Faculty

Toddler

Lynn Gulick has led the Assistants to Infancy ("Toddler") Program at Marin Montessori School since 1994, 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

Cheryl Chretien, 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.

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.

Colleen McAree, Primary directress of the Quail classroom, has been teaching at Marin Montessori School since 1999. 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's association with Marin Montessori School began in 1976 as a classroom assistant. In 1981, she rejoined the MMS community as a Primary directress. Pam also served as Director of Education and Admissions from 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

Joni Perry has been teaching at MMS since 1996. 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.

Kelley Jamison, Upper Elementary Teacher, has worked with children in many capacities over the last 16 years, including serving as both an assistant and lead teacher in Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms in Michigan prior to joining the MMS faculty in 2010. She graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education, with minors in math, science, and integrated creative arts. A graduate of Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, Kelley co-taught the Upper Elementary clasroom for one year and is now teaching her own classroom in The Domes. In her free time, Kelley loves reading, playing billiards, and enjoying the outdoors.

Lower Elementary

Emily Arend 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.

Ciara Wentworth began at Marin Montessori as a second grade student, and her Montessori experience as a child ignited her passion for education and interest in teaching. In high school and college, she founded tutoring programs for at-risk children, and later worked as an elementary teacher in Thailand and Mexico, Boston, and San Francisco. Ciara joined the staff at Marin Montessori as an assistant first in the Primary and then for two years in the Lower Elementary. After teaching a Montessori Upper Elementary class in the Dominican Republic in 2008, she returned to MMS as a teaching assistant to Joni Perry's Lower Elementary class and joined the faculty as co-teacher with Joni in 2010. She is now teaching her own Lower Elementary classroom in the Burrowing Owl. Ciara graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology and a minor in fine art. She completed her Elementary Montessori teaching credential in 2009 and her Master of Education from Loyola University in 2010. Outside of teaching, Ciara enjoys drawing and painting, tennis, soccer, hiking, yoga, and traveling.

Junior High Program

Robb Wirts Junior High Program Director & Teacher
Robb joined the MMS faculty in 2008 to direct MMS's Junior High 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, and has completed AMI/NAMTA's Administrative Workshop.

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 AMI/NAMTA's Orientation to Adolescent Studies, and from 2005-2007 served as a residential host and teacher for this annual event. Erin joined the MMS faculty in 2008. 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 three young boys, MMS Primary students, Bennett and Caleb, and their younger brother, Keller, and together enjoy the great outdoors.

Liesbeth Koning is originally from Grand Rapids, MI. Before joining us at MMS, she spent three years teaching at a middle school in Kansas. Prior to that, she taught in Chicago and served in the Peace Corps in Thailand. She earned her bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University, where she studied English, Theater, and Environmental Science. She also completed AMI/NAMTA's Orientation to Adolescent Studies in 2007. Currently, she is close to completing her master's degree in Educational Administration from Fort Hays State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her wife, Melissa, and daughter, Grace. Their favorite activities include hiking and camping.

Minnie McBride draws on her background in science and experience at MMS and teaches 9th grade Biology as well as manages the farm/land component. A Marin native, Minnie returned to the Bay Area in 2002 after earning a Bachelor of Science in environmental science with a specialization in journalism from Oregon State University. She completed a California Teaching Credential in science at Dominican University of California in 2009. Minnie completed the AMI/NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies this past summer. Minnie began at MMS as an assistant in the primary classrooms in 2007, and has also worked as an assistant in the toddler classroom. She has additional experience teaching at Lagunitas Middle school and Marin Primary and Middle School. You will find Minnie playing in the Marin Coed Soccer League, at the Novato Pug Sunday Group with her two pugs Kai and Leo, browsing her favorite nurseries, reading a book, or exploring Marin's open spaces.

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 Program. 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 AMI/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 Program and joined the MMS faculty in 2009. 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 completed the AMI/NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies in 2011. 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 sons, Grayson and Wesley, enjoy hiking, barbequing, and exploring the Bay Area.