Lee Anne Robertson enters her third year as Head of School. Lee Anne began at Cornerstone in 1992 as the Financial Coordinator. During that time, she augmented her previous studies as a percussion performance major at the University of Minnesota, completing Level One Certification in the Kodaly and Orff methods of music instruction. In the following years she taught music to Cornerstone students at all levels. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Writing and Literature from Vermont College. In 1998, Lee Anne enrolled in Seacoast Center for Education to pursue certification as a Montessori Directress. She completed her internship in Lower Elementary at Cornerstone, earned her Elementary I certification, and remained a Lower Elementary teacher through the 2003-2004 academic year. After earning a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Lee Anne worked at Behavioral Health Services as a Youth and Family Therapist counseling children of all ages, and their families, assessing, diagnosing, and treating a wide range of mental health concerns. In addition, she maintained an outreach office at the Somersworth Middle School on behalf of the agency. At that location, she counseled children ages nine through fifteen with a wide variety of learning and behavioral problems. Lee Anne is a Play Therapist and Sand Play Therapist. She has completed the requirements for licensure as a Mental Health Clinician in the state of New Hampshire. Lee Anne lives in Portsmouth with her husband and her daughter, who entered the Primary classroom at Cornerstone as a three-year-old and graduated from the Junior Program in June, 2006. She is passionate about learning and teaching and enjoys her work with children, faculty and parents to fulfill the mission statement of the school.

Susan returns for her second year as the Financial Coordinator/Office Coordinator. She received a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a minor in Business at the University of New Hampshire. She was a scientific programmer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for five years before moving to Yugoslavia where she was a professional ballerina at the Belgrade National Theatre. She had the opportunity to tour Europe, performing in both Operas and Ballets. Susan returned to NH where she was the director/business manager of a non-profit dance organization in the Seacoast area for over 10 years. Recently, she attended the NH Community Technical College where she studied Web Design & Programming. Susan enjoys spending time with her family, teaching ballet in her spare time and traveling when she can.

Elizabeth Adams is entering her second year of working with toddlers in our Toddler House. She has 24 years of Montessori experience, and some of that time was as Co-Directress of The Cornerstone Children's House Program. She received her Early Childhood Credential from the New England Montessori Training Center. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Southeastern Massachusetts University with a concentration in Photography. Elizabeth recently earned her Masters in Education from Lesley University.

Noreen Hoepper is excited to enter her fourth year at Cornerstone as co-directress of Toddler House. Her previous work at Cornerstone was as our Learning Assistant. Her Bachelor's degree in Art is from State University College of New York, and her Master's in Special Education is from Hofstra University. Noreen's work experience includes working at the Communication Disorders Program at the Walden School in Yorktown Heights, NY. She directed a nursery program in New Jersey and for four years assisted at Cecily Larsen's Montessori School in Hampton. Noreen continues her professional development each summer by attending the Landmark School Outreach Program. She has also taken the Wilson Reading Program Overview, and "An Introduction to Elementary Montessori" and Montessori Toddler Overview.

Mary Maiello is Co-Directress in Primary I with Kristen O'Gorman. She earned her AMI Montessori Certification from the Montessori Education Center in Portland, Oregon. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Florida. Mary has enjoyed 11 years of teaching and traveling in the Northwest. She taught at the Children's House Montessori School in Rye for six years and the River Valley Charter School in Newburyport for two years. Mary loves kayaking, hiking and dancing. She is also fond of spending time with her family and friends. Mary is proud of her wonderful daughter, Zoe.

Kristin O'Gorman is in her sixth year at Cornerstone, teaching in Primary I with Mary Maiello. Kristin is a graduate of Northeast Montessori Institute and completed her Master's in Education at Endicott College. Kristin lives in Exeter with her husband, Tom, their daughter Frances, who is a Cornerstone student, and their dog, Sunny.

