Cynthia Penaranda is the assistant director at Temple Beth Orr campus’ Early Childhood Center (ECC). She was born in Lima, Peru and grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut where she lived from age seven until twenty-eight. She later moved to Florida to start her family.

Her husband is also from Peru. After three years of Connecticut winters, the couple decided that Florida was a better fit. They now have two children, Maximo (10) and Luna (9), who keep them busy with judo, soccer and hip-hop classes after school and on weekends.

Cynthia has been part of the Beth Orr campus since September 2016 and has served as assistant director since May 2017. She feels fortunate to work in a loving, understanding and kind environment and values her strong relationships with the office staff and teachers, especially her close partnership with Eileen. They have worked together for eight years and she continues to learn from her.

This year, she also began working in the religious school office with Brooke on Sundays, where they are building a strong team and helping bridge the ECC and the religious school.