Karen Doe

Executive Director

Karen Doe grew up in a small town in Connecticut. Growing up in New England, playing outside with friends, riding bikes from early morning until dinner time, she experienced the simple joys of childhood and friendship. Being the youngest of five children, she became a caring aunt at a young age. She discovered right away that she loved caring for and nurturing young children. Working later as a swim instructor and lifeguard further enhanced that experience. By the time she was in high school, she already knew that she wanted to be a teacher of young children.

She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Southern CT State University. Shortly after, Karen moved to Massachusetts where she began her career working with young children and families. She started off as a Toddler Teacher at the Grafton Children’s Center and worked all the way up to the Director’s position. During this time, she built and expanded the center to include infants, toddlers, preschool age, and school age children. It was there that she was able to achieve her first NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accreditation for a center. NAEYC accreditation is the highest standard of achievement for an early childhood education center and requires meeting and maintaining very rigorous standards in 10 critical areas. It is a difficult certification to achieve and maintain. From there, Karen was recruited to turn around a struggling early education center at the Guild of St. Agnes in Ft. Devens, MA.  She not only turned it around, but developed it into a vibrant preschool that she was also able to lead to NAEYC accreditation. After her success at the Ft. Devens center, she was promoted to the Director’s position at the largest Guild of St. Agnes center in Worcester, MA. The Guild there was in an old and dilapidated building and the program was struggling. It was another challenging turn around, which not only included taking the center to NAEYC accreditation, but also leading a capital raise amongst the Worcester community to build a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art building for the school. During her thirty plus years of running successful early education and care centers, Karen went on to achieve NAEYC accreditation at four centers in Massachusetts. She is a proven leader who has had great success.

While working full time, Karen was also able to earn her Master’s Degree in Non-Profit Management from Worcester State University and her 0-3 Certification in Montessori Education from the Montessori Institute of San Diego. Karen now lives on James Island with her husband, Ralph, and two kitties. Goodbye cold and snow!  Karen is excited to begin the next leg of her career at Carolina Park Academy, bringing the highest quality early education and care to the children and families of the Mount Pleasant area. We feel honored to have her lead our program here.