Classroom 11

    Mary-Beth Sullivan has taught at IVMS since 2002 and has taught Elementary Montessori classrooms since 1999. In addition to her 6-12 Montessori Certification from Seacoast, she holds a Master of Arts in Education (M.A.Ed.) degree in Elementary School Teaching from the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA and has a Florida K-6 teaching certificate. Mary-Beth is also Director of the Montessori Live online teacher training program here at Island Village.

   Mary-Beth has an article published in the journal Montessori Leadership that studies arts education in Montessori pedagogy. Alternatively, Mary-Beth is a professional musician. She holds a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) from the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, Connecticut. Mary-Beth's husband is Dr. James Gelsleichter, a shark researcher at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. Both Mary-Beth and Jim possess hometown roots in the city of Elizabeth, NJ. They are also proud parents of a little girl named Mia, who is a young IVMS student in the early childhood program.

 

    Sheila Leal moved to Southwest Florida about 5 1/2 years ago from Helena, Montana where she lived for 12 years. She grew up in a multilingual home where her mother spoke Italian and her father spoke Spanish. Both of her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1960's, her mother from Italy and father from Cuba and met in Boston, Massachusetts where she was born.

    Sheila holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She will be receiving her MBA-Master of Business Adminstration from Argosy University in Sarasota, Florida in the Fall of this year (2007). She has her Florida Teacher Certification in Spanish K-12. Sheila has taught Spanish at the high school level in the Sarasota School District for three years.She holds her certificate of completion for Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements under the HOUSSE qualifications of No Child Left Behind.

    Sheila has taught Spanish at the preschool, elementary, and middle school levels at the Foreign Language Institute of Montana in Helena, Montana. She also has taught Conversational Spanish Courses at MCC-Venice Campus.

    Before teaching, Sheila worked for the U.S. INS (Immigration & Naturalization Service) as a student aide and translator. She has a deep passion and love for languages and sharing this ability with others. She has lived throughout the U.S.including Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. She has two wonderful children, a 17 year old boy and 11 year old girl both of which have attended Montessori preschool. Her passion is to enrich the lives of students through foreign language in the Montessori setting.
  

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Classroom 13

     Jennifer Ocana is an experienced Montessori teacher. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emerson College in Fine Arts, and certification by the American Montessori Society at the elementary I level.

Jennifer taught for almost 10 years at Oak Meadow Montessori School in Littleton, Mass, and most recently, for a year at New Gate School in Sarasota in the 9 - 12 year old class. Jennifer enjoys environmental and nature studies with her students. We are fortunate to have Jennifer on our faculty. Jennifer has received her Florida K-6 elementary teaching certificate.

 

     Tammy Baker moved to Venice from Pennsylvania in 1983. She is married to her husband, Brock, and has two children at Island Village Montessori School, Taylor and Kyle. Taylor began as a kindergartner in 2001, (the year the school opened,) so the family has seen the school grow throughout the years as Tammy has spent time on the parent committee and has participated as a classroom representative (CASA rep).

    Tammy has worked as a registered nurse in the area since 1993.

    In 2005, she decided she would like to spend more of her valuable time with her children, so she took a position at IVMS as a classroom assistant and a health educator. She has a bachelor's degree in science and she completed the K-6 Florida certification exam this past summer. Tammy is participating in the Montessori Live online courses provided by the school and she is very excited to be working full time at the school again this year.

 

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Classroom 14

    Jo Shipley joins Island Village Middle School in the language arts department. Jo has AMI Montessori Elementary II certification (6 years old to 12) from Loyola College, where she also received her master’s degree in education. Her undergraduate studies concentrated on English literature.

    Jo has worked in both private and public Montessori schools for seven years. She enjoys working with older students and will be co-teaching with Kathy Nixon in classroom 18. Jo is highly qualified under the HOUSSE program under No Child Left Behind.

     Jennifer Sessa joins the IVMS staff this year as an assistant/ESE teacher. She graduated with a BA in Psychology from Western Connecticut State University and a Masters of Science in Quantitative Analysis from Southern Connecticut State University. She recently completed the Alternative Certification at Manatee Community College.

    She is certified in Elementary Education K-6 and Exceptional Student Education K-12. She is also working on her Montessori training through the Montessori Live courses. Jennifer moved to Florida from Connecticut in 2001. She is married to Tom and they share three children, Dylan, Zackary and Toriana.

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Classroom 15

     Aly Anderson is happy to be a part of Island Village Middle School this year to teach Social Studies.  Since joining IVMS in 2004, she has taught Kindergarten/1st grade, 3rd and 4th grade Writing, and French.  She has also been an Assistant Teacher in Middle School Language Arts and for a 1/2/3 classroom.

    Aly has a BA in English and History from the University of Pennsylvania.  She is certified in Florida to teach Social Studies, Elementary K-6 and English.  Her love for working with children began as a gymnastics instructor 15 years ago.  She still gives private lessons in tumbling from her home.  Before embarking on a career in education, Aly was self-employed as an executive recruiter for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

    Sue Zanger retired from the Michigan Public School System after 32 years of teaching: 12 in grades three, four, and five and the remaining in high school and adult edult education. She has a masters degree in Latin and teaching majors in English and journalism. She also worked at the Frazer Public Library.

