Montessori School of Duluth

Montessori School of Duluth
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On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are pleased and
heartened to announce the advent of a new chapter for the
Montessori School of Duluth with the offer and acceptance
of the positions of Head of School and Director of
Administration by Joel and Lindsey Young. Both energetic
and passionately committed to the Montessori Method of
Education, these two bring with them years of experience of
Montessori instruction both here at home and internationally.
During their visit to Duluth we were impressed and excited
by their visionary
concepts of moving the Montessori
School of Duluth in a fresh and compelling direction.
We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Joel
and Lindsey and to welcome and celebrate the returning
faculty and staff for the upcoming school year of 2014/2015.
E st a b l i s he d
1981
Joel Young
H e a d o f S c h o o l
a n d h e a d e l e m e n t a r y
t e a c h e r
JOEL IS CURRENTLY an Upper Elementary teacher at Rietberg Montessori Schule in Zurich, Switzerland. Joel graduated
from the University of Oregon with a major in German, and minors in Communications and English. Joel continued on to
obtain a Masters in Education from Loyola University of Maryland. After observing the magic of a Montessori classroom,
he trained at the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee and was a student teacher in the public Montessori program at Milwaukee Public Schools. He taught Lower Elementary for two years at West Hills Schools in Portland, Oregon. He's spent the
last four years using his skills in German and Montessori education as elementary guide in Zurich, but is eager to come back
to the US and begin work as the Head of School and Head Elementary Teacher at Montessori School of Duluth.
“I was born in Peoria, Illinois and grew up near Champaign-Urbana, where my father's family is from. When
I was ten my family moved to Salem, Oregon to be near to my mother's family. In Oregon I grew up surfing
and mountain biking. My whole life I've been a distance runner and over the last several years I've ran marathons in Chicago, Portland (twice), Zurich and Lausanne. I've cycled to work every day of the year in Zurich
and I've taken several long bike tours through Provence, Corsica, Tuscany, Northern Italy and Switzerland. More than anything else, I love reading. Our house honestly looks like a library.” ~Joel
D i r e c t o r
o
Lindsey
Young
f A d m i n i s t r a t i o
WE ARE VERY EXCITED to welcome Lindsey and her family to Duluth. Lindsey is a second generation Montessori teacher. She
received her AMI 3-6 diploma from Montessori Northwest in Portland, Oregon in 2005 and her first teaching post was as an
assistant at her mother's school in Spokane, Washington. She has since gained valuable experience teaching in AMI schools in
the USA and Switzerland. She has a degree in Political Science with minors in English and French from the University of Oregon, and a Masters in Education from Loyola University. In addition to teaching, she also has experience in property management and technical editing.
Since becoming parents with her husband, Joel, in 2011, Lindsey has been a stay-at
-home-mom to their daughter Coco. They will welcome their second child this
August. Once she's adjusted to life with two children, Lindsey is eager to return to
the work force and move into the role of administrator, combining her skills in
management and communications with her love of Montessori education.
n
“I was born in Spokane, Washington, and am the third of four children. Friends and family say I’m very friendly, outgoing
and adventurous. I am an amateur blogger, writer and photographer in my spare time and I enjoy yoga and Pilates. I have an
inextinguishable love for good coffee. Some nights, I find I just want to go to bed so I can wake up and have a cup. I understand there are some wonderful local Duluth coffee roasters, and I am looking forward to trying them all.” ~Lindsey
Catherine Bauer
C h i l d r e n ’ s
H o u s e
G u i d e
“I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN DULUTH. I was living and working in the Twin Cities when I found the Montessori Method of
teaching. I was able to work in several different environments and I realized I knew that this is what I was meant to do. I was
hired in a school in the Dinky Town Area as an assistant. After 3 years of assisting, I was advised by several of my coworkers to
take the training. Thanks to my grandmother who always supported me, I was able to go through the A.M.I. Training in St.
Paul. I was very fortunate to have a job waiting for me when I finished the program. In the fall of 1987 I was an A.M.I. trained
Guide. I continued to work for my Mentor and friend Udi Perera. I helped her start three of her Miniapple International
Montessori schools.”
Catherine has been a Children’s
House Guide at Montessori School of
Duluth for nearly fifteen years.
“I spent over ten years of my career in the Twin Cities and decided to move back to Duluth when my mother died and my father needed
my help. My dad knew I wanted to work in a Montessori school. He called “the Montessori School of Duluth” and told my story to Anne.
