Mountaineer Montessori School, 308 20th Street, announces several new faculty and staff appointments as part of a major program expansion for the 2014-15 academic year.
“We are pleased to welcome new educators and congratulate several current faculty members on their new positions at our school, “said Head of School Dana Gilliland. The appointments were made in response to a 50 percent enrollment increase in the past three years and specific program upgrades. To accommodate these changes, MMS opened has middle school program, added a second lower elementary class and implemented enhancements in foreign language, after-school and specialized learning services effective at the start of the new school term.
Core Program Staff
Jason Winesburg has been named the new Upper Elementary (grades 4-6) Lead Guide. He brings five years of experience at Montessori schools in Memphis and upstate New York and holds a B.A. in English from Hood College in Frederick, Md., and M.Ed from Loyola University in Baltimore, Md. He holds an AMI certification in 6-12 education from the Washington Montessori Institute.
Becca Moore will serve as the Lead Guide for MMS’s second Lower Elementary (grades 1-3) classroom. Moore is training at the rigorous AMI 6-12 program at the Milwaukee Montessori Institute. A graduate of Marshall University, she brings 10 years of experience in Kanawha County Schools to MMS.
Samantha Van Den Berghe has been promoted to Lead Guide for the school’s second Primary (ages 3-6) classroom. Experienced in early childhood education, Van Den Berge holds a B.A. in psychology from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, and trained at the AMS-affiliated Virginia Center for Montessori Education in Richmond.
Serving as Lead Guide for the new MMS Middle School program is Suzanne Sanders. Sanders has more than 15 years of Montessori experience in schools in Costa Rica, Colorado and Pennsylvania, and most recently was the MMS Upper Elementary Lead Guide. A graduate of Penn State University, she is one of only two educators in West Virginia certified in Montessori 6-18 education, having trained at the AMS Montessori Education Center of the Rockies, the AMS Center for Montessori Education in New York and the AMI Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies program.
Gloria Lopez has been named a Primary Classroom Assistant. Lopez attended West Virginia State University and brings a rich and diverse business background to MMS. This is her second year at the school.
Julianna Phillips has also been named a Primary Classroom Assistant. Phillips holds bachelor’s degrees in history and philosophy from Concord University and psychology from WVSU and is pursuing a master’s degree in early modern European history from Marshall University. She trained at the AMS-affiliated Greater Cincinnati Center for Montessori Education.
Rachel Scarpelli has been appointed the Middle School Classroom Assistant. She holds a B.A. in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University, and is in her second her at MMS.
Special Program Staff
Jennifer Carriger has been named a full-time reading and learning consultant. The co-founder of the Appalachian Reading Center, Carriger holds a B.A. in international studies, a B.S. in secondary education and M.S. in special education from West Virginia University.
Maria Kershner Leon has been appointed Foreign Language Specialist to implement an expanded Spanish language program and will also serve as a Plus Program Assistant. Leon-Kershner earned the equivalent of a master’s degree in her native Costa Rica and trained at the AMS Midwest Center for Montessori Teacher Training. This is her sixth year at MMS.
After a distinguished 22-year career as a Primary Lead Guide, Program Director and Montessori mentor and educator, Susie Newhouse has been named a Plus Program Guide for the MMS after-school program. Newhouse is certified by the AMS National Center for Montessori Education in Atlanta.
Michelle Scarbrough has been named a Plus Program Assistant. Scarbrough holds a B.S. in communications from WVU.Â
