Keystone Montessori School Staff

• Administration
• Children’s House Teaching Staff
• Elementary Teaching Staff
• Before and After School Care
• Art, Music, Spanish Specialists

Administration

Cary Williams, Founder, Head of School

Cary Williams holds a BA in early childhood, elementary education, and visual arts. She has earned teaching certification from birth through grade 8. Cary is certified by the American Montessori Society for the 3-6 level, and also the Center for Montessori Teacher Education program for Montessori School Management. In addition, Cary is a certified instructor for International Network for Children and Families (INCAF).

Cary’s career in education has spanned over 30 years. She has worked with children in many capacities including public and private elementary schools, preschools, and day care centers. Cary has taught in both AMI and AMS schools since becoming involved with Montessori in 1977.

Cary is dedicated to creating a community that supports the growth of staff, children, and parents. She is also committed to expanding awareness about child-centered learning and promoting tolerance and understanding of diversity.

Susan Wood, Founder, Head of Business and Operations

Sue is one of the founders of Keystone. Ms. Wood has a MBA from Harvard, and a B.S. in biology from Yale. She creates our administrative systems, maintains the web site, and assists in the general smooth administration of the school. Sue manages the student invoices, updates policy documents as needed, and handles all financial matters.

Sue attended the New England Montessori Teacher Education Center and interned with Cary in the classroom during the 1996 school year. She also completed the Redirecting Children’s Behavior course. After founding Keystone with Cary, Sue took the role of classroom teacher for the 1999 school year, then became full time administrator as the school grew in size.

Erin Fay Garnett, Director of Children’s House

Erin holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree from Suffolk University. She has a Masters in Education from Endicott College, and her American Montessori Society certification from the Northeast Montessori Institute. Erin joined Keystone in 2006, teaching in our Children’s House program. She had previously taught at Merrimack Valley Montessori School for four years.

As Director of our Children’s House program, she supports the teachers, assists parents, and also manages our Children’s House admissions process. She enjoys being creative and uses her extensive graphic design skills for marketing and web design.

Kathy Bundy, Office Manager

Kathy is a graduate of Colby-Sawyer College and joined the Keystone team in 2000. Since then, she has worked as a classroom assistant, administrative assistant, and is Keystone’s Office Manager.  Having held so many positions in the school, she is very well- versed in the school’s programs. As Office Manager, she facilitates student-parent-teacher relationships, supports the teaching staff, as well as admissions inquiries and enrollment procedures.

When you call the office, you will probably speak to Kathy, and she will be able to answer most of your questions.

Children’s House Teaching Staff

Prabha Vajjhala, Founding Teacher

Children’s House Room 2 : Morning Classroom

Mrs. Vajjhala joined Keystone in 1998 when the school was founded. She has her Montessori teaching certificate from London Montessori in England,as well as her certification from the New England Montessori Teacher Education Center. Prabha holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and psychology. Prabha has also taught kindergarten in India, and worked extensively with children with special needs. She is the lead teacher in our morning half-day class, teaching with Mrs. Sanaa Kazi.

Sanaa Kazi, Teacher

Children’s House Room 2 : Afternoon Classroom

Sanaa Kazi obtained her AMI Montessori training in Bangalore, India. She also holds her American Montessori Society certification from the New England Montessori Teacher Education Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English. Sanaa joined Keystone in 2001, and taught here until her son was born in 2005. She is happy to be back at Keystone, with her son enrolled as a student.  Sanaa is the lead teacher in the afternoon, teaching with Mrs. Prabha Vajjhala.

Patrick McGlinchy, Teacher

Children’s House Room 6 : Full Day Classroom

Mr. McGlinchy teaches in our full-day Children’s House classroom. He joined Keystone in 2005. Patrick’s bachelor’s degree is in Political Science. After working in politics for ten years, Patrick fulfilled his true desire to be a Montessori teacher. He attended Montgomery Montessori Institute in Maryland, and is certified by the American Montessori Society. Before joining Keystone, Mr. McGlinchy taught for several years in the Washington, D.C. area.

Vrinda Ashoka, Assistant

Children’s House Room 6 : Full-day Classroom

Vrinda Ashoka returns to Keystone in our full-day classroom. She was a classroom assistant here at Keystone from 2002 through 2007, and we are happy to have her back. Vrinda has a Masters in Education, specializing in reading and language arts, from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She has also taught English to middle-school and high-school students in India.

Rekha Mishra, Lunch Assistant

Children’s House Room 6 : Full-day Classroom

Rekha joined Keystone in 2007 as part of our Before School Care team. She has been a classroom substitute in our Children’s House program, and assists the full-day children with lunch and recess. Mrs. Mishra is also the Before School Care Co-ordinator, and is ready every morning to greet our children in Room 1.

Shannan Welsh, Teacher, Summer Program Co-ordinator

Children’s House Room 4 : Full-day Classroom

Shannan Goff Welsh earned her BA in English from the University of New Hampshire. She joined Keystone in 2006, and completed her Montessori teaching certification with the New England Teacher Education Center in 2007. Shannan also serves as Summer Program Co-ordinator, and orchestrates a diverse and interesting curriculum for our summer students.

Shelley Glow, Assistant

Children’s House Room 4 : Full-day Classroom

Shelley received her bachelor’s degree from UMass Lowell. She has worked with children at Keystone since 2007 in many roles. She has been part of our before and after school program, summer program, and classroom lunch assistant. Shelley will be assisting Mrs. Welsh in the full-day classroom.