I started working with Anne and Al the spring of 2000 and started a new second Montessori environment. I have two children involved in
our programming. Ike age 11 who is on his last year in the Elementary room. He started in the Children’s House at age 3. Joe started Children’s House at age 3 as well and is just starting his Elementary experience. I recently volunteered to be on the School Board and am on
two Committees, the Governance and Montessori Advisory.” ~Catherine
Alexandra Eck
C h i l d r e n ’ s
Alex will be leading her
own classroom this fall.
H o u s e
G u i d e
“I GREW UP IN DULUTH AND I LOVE THE LAKE. I will be creating my own Children’s House classroom in the fall, a second complete Children’s House classroom
for Montessori School of Duluth, and my first primary classroom of my own. I
completed my Montessori training at the Montessori Center of Minnesota, located
in St. Paul. I also have a Master’s degree in education from the University of Loyola. Before learning about the Montessori method of education, I spent years working in the great outdoors. This included time as an intern with Hartley Nature Center and working for the Minnesota Conservation Corps. I am hoping to bring
some of this ‘nature knowledge’ into the classroom environment. Outside of
school, I enjoy being outdoors, especially when it involves cross country skiing or
rock climbing.”
Laura Donovan is looking forward to returning for her
fourth year with Montessori School of Duluth.
Laura Ness is our Assistant Director of Board Relations,
Community Relations and Office Management
HI, MY NAME IS LAURA DONOVAN.
I grew up in an education-rich environment in
Blaine, MN, where my father was an elementary
school teacher, and my mother worked part-time
as a piano teacher and later as a liturgical coordinator at our church. I received my B.A. in Psychology at the University of MN, where I met my
husband, Jim. We had two girls a year apart and
I stayed at home with them while Jim finished
medical school and family practice residency for
rural medicine. During this time, we lived in
many places, including Duluth, St. Paul, Waseca
(where my oldest daughter spent one year at a
Montessori pre-school!) and Cannon Falls before
finally settling down in Duluth in 2001. When
my children entered school, I started working for
their schools as a substitute aide. I continued this
until they graduated from Hermantown High
School. It was then that I found Montessori
School of Duluth and fell in love with Maria
Montessori’s philosophy. I’ve worked here as an
assistant for the last 3 years. Last summer I was
fortunate to have received Montessori assistant
training in St. Paul. I look forward to the future
of this school and all the children and their families we will serve.
HELLO,
MY NAME IS
LAURA NESS.
I grew up in the country in Southeastern Minnesota. I graduated from Luther College in Decorah,
Iowa with a degree in History. I moved to Duluth
in 2002 to work on Senator Paul Wellstone’s campaign wherein I met and fell in love with my husband and have been here ever since. We have
three children at home. Ella is 9, James is 7 and
Owen is 3 years old. I am actively engaged with
raising our kids and managing our house. I’ve
been a stay at home mom for years, dabbling with
entrepreneurial projects of various sorts and successes. I opened and ran a vintage clothing shop
downtown Duluth for a number of years, I sold
real estate for a few very enjoyable years, and most
recently, I design and sell wholesale children’s winter hats.
I’ve worked in a variety of offices through the
years and it’s good to be back at the keyboard.
I greatly admire the Montessori approach to learning and feel very fortunate to be in a position to
work and support the efforts put forth by the talented and dedicated teachers and staff at the Montessori School of Duluth.
Al Nephew currently serves Montessori School
of Duluth as Business Director.
AL
HAS
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SINCE IT’S VERY INCEPTION.
Dr. Al Nephew and his wife, Anne, founded
the Montessori School of Duluth in 1981; since
then he has been its Business Manager and allaround helper to Anne, though he has never
been on the payroll. His paid job has been as a
philosophy professor at the College of St.
Scholastica until his retirement this past December, 2013. A perennially popular classroom
figure, he started teaching at St. Scholastica in
1970. Al performed many roles at the College
during his long tenure there, and upon his retirement the College named him a Professor
Emeritus. In its hundredth year, 2012, the College named him one of the 100 Century of
Saints honorees. Since retirement from St.
Scholastica, Al has dedicated his time to the
management of the business of the Montessori
School of Duluth, while also teaching philosophy to the elementary students.
MONTESSORI SCHOOL OF DULUTH
313 Mygatt Avenue Duluth, MN 55812
www.montessoriduluthmn.org
218.728.4600
ANNENEPHEW
Interim D irector of Administration
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