Amy's Education and Experience (the short and the long of it)

Amy (the short story):

I have been working with preschool and kindergarten age children in a school setting for 20 years, with half of this experience in Montessori, mixed-age classrooms.  I have a BS in Elementary and Kindergarten Education, a MA in Environment and Community, and my Teaching Certificate in Montessori Early Childhood Education (preschool and Kinder).

My Education and Experience (the long version):

I started working with young children as a nanny, when I was 18.  Realizing that I loved spending my days with children, I pursued a degree in education, receiving my BS in Elementary and Kindergarten Education from Pennsylvania State University in May of 1997. While at Penn State I began working at the campus preschool and upon finishing my degree, I decided that though I enjoyed teaching in the public schools, I truly treasured the connection and relationship that can be built working with preschoolers. 

The summer after graduating I spent a few months working as a full time substitute at a small preschool co-owned by four women.  The school had been running since the 1960s and these women were amazingly gifted teachers.  When one of the women retired that fall, I was offered a partnership share of the business and spent several years working as co-owner, co-director and co-teacher in the school. 

Upon turning 25 I decided that though I loved my little school, I wanted to explore more of the world and continue my personal education.  I moved to Boulder, Colorado where I worked in my first Montessori school and fell in love with the philosophy.  In that school, six trained teachers worked together to create curriculum based on the children’s interests and needs.

In 2003, I followed my heart and my future hubby farther west still to California.  I spent a summer as director of an outdoor summer camp for children ages 6 – 10 on a 1600 acre organic farm and wilderness preserve.  After the summer position ended I moved north to Humboldt County to begin my Masters degree in a program called Environment and Community.  While at Humboldt I continued working with children at the campus preschool.  After graduating with my MS and spending six months doing some natural resources consulting and research in Humboldt and Jamaica with my husband, I began working at Mistwood Montessori school in Eureka, CA.  Again I had the experience of working with gifted and talented teachers.  At Mistwood, I also began to study Compassionate and Non-violent Communication.

In 2008, we moved south to Tucson, AZ where my husband did his PhD.  I immediately started working at a Montessori School that enrolled students from birth through middle school and during the summer of 2009 I received my Montessori Teaching Credential in Early Childhood Education from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies.  For the five years we lived in Tucson I taught in a classroom of 26 pre-school and Kindergartners.  My Kinders were part of the public charter school that was transitioning to the Common Core Standards, so I am very familiar with what is expected of a Kindergarten curriculum these days.

After finishing his PhD my husband got a joint position here, in Klamath Falls, teaching at Oregon Tech and Crater Lake National Park Science and Learning Center.  I took a position as the lead teacher at Pelican Gathering Preschool.

Starting Juncos and Junipers:

I am so excited to be starting a school with Sarah!  Our backgrounds and strengths differ and are highly complementary. We share core beliefs about children and a similar vision for our school and our community. 

What I love about Montessori are the materials and the natural sequence of the curriculum.  We plan to have these materials throughout the classroom.  Though my background is Montessori, I embrace the common aspects of multiple educational philosophies. The thread that unites Montessori with Waldorf and Reggio Emilia is that they all believe in respecting the ability of the child.  Each philosophy values the independent nature of the individual child and understands that every child develops at his or her own pace.  The teacher is a guide, helping the child grow that deep curiosity they exhibit from birth.  This is why I embrace how Waldorf and Reggio foster other types of creative energy than Montessori and emphasize time for free and dramatic play when children process and explore the world around them. All three philosophies recognize the importance of out-door time to the child’s developing mind.  Sarah and I both have a deep understanding of the need for fresh air and sunshine!

It has been a wonderful and exciting journey that has led me to this time and this place.  This is where my husband and I choose to settle and put down roots.  Our dream has always been for me to start my own school.  To have found Sarah, who shares that dream, is a true gift.  I know that together with all of you, we will make Juncos and Junipers an incredible, joyful, creative space for children to grow and flourish.