Erin returns to Primary II this year as co-directress with Sallie Spaulding. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. Erin received her AMS training from the Northeast Montessori Institute and has received her Master's in Early Childhood Education at Endicott College. Erin lives in Manchester and enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and photography.

Sallie has been with Cornerstone School since 2005. Prior to that she worked at Montessori Schools in Massachusetts and North Carolina where she taught at the Toddler and Elementary levels. Sallie developed the Toddler House program at Cornerstone and was a Toddler Directress for three years. This year, she is rounding out her teaching experiences and will be teaching in Primary II with Erin Marchal. Sallie enjoys hiking, swimming and spending time with her family. She lives in North Berwick, ME with her husband Neal (JR), their son Gideon (17 years), their daughter Cassia (18 years) and their two cats.

Margo Pennock is pleased to return to the Cornerstone School for her sixth year. After teaching thirteen years at a Montessori school in Mobile, Alabama, Margo and her family moved to New Hampshire in 2002. Margo was a Children's House directress for five years. She holds an Early Childhood and Elementary Montessori credentials. This year Margo is co-directress of Primary III in the morning and co-directress of Children's House in the afternoon. Margo is very active in a women's organization (PEO) that promotes educational opportunities to women through grants and loans. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, reading, cooking, sailing, kayaking, and traveling.

Jen Boisvert returns to Lower Elementary for a fourth year, co-teaching with Sandi Keys. She received her Elementary I credential from Seacoast Center. For four years she taught at Stoneridge Children's Montessori School as Director of Childcare and Summer Programs. Jen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in sculpture at Montserrat College of Art in 1995. Over the summer, she teaches the Art of Drawing to young artists at the New Art Center in Newton, Massachusetts. She operates an independent art studio creating freelance sculpture mainly focused in stone work.

Sandi Keys begins her ninth year at Cornerstone. She is teaching again this year with Jen Boisvert in Lower Elementary I. Sandi has her Elementary I and Early Childhood Montessori Certification and a Master's in Education. Sandi's experience includes two years in Children's House and six years in Lower Elementary. She lives in Berwick with her husband Rob (Junior Class), daughter Amarinda (Cornerstone alumni) and her son Elijah (JR).

Flor Bowen returns this year to Lower Elementary II, co-directing with Liandra Lloyd. Her twenty-two years of Montessori experience include teaching at the Primary Level for fourteen years at Cornerstone and two years teaching Spanish at all levels. Previously, she taught for eight years in New Orleans. Flor also spent one year in administration and one year as president of the Montessori Teacher Association. She completed her Elementary I training through Seacoast Center. Flor is an avid gardener who resides with her husband Patrick and their pets in Dover, NH.

After 15 years of teaching three different levels at Cornerstone, Don Barber is now teaching where he spent his first eight years — in Upper Elementary. Don's other involvements in the Montessori world include evaluating student teachers for the Seacoast Center for the past seven years, and being a member of the Christian Montessori Fellowship (CMF) for the past five years. Don has made presentations at CMF conferences to demonstrate how Christian faith and Montessori lessons can be integrated. Don and his wife June live in Newfields: his children Laura (21, UNH ‘10) and Alex (19) are both graduates of Cornerstone.

This is Gretchen's fourth year at Cornerstone. She spent two years in Children's House and is now Co-directress in Upper Elementary I with Don Barber. Before joining our staff, Gretchen taught grades 4-6 at an alternative school in Massachusetts. Prior to that, she taught an MCAS preparation program for grades 9-12 at a public school. She also home schooled several 2nd-4th graders in math and science as well as worked as a math tutor. Gretchen has completed her Montessori Elementary I training through Seacoast Center for Education.

Deanna Rieden-Carson, a mid-west transplant who earned her BA from Kalamazoo College with a double major of Biology and Art. She earned a Master's of Education at the University of New Hampshire. She taught in local public schools in the Dover School district, where she taught Language Arts and Physical Science. Deanna completed her Elementary I & II through Seacoast Center. She has been teaching in Upper Elementary II at Cornerstone for eight years. She is co-directress with Dale Rasmussen. Deanna also shares her expertise in the arts with Cornerstone students at various levels. She currently lives in Kittery, Maine, with her husband, Scott, her daughter, Haley (UEI), her son, William (PI), and their dog, Jones.

