Faculty

Toddler

Lynn Gulick has led the Assistants to Infancy ("Toddler") Program at Marin Montessori School for 15 years, and is an AMI Consultant at the same level. A graduate of Sonoma State University, Lynn received her AMI training in Colorado before joining the MMS faculty. In addition to her work with the children in the Toddler classroom, Lynn has guided a series classes designed to help parents' better guide the development of their young children. She has also worked independently as a post-partum care provider in Marin. Lynn credits her wonderful family with having enabled her to achieve her life goal of supporting young children in their development to create a better world for everyone.

Primary

Roshini Fernando has been a faculty member at Marin Montessori School since 1992. Prior to moving to California, Roshini taught at Milwaukee's Urban Day School and Lake Shore Montessori. A native of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Roshini received her AMI Primary training in Sri Lanka and earned her AA degree in General Education/Child Psychology from the Milwaukee Area Technical College. She is a regular participant in AMI refresher courses and conferences. Aside from her passion for teaching young children, Roshini enjoys cooking, dancing and reading.

Cheryl Lipsenthal, a Primary directress, has been a faculty member at Marin Montessori since 2008. Before joining the faculty, she worked as an assistant in the Primary level at MMS for 2-1/2 years. Cheryl studied Child Development and Education at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her AMI training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego and has her Masters in Education from Loyola College in Maryland. In her free time, Cheryl loves running, hiking, and experimenting with mixed media art.

Colleen McAree, Primary directress of the Quail classroom, has been teaching at Marin Montessori School for nine years. After graduating from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education and Human Development, she received her AMI Primary training in northern California. Colleen began her Montessori teaching career at the Corvallis Montessori School in Oregon. She enjoys sharing her love of ceramic work, knitting, and drawing with her students, and spends much of her free time outdoors with her husband and twin sons, Nick and Gerry.

Pam Wisner has 30 years of teaching experience as a Montessori Primary directress. Twenty-seven of those years have been spent here at Marin Montessori School, during which time Pam also served as Director of Education and Admissions (2000-2003). She earned an AA degree in Early Childhood Education and received her AMI Primary training from the Montessori Institute of Atlanta. Pam is a regular participant in AMI refresher courses and conferences. She has training in outdoor education, children's literature, story-telling, positive discipline, Schools Attuned program for educators, and the Perceptual Enrichment Program. She is the parent of a 2003 graduate of Marin Montessori School. In her free time, Pam and her family enjoy hiking, backpacking, kayaking and bicycling.

Upper Elementary

Phyllis Pottish-Lewis, Upper Elementary Teacher, has been teaching children for nearly thirty years, 23 of them at Marin Montessori School. She served as the first full-time administrator of MMS while working to establish the schools elementary program, subsequently becoming its first teacher. Phyllis is AMI credentialed at both the Primary and Elementary levels, and has for many years trained Montessori teachers and trainers. She is currently the AMI Director of Training for the summer Elementary course offered by the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, and is an AMI examiner, lecturer, and school consultant throughout the year. In addition, Phyllis served as the first chairperson of the AMI Elementary Alumni Association, a position she held for 8 years. She received her BA in Zoology from UCLA, and her Masters in Education from Loyola College in Maryland. In her spare time, Phyllis enjoys travel, theater and art work.

Lower Elementary

Joni Perry has been teaching at MMS for 11 years. Unlike most of her colleagues at Marin Montessori, Joni has taught in public schools as well as Montessori schools, from Chicago to Hawaii, and from Santa Cruz to Marin. Recipient of a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Missouri and a Masters degree in Education from Loyola College of Maryland, she also holds an Elementary AMI diploma and has been certified to teach K-8 (multiple subjects) in California and K-12 (single subject/Art) in Missouri. She has presented on the subject of art at AMI summer training programs. Joni brings her love of art into the classroom, and uses her free time to travel in pursuit of artistic inspiration. When not traveling, she is at home tending to her American bulldog, Harriet.

Emily Van Hook joined the Marin Montessori faculty in 2009 as a Lower Elementary directress. She is a graduate of the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, where she received her AMI elementary credentials. Emily also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Kenyon College and a Master of Education in Elementary Education from DePaul University. Prior to joining our faculty, Emily worked as an assistant in both the Primary and Elementary levels of two Montessori schools in the Chicago area. She brings a great enthusiasm for the Montessori philosophy and pedagogy to the Marin Montessori community. When she is not teaching, Emily enjoys traveling, cooking, and singing.

Junior High - Erdkinder

Robb Wirts Junior High - Erdkinder Director & Teacher
Robb joined the MMS faculty two years ago to direct MMS's Junior High - Erdkinder program. Previously a teacher of Humanities and science-based Occupation projects at the junior high level at Hershey Montessori School in Ohio, Robb brings to MMS his enthusiasm for working with adolescent students in a land-based environment. Robb received his MEd and certification in Montessori training at the Elementary level from Loyola College (Maryland) and his BA in History and Philosophy from Salisbury University (Maryland). Robb received his certification in NAMTA's Orientation to Adolescent Studies, and from 2005-2007 served as a residential host and teacher for this annual event.

Erin Foley-Wirts, Lead Teacher
Erin received her MEd and certification in Montessori training at the Elementary level from Loyola College (Maryland) in 2003. She received her certification in NAMTA's Orientation to Adolescent Studies, and from 2005-2007 served as a residential host and teacher for this annual event. Prior to teaching in a Montessori classroom, Erin worked in the field of environmental experiential education. She received her BS in Parks & Recreation Management, with a minor in Botany, from Northern Arizona University.

Robb and Erin are the parents of two young boys, MMS Primary student, Bennett, and his younger brother, Caleb, and together enjoy snowboarding, cycling and beekeeping.

Nick McCormack joined the Marin Montessori community in 2004. He began his tenure at MMS as a Primary support assistant and coordinator of the Primary outdoor movement program. Since 2009, he has taught Spanish, Humanities, and Occupations, and has directed the movement program at the Junior High-Erdkinder. Nick earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a focus on Spanish and Communications from Michigan State University, and has completed secondary education courses at both Schoolcraft College and Eastern Michigan University. He has also completed NAMTA's Orientation to Adolescent Studies, and has studied Spanish extensively in Guatemala. He is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys photography.

Anna Yarbrough is the math specialist for the Junior High-Erdkinder. Anna graduated from Colby College in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Sciences and a minor in Education, and completed her masters in Math Education in the winter of 2009. Anna's family is steeped in Montessori tradition: her mother-in-law taught at a Montessori school in Connecticut for 25 years, and her husband attended the same school through 8th grade. Anna has seven years experience, teaching middle school math in Weston, Massachusetts, and high school math in Richmond, California. Anna and her husband, together with their son, Grayson, enjoy hiking, barbequing, and exploring the Bay Area.