    Sue and her husband Ron moved to Florida ten years ago. Here she belongs to the University of Michigan and Chi Omega Sorority alumnae groups and to the American Association of University Women and the Venice College Club. She has been employed by the Sylvan Learning Center since 1997 where she was an associate director of education and is presently a tutor.

Sue enjoys walking, playing tennis, swimming, crafts, reading, and both word and jigsaw puzzles.

Kym Elder, Executive Director of Island Village Montessori Charter and Early Childhood Programs, was founder and first President of the IVMS Founding Board. Kym has Montessori educator certification from the American Montessori Society in both early childhood and elementary levels and has taught students from three years old to eighth grade in Montessori environments for close to 15 years.

    She is a graduate of both Pine View School and New College and has been a Sarasota County resident for most of her life, living also in New Orleans, upstate New York, and Michigan. Kym holds a Master's Degree in Charter School Educational Leadership from NOVA University and Florida professional certifications in educational leadership, K-6 elementary education, and integrated middle school curriculum grades 5-9. Kym holds a Florida Early Childhood Director's credential.

    Kym has returned to NOVA in the Doctorate in Education Program with a concentration in Internet Technology and Distance Education. In addition to school administration duties, she is project director of Montessori Live, an Internet-based Montessori lesson library and teacher training program developed at IVMS as well as Montalign, an Internet-based student tracking software also being developed at IVMS. Both projects are to forward the quality of Montessori programs in the United States and abroad. Kym has been a speaker at Montessori and Florida Charter School conferences.

    Kym has two children, Brooks and Jade, and is married to Don Elder, a local fine arts and antiques dealer. Brooks was a member of IVMS's first graduating class in June of 2003 as well as the first graduating class of Island Village Middle School in June 2006. Jade is currently a middle school student at IVMS.

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Classroom 16

    Bob Cloutier is now the Middle School science teacher and joined the IVMS staff in September 2006 after moving to Florida from New Hampshire.

    He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA in Zoology and has worked in state and federal government agriculture, the biotech industry and owned two businesses and a dairy/beef farm. He has received his Florida Certification for General Science, grades 5-9, has taught in adult education and been involved with children in 4-H, as a Little League coach and school photographer.

    Swimming, playing guitar, photography, forestry and agriculture have always been among some of his favorite pastimes. Bob has two grown boys living in NH and still owns a home there.

Lonna Chew joined IVMS in 2006 after working as a crisis counselor for Project H.O.P.E in Charlotte County. She graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Psychology and has taught middle school science in Indiana and Florida. Lonna is currently working toward a degree in Culinary Arts. Lonna has state certification in general science.

Lonna is married with one adult child.

 

 

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Classroom 17

    Misty Sirianni, certified in Mathematics Grades 6-12, has been an educator at Island Village Middle School since 2006. She received her Bachelors of Natural Science in Mathematics from the University of South Florida. She has worked in research, taught math in private schools and owned her own tutoring business. She is currently working on her Montessori education through the Montessori Live program.

Ms. Sirianni grew up in the Venice area. Her two daughters attend Island VIllage Montessori School. She and her husband, Tony, enjoy traveling, gourmet cooking, and spending time with their family. Ms. Sirianni is also a published fine artist, specializing in mixed media and watercolor.

     Jerry Kuhn is one of the educators in the Math Laboratory. Jerry joined the United States Navy in 1981 and retired from active duty as a Chief Petty Officer in December 2004. He spent many years traveling the world and lived in both Scotland and Italy. Upon his return to the United States, he moved to Nashville where he worked for Target Corporation as an HR Manager.

    Realizing his love for teaching, he moved back to his home state and now enters his second year with Island Village. Jerry's formal education includes and undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and a Master's in Business Administration in Global Management. In his spare time, he also facilitates courses in undergraduate and graduate business for University of Phoenix. He holds temporary certifications in Business Education 6-12 and Social Science 6-12.

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Classroom 18

   Kathy Nixon has an AB in Latin and English and a Master's in Library Science from Indiana University and holds Indiana and Florida teaching licenses in Language Arts 6-12, Latin K-12, and Media Services K-12.

     Kathy and her husband moved to Florida in 2000 and are enjoying living here immensely. She has taught Latin and English at three schools in Indiana and been the media specialist at two.

    Since moving to Florida she was the Youth and Adult Services Librarian at North Port Public Library for one year, and for four years she was the media specialist at Laurel Nokomis School. She says watching the middle school grow has been very exciting.

   Annette Ballou has a B.S. in Education from Central Connecticut University, a M.S. in counseling and a 6th year in Family Therapy from Southern Connecticut University. She has been both a teacher and Social Worker in the state of Connecticut, teaching everything from Pre-K to college psychology.

    While a Social Worker she placed children for adoption and supervised an adolescent group home for seriously disturbed and drug addicted teenagers.

    After moving to Florida she taught middle school language arts at Laurel Nokomis for three years. She says, “I am delighted to be teaching here at IVMS where both teachers and students are a pleasure to be with.”

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