UFT Admin
- Dance teacher
Karla Yvonne McFarlane, a lifelong dancer who taught at PS 306 in East New York, Brooklyn, died on Nov. 22, 2025, at the age of 65.
Karla was born, raised and educated in New York. She attended LaGuardia High School and Lehman College and attained a master’s degree from the University of Mount Saint Vincent.
In 2001, Karla began working as a substitute dance teacher at the Choir Academy of Harlem in Manhattan. She became full-time in 2003 and taught dance at the school until its closure in 2014. Karla went on to teach at PS 290 in Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills neighborhood for three years and spent the last four years of her career at PS 306.
Karla’s daughter, Mariana McFarlane, said her mom “didn’t expect to be a teacher. My mom was really, really shy, so I don’t think that she thought she could teach.” But Karla turned out to be an amazing teacher who wanted to inspire her students, her daughter said.
“She was so talented in everything that she did, and she had a lot of compassion for the kids,” said Robin Hibbler, a school counselor who met Karla in 2006 at the Choir Academy of Harlem. Hibbler shared how Karla bought leotards for the students from her own funds and would take them home to wash them. “She was just the most caring person,” said Hibbler.
Karla and Hibbler became close, commuting together from Brooklyn to Manhattan and supporting each other through tough times at the school. “You couldn’t ask for a better friend,” said Hibbler.
Despite the challenges at the Choir Academy of Harlem, Karla found the job rewarding. “She loved putting on shows,” said McFarlane. “She was able to choreograph and do her own pieces.”
Karla continued choreographing shows for the younger students she taught at PS 306. Kindergarten teacher Keidra Baird, who worked alongside Karla on the school’s production of “Aladdin” last year, said that “the children would always be so excited” to learn from Karla. Whether she was teaching pre-K students or those in the upper grades, the production “was always well done,” said Baird. She remembered Karla as “very adamant and passionate about her work. Karla had that strictness to her, but it was all love, and it was beautiful.”
“Dance was her entire life,” said McFarlane. “She just really loved sharing that love with students and being able to foster new little dancers.”
Before becoming a teacher, Karla performed with Urban Bush Women, All Nations Dance Company and The Charles Moore Dance Theater. She toured internationally with these dance companies, performing in many different countries around the world.
Karla is survived by her daughter and her other family members.
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