Amy grew up outside of Boston. While her school days immersed her in city life, it was her time spent at her family's rustic island cottage with no electricity or running water that shaped her love of nature and longing for a more rural life. After more than a decade of teaching both outdoor education and in the classroom, Amy, her husband, and two children moved to Maine so that their children could attend MCWS. Much of her spare time is spent growing, preserving and cooking the food from their small farm. Amy also enjoys spending time with her family, walking her dog on the trails behind her house, camping, and baking healthy-ish treats.

Ananda grew up on an organic farm in southern New Hampshire, where she attended both the Pine Hill and High Mowing Waldorf Schools. From a young age, Ananda felt a sense of responsibility to the world around her; to be of service to all beings. A brief devotion to the study of fine arts gave way to many years of travel, study and work in Latin America and New York City, where her focus was social justice and human rights. Ananda found her inclination for healing work when she moved to Northern California, becoming first a massage therapist and later a somatic psychotherapist. She moved to Maine in 2007, where she has been guiding individuals and groups in mindfulness and meditation practices. Woven throughout all of her life experiences has been the thread of creating beauty, crafting, and working with her hands.

Brian, his wife Amy, and their two children, Grace and Noah, moved to Maine in 2011. What brought them here was their commitment to giving their children a Waldorf education all the way through high school. Before joining MCWS, Brian spent 16 years as an electrician in New Hampshire. His most interesting job, however, was raising baby cranes while wearing a crane costume. Brian's hobby, or if you ask his family, life consuming passion, is beekeeping. He started with two hives but was soon “hooked” and now has over 30. He also enjoys gardening, camping and spending time outdoors with his family (and bees).

Caitlin grew up in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. After completing her undergraduate degrees at UMass Amherst, where she studied anthropology and Spanish, she was lucky enough to be hired at a nearby Waldorf school as an assistant. Inspired by her work, she went on to complete a M.Ed and Waldorf teacher training through Antioch University in Keene, NH. When not with her students, Caitlin can be found gardening, knitting, sewing, and walking her dog.

Cerridwen was raised on a homestead in coastal Blue Hill, Maine where she attended a Waldorf school from Early Childhood through Grade 8. When Cerridwen was in third grade she remembers her class teacher asking the students what they might want to be when they grew up. Her answer was a teacher.

Cerridwen spent many years traveling and working in education before returning to Maine to create a home and community. She finds peace by the ocean in any season, and lives in South Portland with her child, husband, dog, and chickens.

Chloe is a recent transplant to Freeport from the rural coast of Maine, where she spent a decade raising two children, farming, gardening, organizing mothers' support groups, coaching youth sports, volunteering at local schools and non-profits, and teaching Spanish and English to individuals of all ages. She is delighted to be joining a community working together to nourish and nurture children. Chloe enjoys practicing yoga, walking the neighborhood dogs, cycling, running, gardening, playing with her family, and travel, especially to Spanish-speaking countries.

Chris joined the Maine Coast Waldorf School in 2020. After a brief stint working as a photojournalist at a large newspaper and some time as a photographer for the New York Mets,  he began to apply his skills as a marketing and communications professional in both boarding schools and higher education.

At Maine Coast Waldorf, Chris is responsible for the overall strategy and implementation of the school's communications and marketing efforts. He oversees content strategy, including news, newsletters, photography, videography, and print pieces, as well as public relations and media outreach efforts, ensuring consistent messaging across multiple platforms.

Outside of work, Chris enjoys exploring Maine by skiing and hiking. He lives with his partner, Danny, in Topsham.

Growing up, Chris attended a small progressive school in Melbourne, Australia. Similar to Waldorf in its philosophical approach to childhood development, Preshil provided the foundation for Chris’ student-centered, experiential education philosophy. Chris went on to spend 16 years teaching in outdoor education. There he facilitated experiences that provided opportunities for reflection, critical analysis, and synthesis. It became clear to Chris that students needed more than a short immersion program; they needed these principles to be woven into their daily lives. In the classroom, Chris brings his passion for teaching to bear over the course of a year and in the context of a greater community and progression of experiences. Chris’ objective is to assist students to become engaged, informed, and conscientious members of society.

