The Malvern School of Glen Mills

Elizabeth Jones, Executive Director

Elizabeth Jones is the Executive Director at The Malvern School of Glen Mills. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Cabrini College. She has more than 30 years of experience in early childhood education with a short break to raise her twin girls, Jessica and Mackenzie, who are about to graduate college.

Prior to joining The Malvern School, Elizabeth started her career in the classroom as a Pre-Kindergarten Teacher and spent the last six years as an Assistant Director at a center in the area. Elizabeth’s proudest moment of her professional career was becoming a part of The Malvern School team. She finds The Malvern School’s Core Values to have a deep meaning in her heart, which made her certain it was the right place for her to continue her education career.

During her free time, she enjoys traveling and visited Japan a few years ago! Elizabeth’s favorite children’s book is “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein.

Michelle Donahue, Director of Education-In Training

Michelle is the Director of Education-In Training at The Malvern School of Glen Mills. Michelle joined The Malvern School team more than two decades ago and one of our most tenured members of the team. Michelle has a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Early Childhood Education and was previously the Lead Pre-K Teacher of our school until being promoted in 2022.

One of Michelle’s proudest moments of her career include raising thousands and thousands of dollars for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. She is an integral part of organizing events and fundraisers and being the top school fundraiser year after year. She also feels so proud each year when she sees her pre-k students graduate. She loves that The Malvern School provides the children the opportunities to make choices in the learning activities which fosters their independence. The curriculum is based on the children’s needs and their learning styles and allows for the teachers to plan based on what the children in the classroom need and want to learn.

During her free time, Michelle enjoys traveling and taking road trips, visiting new restaurants and spending time with family and friends. A funny fact about Michelle is that she is a huge Golden Girls fan! And all her classroom friends know it! When she was young, she always wanted to be a teacher. Her favorite children’s book is “The Monster of the Woods” by Claire Freedman.

Jennifer Vignola, Assistant Director

Jennifer Vignola is the Assistant Director at The Malvern School of Glen Mills. Jennifer holds a dual Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and Special Education from Kutztown University and has more than 12 years of experience working with children. She joined The Malvern School in 2017 as the Preschool Lead teacher. She moved to the Get Set classroom and was promoted to the Health & Safety Coordinator. In 2021, she was promoted to Assistant Director.
Jennifer’s proudest moments of her professional career were being nominated as Teacher of the Year in 2020 and being promoted to Assistant Director. She is so honored to work at The Malvern School because of the love the teachers truly have for the children and the great partnerships formed between teachers and families. She feels that the curriculum is the best because it can be customized to the interests and abilities of the children in that class.

During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family—especially her nephews and niece. As a young child, she always wanted to be a teacher and her favorite children’s book is “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae.