The Leadership Team
Head of School
Katherine Bowen
Kathy, the most veteran member of the Quest staff, has seen the school grow from day one. She is a founding parent and former Board Member of Quest. She joined the teaching staff in 2005. Kathy completed her Montessori Upper Elementary training at the Seacoast Center in New Hampshire. She has a B.S. in Industrial Psychology from Clarkson University. Kathy oversees the Quest curriculum along with faculty professional development and recently completed guiding the school through a duel accreditation process with AISNE (Association of Independent Schools of New England) and AMS (American Montessori Society).
Business Manager
Jamie Martin
Jamie brings over 25 years of financial services experience to Quest from positions held at First Data Corp, PFPC and Boston Financial Data. Along with being the Quest Business Manager, Jamie is in charge of all tuition management and is an instructor in the Quest After School Program.
Director of Advancement
Susannah Blair
Susannah is responsible for all of the school’s Marketing, internal and external Communications and Development. She holds a degree in Early Childhood Education from Boston College and studied Educational Administration at Lesley University. Prior to living in South County, she spent five years teaching preschool outside of Boston and worked at Bright Horizons Family Solutions in Watertown, MA on their Sales Development team. From 2006-2016 she operated her own independent sales business for children’s apparel and gear maufacturers, working with New England retailers and is a proud Quest parent of two.
Office Manager
Erin Andrews
Erin oversees all day-to-day administrative and clerical aspects of Quest. Along with Erin’s administrative background, she has an extensive child care background working with children of all ages. Erin holds a degree from University of Rhode Island in Political Science and Communications.
The Teaching Faculty
Toddler Program
(Ages 18 months to 3 year olds)
Maureen Doyle
Maureen is a certified American Montessori Society (AMS) Toddler teacher from New York Center for Montessori Teacher Training, one of the premiere and most respected Montessori Infant/Toddler training programs in the country. She comes to us with a strong background in teaching holding an Elementary Education degree from Salve Regina University and a Special Education certification from Providence College. She worked as a substitute in the Rhode Island public school system for a decade, and most recently, at Pathways Strategic Learning Center in Coventry for five years. At Pathways, Maureen worked with elementary and adolescent children with severe disabilities.
Rachel Marshall
Rachel holds a degree from Plymouth State University in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Health and is currently pursuing her American Montessori Society (AMS) Infant and Toddler certification. Rachel is a Quest parent of two and brings an international background to the classroom as she was formerly the Lead Kindergarten Teacher at Life School in Panajachel, Guatemala.
Early Childhood Program/Primary
(Ages 3 to 6 year olds including Kindergarten)
Lindsay Perini
Lindsay is the Lead Teacher in Primary 1. Lindsay comes to us from Adams Montessori School in Quincy, Massachusetts where she was the lead Primary teacher for 9 years. She holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Human Development and Family Science from Ohio State, her Masters in Montessori Education from Loyola University and her AMI primary certification from the Montessori Institute Northwest in Portland, Oregon.
Christine Thuman
Christine is the Assistant Teacher in our Primary 1 classroom and comes to Quest having relocated from New Jersey. Chris is AMI 3-6 Primary Directress certified from the Montessori Institute of San Diego and received AMS 3-6 training at The College of New Rochelle. Chris has five grown children and is an avid tennis player.
Michelle Schuettke
Michelle is the Lead Teacher in our Primary 2 classroom with over 14 years of Montessori experience. She holds an AMS Montessori Early Childhood Credential (3-6) through Center for Montessori Teacher Education/NY and a BA in Arts & Letters from Portland State University, Oregon. She studied Elementary Education at University of Portland, Oregon and holds a Rhode Island Department of Education Early Childhood Teacher Certification (preK-2nd grade). Michelle is passionate about Early Childhood Education and believes the experiences between ages 0-6 have a tremendous impact on a child’s future learning and development. She loves traveling to new places and experiencing other cultures, as well as spending time with her husband and three children.