Clare has recently been teaching at the Sandpoint Waldorf School in Idaho where she took a class from first through fourth grade. Prior to that, she worked as an assistant at Maine Coast Waldorf School in our early childhood branch. She graduated with her Waldorf Grades Teacher Training from the Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto. Clare earned her Bachelor degree from Bowdoin College.

Cyrus has spent some time as an entomologist and a lot of time teaching German to college students in Maine, Massachusetts, and Indiana. In classes on Lady Gaga, poetry, or Spargelfest (asparagus fest), he works with students to develop an understanding of our society and of our places in it; his teaching provides students not only with a critical purchase on social life, but with the tools they can use to envision transforming it. Cyrus has spent a lot of time writing on punk rock and philosophy, so that means he tries to go to as many concerts as possible and then philosophize about the music. But with a family, a garden, and a wood stove, that tends to happen less often.

David discovered the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy through work as a Biodynamic farmer in California. His desire was to change the world and he felt that first Biodynamic agriculture and later life in Camphill Village and in Waldorf Education was the way to marry his professional, political and spiritual life. David loves to sing and play music as well as being outdoors, reading fantastic books and spending as much time as possible with his family. He still believes in the power of Waldorf education to change the world!

David and his wife, Monika, moved their family from Kansas to Maine in 2016 so their daughters could attend Maine Coast Waldorf School. Co-founding a Waldorf school in Kansas in 2001 was David’s introduction into Waldorf education. He was an active member of the Board of Trustees and faculty during his time involved with that school, Prairie Moon Waldorf School. David has worked as a Behavior Analyst for the last 30 years, the last 20 of which he provided technical assistance to public and private schools across Kansas at the levels of the individual student, classroom, building , district, and state. David has been an amateur magician for many decades and, when he is not at school, is likely exploring the beauty of Maine.

Ezra grew up at the Himalayan Institute, a yoga ashram in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the company of people dedicated to spiritual striving. This inspired him to focus his life on learning and improvement. He relishes designing authentic learning experiences for his students. Ezra is from a Quaker background and welcomes challenging questions. He loves most things, specifically math, science, woodworking, and wildcrafting.

Gwen brings to Maine Coast Waldorf School experience teaching in both Waldorf early childhood and grades programs, most recently at the Wasatch Waldorf charter school in Utah. She completed her early childhood training from the Pleiades Initiative and both her Masters degree and Waldorf Grades certification from Antioch College New England.

Heidi has been teaching in Waldorf Schools since 2003. She has worked as a class teacher, math teacher and in the educational support program. When she's not teaching, Heidi writes fiction and spends time with her own children.

After graduating from college, Jane earned a teaching certification for grades K-8 and enjoyed 10 years of classroom teaching in both private and public schools. She became a stay-at-home mom after the arrival of twin sons. During that time, Jane authored a phonics and spelling workbook and started a private tutoring business. Because many of her students struggled with reading, she pursued specialized training which allowed her to target specific reading skill deficits. Over the past 17 years, Jane has worked with nearly 100 students assessing reading difficulties and providing individualized instruction. She also has experience working as a Literacy Strategist, designing and providing instruction for students and teachers while employed by the South Portland School Department. Jane and her family live in Brunswick.

Jeff has spent most of his career in the field of Civil Engineering. During this time he served as a technology instructor. His natural teaching ability led him into education as a full time substitute teacher at MSAD51. His curiosity, dependability, friendliness and passion earned him being a most requested substitute. His approach is to be organic, kind and non-reactive. He provides direction and re-direction as needed with respect and empathy being of utmost importance. Jeff builds relationships with students and helps them to enjoy learning and be mindful of how their thoughts affect their world. He and his wife play musical instruments and sing in their home studio, capture photography, paint, and nature watch on their deck. Jeff is the chef in his household cooking local, organic and sustainable ingredients.

Jeff grew up six miles south of Freeport in Yarmouth. Jeff has been teaching high school math and science since 1987. He is a founding faculty member of MCWS's high school and has been teaching math and phenomenological science since its inception. Prior to that he taught at North Yarmouth Academy, The Academy at Charlemont, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and The White Mountain School. He also plays bass and sings in an adult "garage band". At one time he was a fly fishing guide in Montana.

