Our Staff - Mountain City Public Montessori

Staff

Rachael Shaw Marshall, Curriculum Director

With over 19 years of Montessori experience, Rachael brings an extensive knowledge of Montessori pedagogy to our school. Since 2004, she has worked in Montessori classrooms at every age level including five years as an Adolescent Guide teaching Middle and High School at Hershey Montessori. She has also worked as a Primary Guide, Elementary assistant, and a Music and Drama teacher for all levels. Rachael holds AMI Primary and Adolescent Guide certifications as well as both a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with a Montessori focus, and a Master’s Degree in Theatre. She has worked with the National Montessori Teacher Association to train teachers in Montessori residential pedagogy, and with the Association Montessori Internationale to train Guides working on their Adolescent Guide certification.

MCPM is excited to have Rachael join our team. We are confident that her knowledge and experience will help Mountain City Public Montessori provide a high fidelity Montessori education for our students.

Brittany Wager, Operations and Finance Director

Brittany comes to Mountain City Public Montessori with a breadth of experience in non-profit program management and educational support.

Through her previous work as program coordinator for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, and later as the Southeast regional lead for the National Farm to School Network, Brittany supported schools and families by providing farm to school education and working to increase the number of child nutrition programs purchasing locally grown food for students.

Most recently, Brittany worked as an Occupational Therapy Assistant specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental disabilities for Early Learning Partners, where she also served as the Operations Manager.

Brittany has been with MCPM from its very beginning, helping to coordinate the charter application process, and later serving on the founding Board of Directors as Board secretary. We are overjoyed to welcome Brittany into this new role, where we know she will apply her experience, skills, and dedication to provide a warm, stable, and supportive environment for all Mountain City Public Montessori students, staff, and families.

Cheryl McCabe Allen, Montessori Coach

Cheryl Allen attended Montessori school in Northern Virginia from age two to age nine. She graduated from Georgetown University with a major in history and a minor in women’s studies. She earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching, with a high school credential and a specialty in history and social studies. After teaching at the high school level for several years, Cheryl began working in her child's Montessori school and obtained for her Primary (age 3-6) training and later earned her Lower Elementary (age 7-9) AMS certification from the Seacoast Center Montessori Teacher Education Program. Cheryl moved to Sarasota and the NewGate School in 2009. While there, she earned an elementary (age 6-12) certification from the Center for Guided Montessori Studies, and taught in an Elementary class (age 6-12), an Upper Elementary (age 9-12) class, and a Lower Elementary class (age 6-9). In her last year in the classroom, she conducted a remote Montessori classroom utilizing daily choice activities, virtual meetings, and a platform for sharing work.

Cheryl is a teacher educator, workshop presenter, and member of IMC accreditation teams. Cheryl’s two children attended Montessori school from age two through high school graduation. She is currently working on completing a certificate of Traits in Human Behaviors through Harvard University. We are excited to welcome Cheryl to the team as she works to support the whole-school Montessori method at MCPM.

Kathryn Szumski, Exceptional Children Specialist

Originally from Pennsylvania, Kathryn moved to Asheville, NC in 2010 and began teaching within a local public school system as an Exceptional Children’s Teacher and Behavior Support Specialist at the elementary, middle and high school levels. She earned her B.S. in Special Education from Marywood University in Scranton, PA and MAEd in Special Education from Western Carolina University.

Focused on the home-school connection and leveraging the strengths that each individual brings to their community, she is determined to create and reinforce pathways for all learners to become confident leaders. Kathryn is excited to usher in a new chapter in her career, supporting the work of the Mountain City Public Montessori community in centering children and reimagining public education for the children of Asheville and beyond.

Emma Snope, Counselor

Emma attended Warren Wilson College where she received her Bachelor’s in Anthropology/Sociology and then went on to Lenoir-Rhyne University for her Masters in School Counseling. She believes that every child has the capability to learn and succeed – they just might need help to remove barriers and bring out their best selves. She also believes in the importance of differentiation to meet the needs of each learner and implementing research-based strategies to ensure student growth. She uses solution-focused strategies, emphasizing what is already working for a student and focusing on their strengths. She believes that all students should have access to a school counselor and that a comprehensive school counseling program serves all students. In her spare time she enjoys reading, writing, spending time with friends and family, meditating, playing music and dancing.

Lucy MacGregor, Primary Lead Guide

Lucy is deeply honored to spend her days with children. She is inspired daily by their love, curiosity, authenticity, and presence to life. While she is a guide to their learning at school, she is clear that each day, the children are teachers to her.

Lucy is a career educator with a focus on early education, serving students aged three through Kindergarten. She believes that early childhood is a sensitive and powerful time in a child’s life as young students learn and grow through self-directed, hands-on exploration with the environment.

Lucy holds a Master’s Degree in Education through Antioch University, her Early Childhood Montessori credential through The Center for Guided Montessori Studies, and a B.A in Sociology through Oglethorpe University. She is certified as both a children’s yoga instructor and as a Mindful Schools mindfulness educator.

Lucy’s own childhood was spent in Northern Ireland where she grew up before her family immigrated to the United States. She has two teenage children, Elijah and Rowan, and many furry animal friends. Lucy enjoys spending time in nature, gardening, painting, and adventures.

She is honored to be part of the MCPM community.

Molly Hardy, Primary Lead Guide

Molly Hardy is thrilled to be joining the founding team of Mountain City Public Montessori. Molly has been working with children and youth for over a decade in a variety of roles, and in diverse educational environments. After graduating from Warren Wilson College in 2011 she did a year of service with City Year in Boston public schools. Molly came to Montessori in 2013 and, like many Montessorians, found her pedagogical home. After assisting in a 3-6 classroom for two years, she pursued lead teacher training at the New England Montessori Teacher Education Center in Boston, MA and earned her AMS Early Childhood credential in 2015. In 2019 Molly completed a Master of Arts in Teaching degree at Mount Holyoke college, which allowed her to align her passion for the Montessori method with her belief in public education. In her classroom, Molly strives to create a learning environment where every child feels loved, safe, and joyful.

When Molly is not in the classroom, she is still a giant Montessori nerd. Molly is also a musician, lapsed bookworm, blundering (but enthusiastic) gardener, and doting aunt to her sweet nephews.

Dana Ivey, Lower Elementary Lead Guide

Dana graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies. We are fortunate to have her bring her love of science and education to MCPM.

Dana taught in a Montessori environment for 10 years in Silver Spring, MD before relocating to Asheville. She taught at the Asheville Primary Montessori magnet school for Asheville City Schools, and most recently has been helping to operate a Montessori Homeschool group.

Dana has her International Montessori Teaching Diploma and completed the Montessori Lower Elementary Teacher Training Program from the North American Montessori Center.

Hillary Walls, Lower Elementary Lead Guide

Hillary is thrilled to join Mountain City Public Montessori! She is originally from Richmond, Virginia and attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied anthropology and poetry as an undergraduate and attained a master's degree in progressive approaches to Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Since then, she has worked in a variety of school environments, including Asheville City Schools and Waldorf education. From 2020-2022 she had the life changing opportunity to teach in forest based settings, which proved to be a transformative experience both as a teacher and as a human being. She brings a passion for nature-connected learning, hands on experiences, and the reverent moments of magic that happen when children are falling in love with the world around them.

Hillary has long been an informal student of Montessori philosophy, turning again and again to the tried and true practices of Montessori educators to enrich her work in more mainstream environments. She tries to center inclusion, equity, and justice in every choice she makes in the classroom and is committed to helping build a school community where all children and families can thrive.

Outside of the classroom, Hillary loves to swim, hike, and garden with her family. She is an avid reader of everything she can get her hands on, and a huge fan of her neighborhood public library.

Maureen Freeman, Lower Elementary Lead Guide

Maureen is looking forward to a new chapter of teaching and learning at MCPM. She graduated from Western Carolina University and has taught Kindergarten, First, and Second grades for 20 years in North Carolina Public schools and abroad in India and Hong Kong. Her passion and inspiration is watching a child's excitement and growth across different subject areas. She is excited to bring her knowledge of literacy instruction to the multi-age classroom.

She lives in Asheville with her husband and three daughters. She enjoys hiking, biking, watching her daughter row, and reading on the front porch.

Henry Blackford, Upper Elementary Lead Guide

Henry is originally from Boone, NC but moved to Asheville in 2009 after finishing his degree at Appalachian State University.

He taught for 10 years in a private Montessori, 3 years in public Montessori, and one year in an arts based charter school before coming to MCPM. He has taught all ages from 1st to 6th grade, but especially loves working with upper elementary students.

He lives in Asheville with his wife and 2 daughters, where they enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, and getting on the river. He is also an avid runner, a decent carpenter, and can ride a unicycle without falling off (most of the time).