Dale received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Columbia College in Denver, Colorado. He received his Montessori training in Lower Elementary and has completed his Upper Elementary training. He co-teaches in Upper Elementary II with Deanna Reiden-Carson. He is also the coach of the Oyster River High School baseball team. Dale enjoys spending time with his family and many outdoors activities. He has lived in New Hampshire for the past 16+ years and has a deep appreciation for the changing seasons in New England. Dale enjoys traveling, pottery, sculpting and baseball.

Rob Keys co-directs the Junior Class with Christine Rainville and Neal Spaulding. Rob came to Cornerstone eleven years ago, following twelve years of Montessori teaching and teacher training at the 6-9 and 9-12 year old levels. He has written for Montessori publications, lectured at seminars and served as a consultant to other Montessori schools. Rob has trained teachers around the US, Haiti, South Korea and Indonesia. Rob also acts as Assistant Head of School and is involved in admissions, publications, faculty consulting and many other facets of Cornerstone operations. Rob lives in Berwick, ME with his wife, Sandi (LEI), children Amarinda and Elijah (JR), his guitar and chickens! He served nine years on the Board of Trustees for the Berwick Public Library and is currently Vice President of the town's soccer league.

Christine Rainville, Co-Directress in the Junior Class for the ninth year. Chris has a degree in English Teaching from the University of New Hampshire and completed the Montessori Assistant's Overview with Northeast Montessori Institute. Chris trained for the Elementary I level of Montessori with Seacoast Center at Cornerstone in 2002-2003. Prior to joining the faculty at Cornerstone, she worked in both the Dover and Manchester public school systems. Chris enjoys traveling, surfing and sea kayaking, as well as writing, reading, and book collecting.

This is Neal Spaulding's fourth year teaching in the Junior Class program at Cornerstone. Neal studied Science Education at SUNY Stony Brook and French at the University of Nice before graduating with a degree in Physics from SUNY at New Paltz. Before becoming a teacher, Neal worked for Dupont Electronics in Research Triangle Park, NC for seven years where he supported the development of ozone-friendly cleaning products and flat panel display technologies. He then spent the next seven years developing a Middle School s curriculum at Sterling Montessori Charter School in Morrisville, NC. He recently relocated to New England and taught at Sparhawk Middle School in Salisbury, MA. When he is not teaching, Neal enjoys classic B-horror movies, hiking, video games, playing music, and working in his home recording studio.

Sue Schnippering was born in Bogota, Columbia, into a German family. She grew up in South America and attended a private German school before moving to Canada at the age of eighteen. She received her BA in Spanish and German Language and Literature from the University of Toronto. Eleven years ago, she and her family were transferred to the United States where she completed her Montessori education at Northeast Montessori Institute. Her children Kate and Andre are both alumni of Cornerstone. This will be Sue's ninth year in our community. She spent six of those years as a co-directress in Primary 1. This will be her third year as the Spanish Coordinator.

Kelly returns to Cornerstone for her second year as music coordinator after teaching piano privately for almost 30 years. She has also worked in the field of special needs, taught general music to home schooled students and directed two small choral groups in Newbury, MA and in Manchester, NH. She is certified in Level I and Level II Orff method of music instruction. A great deal of Kelly's time in recent years has been spent organizing and producing two successful benefit concerts in Stratham, NH for Tsunami Survivors and in Exeter, NH for those effected by Katrina. This was an opportunity to work with local performers and incorporate student volunteers from several local schools. Kelly lives in Brentwood, NH with her 16 year old daughter, Sarah and her 12 year old son, Ben, her husband, Mark and her dog, Cole.