Jennifer and her family relocated to Maine from Florida in 2018. She quickly traded in her flip flops for ski boots and is loving all the Maine winter activities. Jennifer has always been very active, spending the majority of her early years as a dancer and rhythmic gymnast. She was a member of the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics Team and represented the U.S. in several international competitions. More recently, she finds her creative outlet in the kitchen designing and baking custom cakes and gingerbread houses.

It was through her work at the Florida Museum of Natural History that she gained significant fund- and friend-raising experience. Jennifer is very excited to join the Maine Coast Waldorf School family and help establish the school’s first ever alum program.

Jennifer served as an assistant in the nursery for four years.  She first came to MCWS after working with mixed ages at the Peaks Island Children's Workshop, both as a teacher and as a lifeguard. Jennifer has a background in educational entertainment, working with local organizations such as PORTopera and Portland Symphony Orchestra with their educational outreach.

At university Jennifer studied Theatre and Sociology - the art and the science of humans interacting with one another. Upon graduation, a passion for sustainable agriculture led her to farms from Washington to Delaware. Fueled by an interest in how humans relate to the earth and their food, Jennifer has spent the past few years on organic farms, managing farmers markets around NYC, and most recently working with children at Brooklyn Forest school and Hawthorne Valley Farm. These latter experiences introduced her to the beauty of Waldorf early-childhood education, and the vital importance of nourishing the whole child through strong relationships and nature-based play. In addition to communing with nature, Jennifer enjoys connecting with her community through contra dancing.

Jess Moore has been a grades and early childhood teacher, board member and College chair at both Maine Coast Waldorf School and Seacoast Waldorf School. This year marks more than twelve years as lead teacher in the kindergarten. Her professional interests include studying and innovating the Waldorf curriculum and meeting the changing needs of today's children and their families. Jess has a rich artistic background in graphic design, marketing, and performance theater, and considers herself a maker and doer.

Jill grew up in a family that loved traveling and hiking. A year spent in Switzerland, just before college, brought fluency in French and her first experiences working on organic farms. Her work as a naturalist exploring the redwood forests with children led her to Waldorf education. Long stretches in the wilderness—canoe trips in Labrador and the Boundary Waters, backpacking trips in the Wind Rivers and Cascades—as well as travel in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central America continue to give her perspective and inspire her love of teaching. When she is home, she spends as much time as she can outdoors.

Jim moved to Freeport, Maine in 1968. After graduating from Freeport High school, he went to work in the printing industry for 30 some years. Jim trained and received his CDL license when he  worked in North Yarmouth Academy's facilities department.

Jim’s first pleasure has always been spending quality time with Debra, his wife of 41 years, his four sons, and nine grandchildren. He enjoys camping and many sports. The New England Patriot’s, the Red Sox, and horseshoes are among his favorites.

Johanna grew up on the island of Bermuda and had an active and creative childhood. She moved to Maine in 2001, along with her husband, to restore a 225 year old house, a place to live out their artistic ambitions. She has shared her joy of painting with children and adults for over a decade, teaching in many different private schools and institutions, both in Maine and Bermuda. She loves working with the high school students at Maine Coast Waldorf School, inspiring them to look deeper into the beauty of the natural world. She feels passionately that art-making is a vital skill of communication and self-expression for young people. She has two young children of her own and spends her time with her family cooking, playing, painting and in nature as much as possible.

A Denver native, John joins Maine Coast after eleven years teaching at the Denver Waldorf High School, where he was also a student for 14 years. Through teaching, John rediscovered the joys of writing poetry. In poetic circles, John describes his teaching work as arson after Yeats’s sentiment that ‘education is not the filling of pail, but the lighting of a fire.’ This collaborative act of breaking down walls and building anew from the flames is what gets John fired up in the classroom. When not at school, John immerses himself in stories, music, tinkering, and exploring the outdoors with his family.

John toured in Tony Montanaro's Celebration Theater Ensemble. He is a resident guest artist with the Portland Ballet Company and has performed for over 20 years as Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker. He is a past host of the Portland Symphony Kinderkoncerts. He taught for many years at the Rudolf Steiner Institute, and presently is an instructor at the Spacial Dynamics® Institute. He is a founding boardmember of Seeds of Independence, where he continues to facilitate in their Jumpstart program for first-time youth offenders. He performs a duet show with his wife.

