School Leadership
Head of School
Paul Raymond. Paul has over twenty-five years experience
in
Montessori schools as an educational leader and a teacher. He has
taught at
all levels, Primary (3-6 year olds), Elementary (6-12 year olds) and
Middle
School (12-15 year olds). He holds AMI (Association Montessori
Internationale) Montessori certifications for both Primary and
Elementary and
has completed the Montessori Adolescent Training (NAMTA). Paul
developed
the Montessori Middle school program and curriculum for the
Montessori
School of Raleigh and led the school to dual accreditation during
his tenure
as Educational Director of the school. Paul taught both the lower
and upper
elementary programs for the Montessori School of Maui. Earlier in
his career
he owned and directed the Montessori Country School on a farm in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Quest Faculty and Staff
Katherine Bowen. Katherine is a co-teacher for Quest's Upper
Elementary 1 class.
Katherine has held several leadership positions
in
technical support and customer service at GTECH and Cadre
Technologies.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Psychology from Clarkson
University. She has a daughter at Quest and a son who is an alumnus
of the school.
Pam Branch. Pam supports Quest as Administrative Assistant. In addition to
being
a professional Decorative Artist for over 20 years, she had developed and taught a variety
of art workshops and has a degree in Fashion Design from The Fashion Institute of Design
and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California.
Arlette Cornwall. Arlette is an enthusiastic addition to the Quest staff. A real
estate entrepreneur since the 80’s, she also has additional experience in business
management and administration.
Lori Dale. Lori Dale is a founding parent at Quest and now joins the staff to
teach Upper Elementary Art History. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from the
University of Maryland, and studied Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University. She also
runs an after school cooking program in the Jamestown school system.
Justine Dean. Justine joined Quest as a co-teacher for the UE2 classroom at the
beginning of the 2009/2010 school year. Justine holds a Highly Qualified Elementary
Education Rhode Island teaching certificate and has taught in the Cranston School
Department for the past five years. She has taught third through eighth grade using the
Rhode Island Grade Level Expectations (GLE’s) as her guide for instruction. She has
successfully co-labored with her colleagues and parents to guarantee a positive,
encouraging, successful learning environment at each grade taught, including here at
Quest.
Elizabeth (Libby) Furcolo. Libby is a founding teacher at
Quest
Montessori School and has taught from preschool level up to the
fifth
grade. She currently teaches in the Middle School. She is
Montessori certified in both Primary and Lower Elementary. She
received her
Primary certification from the Montessori Centre International (MCI)
and
elementary certification from the Seacoast Center (AMS). She has
been
teaching for 16 years and brings a true understanding of the
elementary child
and Montessori approach. She previously taught in the primary
program and
as the art teacher for grades 1 & 2 at the South County Montessori
School.
Libby has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from the
University of
Rhode Island. She is currently working on her 100 hour practicum
for Orton
Gillingham certification through the Dunn Institute in Providence,
R.I.
William (Hutch) Hutchinson. Hutch joined Quest in the fall of
2005 to
teach math and science in the Middle School. Hutch came to Quest
with
many years of experience teaching at the Middle School level,
particularly in
science. He has worn many hats in his teaching career from athletic
director
to advisor to department head. Hutch has a B.S. from Metropolitan
State
College in Denver, CO and an M.A. from St. John’s College in Santa
Fe, N.M.
Hutch is a talented carpenter and sailor and brings these talents
into the
Middle School classroom with hands-on applied science and
mathematics
projects integrated into the curriculum. He has a daughter at
Quest.
Ruth Lee. Ruth joined the staff at Quest Montessori as the Art Resource
Teacher for the Lower and Upper Elementary and Middle School in 2009. She recently
received her
Masters Degree in Arts of Teaching from the Rhode Island School of Design. She also holds
a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. As an Art
Resource Teacher, she seeks to guide students to discover their uniqueness through
engaging and challenging lessons that expand their art making abilities, their relationship
with art, and it’s relationship to the world. When she is not teaching, Ruth works as an
Editorial Illustrator and enjoys watching detective shows on T.V. with her husband.
Shelly Murphy. Shelly joined Quest Montessori as the Marketing
Communications and Admissions Director in January 2010. Prior to joining Quest, Shelly
managed her own strategic marketing communications firm. Her experience also includes
six years as director of marketing communications for Meeting Street, which included
supporting admissions and fundraising efforts, and three years working in a similar role at
Rhode Island College. Shelly has a master’s in business and organizational
communications & public relations from Emerson College and a bachelor’s in journalism
from Radford University in Virginia.
In addition to working with the Quest community, Shelly teaches courses at Bristol
Community College and the University of Rhode Island including journalism, public
relations, and professional speaking. She and her husband also coach their son’s FIRST
Lego League Robotics team.
Cheryl Raymond. Cheryl directs the Upper Elementary Program
for
Quest and joined the faculty this year after teaching for ten years
at the
Montessori School of Raleigh and two years at the Montessori School
of
Maui. She is an accomplished Montessori guide with twelve years of
Montessori teaching experience in both Lower Elementary (3 years)
and
Upper Elementary (9 years). Cheryl holds both Montessori
certification (AMI
Elementary 6-12) and conventional Elementary Education training.
Cheryl
has her B.A. in Elementary Education from Drury College in
Springfield
Missouri, where she made Dean’s List, was recognized as an Academic
Honor Scholar, and was President of the Kappa Delta Pi – Educational
Honor
Society. She and her husband Paul have two children at Quest
Jennie Schwab. Jennie is the teacher in the Lower Elementary
classroom at Quest. She holds her Montessori primary certifcation
from Northeast Montessori Insititute (AMS) and has taught at the
Montessori primary level for the past five years at Cornerstone
Montessori School in North Kingstown, RI. She also holds an
American Montessori Society Elementary I Credential from the
Seacoast Center for Montessori Teacher Training in Portsmouth, NH.
Jennie is the daughter of a career Montessori Teacher and Montessori
Teacher-Trainer. Jennie was Montessori educated until the
age of nine. Prior to her Montessori career, Jennie worked in the
corporate sector where she held several leadership positions in the
computer software industry. The most recent position being Manager
of the
Northeast sales engineering team for Broadvision. She holds a
Master's in Education from Endicott College, and a Bachelor's
Degree in
Marketing and Computer Science from the University of Dayton, OH.
She has a daughter at Quest and a son at Windswept Montessori School.
Gary Viera. Gary is Quest’s founding Physical Education and
Health
teacher. In 2005 Gary began working in the lower elementary
classroom as a
teacher’s assistant and this year directs the school’s Physical
Education
program. Gary launched the Middle School intrastate cross country
and track
and field teams as Quest’s first athletic coach. Gary has worked at
the YMCA
as a Camp Director and a Preschool/Family Director and was also in
charge
of their sports program. Gary has a BA in Education from Norwich
University
(The Military College of Vermont). Gary enjoys coaching soccer,
softball and
rugby.
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