Supriya Singh, Lunch Assistant

Children’s House Room 4 : Full-day Classroom

Ms. Singh joins us this year as a lunch assistant. She will assist with lunch, recess, and the beginning of nap time for our full day classroom.

Cheryl McMahon, Teacher

Children’s House Room 5: Full-day Classroom

Mrs. McMahon joined Keystone in 2005 as Head Teacher in our full day Children’s House program. Cheryl has a BA in communications as well as a Montessori certification to teach children ages 2.5 through 6 years old.

Cheryl completed her Montessori teacher training in Limerick, Ireland; and was fortunate enough to be able to teach in a 200-year-old, one-room Montessori school for three years!

Before training to be a teacher, Cheryl worked in management, public relations, marketing, and training for Hallmark Health. Her excellent organizational background shows through in her classroom management skills. Prior to joining Keystone, Mrs. McMahon was the kindergarten teacher at the Montessori charter school in Haverhill, MA.

Kye-Youn Jun, Associate Teacher

Children’s House Room 5 : Full-day Classroom

Kye-Youn has a BA in Child Studies and a masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Seoul Womens University. She completed her Montessori training at Northeast Montessori Institute, and did her internship here at Keystone. She has extensive experience with children, and received the teacher of the year award in 2007 and again in 2008 from the Korean School of New England in Newton MA. Kye-Youn is a licensed Play and Dance therapist. She is the mother of two daughters, both of whom attended Montessori schools.

Suman Bhatt, Lunch Assistant and After Care Coordinator

Children’s House Room 5: Full-day Classroom

Suman joined Keystone in 2005 in our After School Care program. She has bachelor’s degree in Education from Kanpur University, India. Suman has been in the field of education since 2002, working as substitute teacher in Chelmsford and Andover elementary
schools. Suman has also worked with young children in her family day care. Mrs. Bhatt assists the children with lunch and recess in Room 7, and also co-ordinates the After School Care program for our Children’s House students.

Elementary Teaching Staff

Mara Mooiweer, Teacher

Elementary classroom

Mara Mooiweer joined Keystone in 2004. She is certified as a Lower Elementary Montessori teacher from the Center for Montessori Teacher Education in New York. Mara received a B.A. in Biology with a concentration in Animal Behavior from Swarthmore College. Prior to joining Keystone, she was a Lower Elementary classroom assistant and a Montessori substitute teacher. She also taught microscope studies of pond life, cellular biology, and plant life. Before beginning her Montessori training, Mara worked developing clinical information systems at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and for an international software company in England and Spain.

Meghan Duffy, Teacher

Elementary classroom

Meghan joins Keystone this year as an elementary teacher. She was Montessori trained in Bergamo Italy, and holds certification for ages six through twelve. With Meghan on our team, Keystone is pleased to offer education through grade six. Prior to joining Keystone, Meghan was at Lexington Montessori School for several years.

Elizabeth Torpey, Lunch Assistant

Elementary classroom

Vicki Green, Elementary After School Care

Multi-purpose room : Elementary children

Vicki came to Keystone in 2004 in the elementary After Care program. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s equivalency in Psychology of Reading from Temple University. Vicki has been in the field of education for over 30 years. She has been a classroom teacher in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. She has also been a teacher of English as a Second Language. She has held the role of science teacher and math coordinator for her elementary school.

Before and After School Care

Rekha Mishra, Reena Singh — Before School Care

Room 1 : All Keystone children

Ms. Rekha Mishra co-ordinates the before school care program, which begins at 7:30.  Rekha joined Keystone in 2007 as part of the before school program. She has also been a classroom substitute, after care assistant, and lunch assistant.

She is assisted by Reena Singh, who joined Keystone in 2010.  She has a masters degree in physics and education from Agra University in India.   Mrs. Singh also taught first grade in India, and taught education classes for Bachelors and Masters in Education at Agra University.  She is excited to be working with children at Keystone Montessori.

Suman Bhatt, Elizabeth Torpey, Dipika Bhavsar – After School Care

Room 1 : All Children’s House children

Our after school care program begins when class is dismissed and continues until 6:00 p.m. daily. Mrs. Suman Bhatt is the coordinator of the after school care program. Mrs. Bhatt has been working in our classrooms since 2005, in after school care, as a substitute, and as a lunch assistant. As Coordinator of After School Care and Discovery Days, she oversees these programs. She organizes crafts and curriculum topics for Discovery Days (which provide child care on holidays when regular class is not in session).

Mrs. Bhatt is assisted by Liz Torpey and Dipika Bhavsar in our after school care program.

Art, Music, Spanish Specialists

Alicia Barck, Spanish Teacher

All classrooms : All Keystone children

Mrs. Barck was born in Madrid, Spain. She lived in the United States for two years as a child, and is aware of how early exposure to language is essential to fluency. Alicia graduated from U Lowell with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in Computer Science.

She joined Keystone in 1999, providing a weekly Spanish language session to every classroom. At Keystone, she teaches small groups of preschool and elementary children, using engaging activities, songs, games, and stories. Her class sessions bring Spanish to life, and children easily learn a variety of vocabulary and become conversant in Spanish.

Kathy Walton, Music and Art Specialist

All classrooms : All Keystone children

Ms. Walton joined Keystone in 2009 as our Art and Music Specialist.  Kathy is trained as an Orff music teacher, and brings movement, rhythm, and pitch to our classrooms. Working with a variety of Orff instruments, drums, and percussion, she makes music come alive for all of Keystone’s children.

Kathy has taught art for years in California, and brings a variety of  media to our students. Observing our world, then representing their observations using paints, paper, pencil, collage, and other materials, each child has the opportunity to express their own vision and creativity.

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