Joshua was born and raised in Saratoga Springs, NY at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. After college he spent three years teaching English in Japan, and has taught high school humanities in Waldorf high schools for 18 years (Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs, and most recently Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, Colorado). In his free time he loves being with his family (wife, Kim and daughter, Forest) in the outdoors, reading, writing, and carpentry. He comes to Maine Coast Waldorf School with a passion for seeking out truth and meaning in life and the world with his students.

Throughout her life Julie has always been a maker. She is motivated most when using her hands to create, She has worked in many media including wood, clay, glass, metal, stone, painting, drawing Teaching has always allowed her to learn and share her enthusiasms. Julie will always seeks out the opportunity to make something over buying it. She finds her greatest inspiration spending time with her family in the outdoors actively engaging in every season. She also loves to cook and share meals with friends, xc ski, and pick blueberries. Julie considers Maine her home where she lives a busy life with her husband and their daughter in a house they built on a little farm they created.

Katy has been accompanying choirs in the greater Portland area for more than 20 years. She regularly works with several schools in the area, as well as many private choirs, ranging in age from elementary school through high school and beyond. Katy also teaches piano to students of all ages.

Born in North Carolina, Kelly inherited a love of fibers, children, and nature from her Scots-Irish grandparents who had their roots in the Appalachian mountains. Growing up during the turbulent times of the 1960s and 70s gave her flexibility of thinking, courage,  creativity, and inspiration to constantly seek ways to make the world a better place for everyone. She has worked with young people in a variety of settings, from intense work on race relations and shelters for homeless youth, to kindergarten classrooms. She has finally found her favorite classroom to be the outdoors with our nursery children! She continues to weave in her "spare" time, and is currently studying homeopathic medicine as well.

Kelly comes to Maine Coast Waldorf School from 16 years teaching physics, chemistry, and agricultural science as a public educator. Passionate about making upper level content accessible and differentiated, Kelly's enthusiasm for STEM education naturally leads her to look for opportunities for her students beyond the walls of the classroom. Outside of school Kelly can be found tending her flock of heritage Jacob Sheep, hiking with her dogs, cross country skiing and crafting with her daughter.

Although she was raised in Northern Virginia, Kendra’s Maine roots run deep over generations. She has been based in the Portland area for the past 4 years and feels at home here, nestled between the mountains and the ocean.

Her professional background includes a variety of roles within healthcare as well as other areas of interest. Within nursing, she has worked at both pediatric and mixed Emergency Departments and as a summer camp and outdoor education nurse. Other pursuits have included: forest preschool teacher, community organizer, wedding planner, waitress in Australia and more. She loves a good adventure and learning from new experiences.

In her free time, Kendra spends as much time outdoors as possible year-round. She loves history, reading, and travel.

Laura is our Development Director. She started out as an actor in New York City where she had a successful career on Daytime Television and Off-Broadway. She is a mom of two young adults and returned to Portland, Maine, to be near family. Laura holds a B.A. in Theater Arts from Rutgers University, is an ICF Credentialed Coach, a CDC Certified Divorce Coach and an experienced public speaker. When her children were young, Laura was an active parent with the Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School in New York City.

Lauren Kerr was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a student for six years at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor. She studied elementary education at University, and in her early professional life worked in the public schools of Ann Arbor and Chicago. She attended the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California, and then took a class from first to eighth grade at the Bright Water Waldorf School in Seattle. After graduating her class, Lauren traveled internationally for a year, and then moved to Madrid, Spain, where she taught English at the Escuela Waldorf de Aravaca. 

In addition to traveling, Lauren loves to hike, bike, and relax with a nice cup of tea and a good book. She has enjoyed exploring Maine and discovering the natural wonders of this beautiful state.

Lisa is originally from the Finger Lakes region of Western New York. Currently, she lives in Auburn with her husband, four children and three dogs. Regardless of the season when she's not balancing debits and credits she can be found outdoors with her family. An amateur mycologist, gardener, skier, and cyclist Lisa can always find a reason to be outside. She lives by the maxim ‘there is no bad weather, just bad clothing.’

In addition to accounting, Lisa has dabbled in teaching math and coaching volleyball. As a parent to a son on the spectrum she brings a nuanced vision of the disparate needs of young learners. She comes to the Maine Coast Waldorf School looking to contribute to a community with a friendly, holistic constructive outlook on the world.

