middle school. This will be Mrs. Singer’s 30th year to teach at BYDS where she began as a Pre-K teacher, wrote curriculum for the pre-school, taught 3rd grade, then 5th grade math, and has been teaching math to both 4th and 5th graders for the past 6 years. She believes that “teaching is a work of heart.” Mrs. Singer considers BYDS her second home and is proud and excited to teach in such a nurturing environment for another year and to see our school continue to grow from strength to greater strength.