Lyn’s childhood was full of family moves (12 different schools in 12 years) and many adventures in the US and abroad. A child of the 60s, she was active in economic and social justice causes and became the first director of the National Center for Service-Learning in Washington, DC. Her interest in experiential and socially conscious education led her to Waldorf, and she was quite invested in helping MCWS launch its grade school in 1992 (her first-born was in the first first grade). She served as Development Director when the School was establishing its permanent campus, and now, as Admissions Director, loves her role in expanding the Waldorf school community.

When plucked suddenly from her complacent New England habitat in early adolescence and immersed in the warp and weft of life in South Africa, Lynn's eyes and interests were opened to a very different world perspective. Though primed for the adventure by her father's stories from annual sojourns to the Far East, experience proved the more immediate educator. After graduating from high school in Hong Kong, she once again became a mostly settled, slightly restless New Englander. It was on meeting Waldorf Education that she found a reflection of her early experiences in the exploration of the world's cultures as they unfold in the elementary curriculum. Besides her continuing fascination with indigenous peoples everywhere, she brings her love of the arts, a pleasure in the world of nature, and an enthusiasm for creating with her hands into her classroom.

Lynn has worked in both Waldorf and non-Waldorf schools for the past 20 years where she taught Parent-Child Classes, Young Nursery, Nursery, Kindergarten and Handwork. She has also worked as a parent educator for families with young children. Her enthusiastic love of gardening and the outdoors permeates her work with children. She and her husband built and restored houses, raised sheep and chickens, and enjoyed outdoor activities while raising their two children in southwestern New Hampshire. They are happy to now be living near the ocean and are restoring yet another home. In her spare time, Lynn enjoys weaving, knitting, cooking, hiking, and kayaking.

Margaret found her way to Maine by way of Cincinnati, Ohio, to attend Bowdoin College. While there, she studied Latin and Greek, and met a great guy, upon graduation married him, and has been in New England ever since. She is still not so sure about the cold, cold winters, but she does love the Maine summers, and the gorgeous landscape of the Maine coastline. When she and her family spent a year abroad in Australia, she found her way to Waldorf education there as well, and it was in Melbourne, Australia that she began her studies to become a Waldorf teacher. She finished her M.Ed with a specialty in Waldorf Teaching when she returned to the United States. Margaret began with her current class in first grade in the Fall of 2013.

Marta grew up on Cape Cod where her family ran a fish market; she shared the work of filleting and preparing seafoods from an early age. It was on a hilltop in Avignon (following a semester in Stockholm) that she learned of Waldorf education from her travel-mate. She began teaching in Washington, D.C., where she met her husband and enjoyed 10 years of city life. They ventured up to Maine where Marta taught in the Bath Public Schools. Marta and Tom grew their family by adoption; experiencing their children's birth cultures of Kazakhstan and Ethiopia and raising these two wonderful children has broadened their world infinitely. Marta continues to love the ocean, her family, and her two sweet cats.

I spent my childhood in a small town in the Southern Tier area of Upstate New York. After completing my Associates Degree in Business at S.U.N.Y. at Alfred I lived and worked in Syracuse, NY for the next 15 years. For the majority of those years I worked for Guardian Life Insurance Company and also completed my Bachelor's Degree by taking evening courses. I eventually obtained the revered position of Service and Sales which included selling employee benefits and servicing existing accounts throughout Upstate New York.

With the good fortune of meeting my potential husband who lived in Freeport, through mutual relatives in Syracuse, I moved to Maine when we married and have not looked back. Once my daughters were entrenched at MCWS I took over the position of managing the school store on a volunteer basis which increased my desire to understand Waldorf education. This led me to the Waldorf Foundations Study Course, After completing this course and with a fabulous opportunity to achieve a Waldorf Teachers Certificate at Antioch, by taking weekend classes,I obtained the Waldorf Teacher's Certificate after 2 years of study and internships. I jumped right into teaching main lesson classes and substituting at MCWS and began as the Events coordinator in 2013. This position draws on the many skills I've developed through chairing various non-profit initiatives as well as my understanding of the MCWS community.

Other than being extremely involved with my daughter's class activities, volunteering in the community and at school events, and working as an insurance consultant at my husband's company, I was a competitive runner. I have since taken up cross country skiing and enjoy the outdoors.

Melissa and her family moved to Maine in 2019 so that their son could continue his Waldorf education through high school. The couple discovered Waldorf education at Prairie Moon Waldorf School in Lawrence, Kansas, where their son attended from Parent/Child Class through 8th grade. Melissa joined the board and then served as Administrative Director for 10 years.

Serving in leadership alongside faculty and parents, Melissa found her calling in supporting the adult community—in turn supporting the student and world communities. Organizational dynamics is a topic she never tires of.

Outside of her work at the school, Melissa enjoys any form of puzzle or brain teaser as well as knitting and weaving. Escape rooms and yarn stores are her happy places.

A love of travel and adventures abroad, beginning with a high school exchange to Brazil led Michael to study and then teach both French and Spanish. He has enjoyed living and teaching in France and leading student trips to Central America and Quebec; experiences which have inspired a strong passion for world cultures that he brings to his students in stories, songs, and games. His favorite pastimes include spending time with family and friends, working outdoors building and landscaping, playing guitar, and singing songs late into the night.

Michelle grew up attending public schools in Missouri and was the first member of her family to attend college. After a career working as an architect in Chicago and San Francisco, she became a homemaker raising three children, dairy goats, chickens and a donkey in New Mexico. The family spent eight years immersed in the Dutch Steiner school community where Michelle completed her Waldorf Early Childhood teacher training. She finds joy and fulfillment through moving, singing, designing and creating with young children both indoors and out in nature. In her freetime, she enjoys exploring the waters and trails of Maine, meeting folks in the community and traveling to reunite with friends and extended family.

Molly’s experience working in business operations and investment banking was the catalyst that led her to education, a career that has brought meaning and passion to her life. As someone who struggled with ADHD as a child, she gravitated towards working with children with learning differences. Working at a school serving gifted and twice exceptional learners in Austin, Texas, she gained extensive experience helping her students understand their learning style, cope with their challenges, embrace their unique strengths, and find success. Molly is grateful that she can bring this passion to her work at Maine Coast and continue to help children on their path to self actualization.

Currently enrolled in a master’s program in Educational Psychology, Molly spends a lot of her free time learning about how she can best serve her students and loves to see how her studies infuse her work with fresh knowledge, solutions, and expertise from the field. When she is not at school or studying she enjoys cooking elaborate meals, doing anything outdoors, and spending time with her family.

A coin toss landed Nancy in Portland after graduate school, and she has called Maine home ever since.  After teaching at the college level for five years, Nancy decided she wanted to teach adolescents and started teaching in public high schools.  Nancy and her husband discovered Maine Coast Waldorf School when they were searching for a nursery program for their daughters eighteen years ago. Foundation Studies deepened Nancy’s understanding of Waldorf education and prepared her for Waldorf high school teacher training. Nancy enjoys helping bring plays to life, inspiring students to appreciate literature and transforming their thoughts to the written word. She loves spending time with her family, reading novels, writing poetry, and immersing herself in nature.

Nowell returns to Maine Coast Waldorf school as both a teacher and an alumnus. He grew up in Brunswick attending the school from kindergarten, graduating with the high school’s fourth senior class in 2013. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics, Nowell spent several years in Washington D.C. teaching STEM focused after school classes and summer camps. He is excited to return to the community as a faculty member and share his enthusiasm for math and science with the newest generation of high school students.

Outside of school Nowell is an avid reader and enjoys spending time in nature, as well as the occasional Ultimate Frisbee game.

Oliver is a native of Germany who came to Maine in 2001. Since 1990, Oliver has been working with children and teenagers in various settings in Europe and the US. Through his many years of experience in arts, language, nature studies, athletics, social work, culinary arts, crafts, and music—as well as being a father—Oliver feels at home in creating exciting, inspiring, and versatile activities for children of all ages. Oliver has been the German teacher for Kindergarten through 8th grade at Maine Coast since 2005. His many tasks at the school have included teaching high school German, woodworking, cooking and coaching middle school cross-country.

A career teacher and a language lover, Olivier was born and educated in Paris, France. He taught in the French public school system for 19 years and at the French Institute Alliance Française in New York City for 6 years. Olivier believes the language class should be interactive, student-centered, and focused on the practical use of the target language. As a teacher, he sees himself as a facilitator, striving to create a nurturing environment for the students. He has also done volunteer work, as a translator, on several documentary films about Africa. When he is not teaching, Olivier likes to play the saxophone with a jazz band and enjoys taking long hikes with his wife. 

Rebecca brings years of experience running a Waldorf playgarden to Maine Coast Waldorf School. She received her Waldorf teacher certification from Summerfield School and Farm and her Bachelors from Humboldt State University.

Ross grew up in Alaska where his connection to the outdoors was part of the rhythmic flow of the seasons. Ross first became aware and interested in how movement is related to learning after studying movement theater between his undergraduate and graduate studies, which eventually led to Spacial Dynamics and the study of human movement.  Currently in his 4th year of Spacial Dynamics training.  Current and past movement pursuits include swimming, rock climbing, bare back rodeo, long distance ocean kayaking, sailing, and bush flying.

Sage joins MCWS as the EC afternoon assistant. A graduate of White Mountain Waldorf School, Sage most recently worked with children as an historical interpreter at Old Fort Western in Augusta. 

Samantha is assisting in the Early Childhood and has worked and trained mostly in the Waldorf Early Childhood classroom as an assistant for many years. She also worked with children of all ages leading nature-based and art activities in a variety of settings including Farm to School, public art workshops, women’s groups and group nannying. She studied painting at the Maine College of Art and has a Bachelor’s from College of the Atlantic where she studied intercultural education, botany, and romance languages. She also spent several years training in early development with the Neufeld Institute. Sharing wonder with children in a playful and compassionate setting brings her great joy.

Sharyn grew up in Midcoast Maine on a small farm. She began taking pictures and dance classes at the age of 14. Art has always been her inspiration and she graduated high school from Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Sharyn  worked as an architectural photographer up and down the east coast and ended up in New York City for seven years. She moved back to Maine in 2001 and has been in business for herself doing portrait, commercial and fine art photography.

Sharyn resides in Pownal with her 13-year-old daughter and rescue Rottweiler. She is a member of the Green Memorial AME Zion Church in Portland and of the Alma Cubana Dance team, which performs annually at the Boston Salsa Festival.

Susan has happily spent most of her life in the northeast, gradually making her way eastward from upstate New York to Maine. Following a corporate career in computer tech support, she began working her way into MCWS, managing the school store, volunteering in the classroom, serving as class parent, and assisting in the lower grades. These days you can find Susan at the high school, where she does a little bit of everything: office manager, registrar, athletics, transportation, and tech support. When she's away from school, Susan enjoys hiking, skiing, playing with her dog, and giving advice to her (grown) children.

Suzie is a native New Englander who knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a teacher.  During her first career, Suzie had a wide range of experience in the hospitality industry. She discovered a way to nurture her love of the outdoors by shifting from the sales department of the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, to a management position supporting the back country huts for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Marriage and motherhood brought Suzie to Maine, where her family grew to four children and many pets. Suzie readily admits her current career direction was inspired by the experiences of her four children, all educated at Maine Coast Waldorf School, from the early childhood program onward. Her own Waldorf faculty experience includes time as a volunteer, full time handwork instructor and classroom teacher.  Suzie loves to knit, swim and spend time with her family.

Toben studied Elementary Education and English. Toben loves working with children and he is absolutely built for it.  He is kind, compassionate and fun and is always coming up with creative and interesting ways to work with children. In addition to serving as an After Care Teacher for Maine Coast Waldorf School, Toben oversees the family programming at two local churches.  Toben is an amateur poet and his most prized material possession is a signed copy of “Dog Songs” by Mary Oliver.

Vanessa is Grades School Office Manager. She has spent the last ten years teaching in Maine classrooms and working as an educational program coordinator, and also has experience in public relations, event planning, and program development. She is a Maine native and after some time in New York and New Hampshire she returned to pursue her passion for community education. Vanessa holds a B.A. in English Literature from UNH, and a Master’s in Education from USM. Other interests are cooking, live music, and being outdoors year-round. She lives in Brunswick with her partner and their 3-year-old rescue pup.

Beginning with her experience as a college senior interviewing prospective first year students, Whitney has spent more than two decades working with students as they make the transition from high school to college. She has worked as a college admissions officer, a high school counselor, and an independent counselor. She visits several dozen colleges each year and is always amazed by the diversity of higher education opportunities available in the United States and abroad. Whitney currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Higher Education Consultants Association.