Caroline McCarthy
Caroline works with Michelle as the Assistant Teacher in our Primary 2 classroom. Caroline studied at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI and holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Educational Studies with a focus in Montessori. She just completed her second year of training for her AMI certification and loves working with children to help them learn and grow.
Emma Haney
Emma lends support our Early Childhood program as Quest’s Primary Enrichment Guide. Emma is herself a child of Montessori having attended South County Montessori School (SCMS) and later returning to SCMS for five years as a Primary Substitute, After School Assistant and Director of Summer Camp programs. She holds Bachelors degrees in English, Writing and Rhetoric, and Theatre from the University of Rhode Island. Professionally she has worked in technical theatre throughout the state and in the non-profit world until deciding to return to her first passion, working with and encouraging young people.
Lower Elementary Program
(Ages 6 to 9 year olds in Grades 1st through 3rd)
Jordan Vaillancourt Coale
Jordan is our Lead Lower Elementary teacher. She comes to Quest from Mill Falls Charter School in Manchester, NH where she taught in a Lower Elementary classroom for four years. Jordan received her American Montessori Society certification from Seacoast Center in Stratham, NH. She holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Elementary Education and General Science from Keene State College and is currently pursuing her Masters of Education with a concentration in Montessori philosophy from Plymouth State University.
Caitlyn Wass
Caitlyn is the Elementary Assistant who is currently completing her AMI Elementary Assistant certification. She comes to Quest from the University of Rhode Island where she received a Bachelors of Science with a degree in Finance in 2010. Caitlyn later went back to earn another Bachelors in Human Sciences and Services with a degree in Elementary Education.
Upper Elementary Program
(Ages 9 to 12 year olds in Grades 4th through 6th)
Meaghan Wheeler
Meaghan, the Lead Upper Elementary Teacher, holds a certificate at elementary level (ages 6-12) from the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). A Montessori educated child herself, Meaghan recently completed her Masters in Elementary Montessori Education at Loyola Maryland University in Baltimore, MD.
Cressida Habib
Cressida is a trained Lower and Upper Elementary teacher with an American Montessori Society (AMS) degree from the Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Collaborative (METTC) in Lexington, Massachusetts. Prior to joining the Quest faculty, Cressida was a Quest parent and her youngest son graduated from Quest in 2016. Cressida holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from Trinity College in Theatre Arts with a minor in Psychology and brings professional experiences as a producer and director in television and documentary film.
Middle School Program
(Ages 12 to 15 year olds in Grades 7th and 8th)
Auburn Cole
Auburn is the Middle School Humanities teacher. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of New Hampshire. Auburn taught in multi-age classrooms for ten years and in recent years has been busy with her two daughters and operating an organic farm. At Quest, Auburn combines her enthusiasm for academics and the outdoors by guiding adolescents in classroom studies, experiential education and the greenhouse microbusiness.
Lacey Feeley
Lacey is responsible for Middle School Science & Occupations. She comes to Quest with experience teaching both Middle School and High School science and has a BS&A in Biology and Education and a Master of Social Work with a focus in Child and Adolescent Trauma. Through the URI S.M.I.L.E Program, she developed inquiry-based curriculum for STEM afterschool programs for 4th through 12th grade students from over 20 schools throughout the state. Lacey owns and runs a farm which specializes in heritage breed animals and a focus on biodynamic farming and sustainable living. She is particularly interested in social justice as it relates to food production. Lacey is a Kingian Nonviolence trainer, which focuses on the philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., through the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at URI.
Blue Wheeler
Blue is the Middle School Math teacher and joins Quest after 16 years at Rocky Hill School teaching Science and Math. Blue graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management specializing in Wetland Sciences. Blue loves working with adolescents and strives to make education both relevant and exciting and is the proud Quest parent of two.
The Interdisciplinary Team
Fine Arts
Anne Reinhardt
Anne is our Director of Special Programs and Art Teacher. She holds a BFA in Photography and a K-12 Visual Arts teaching certificate from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit Michigan and an MA in Art and Design from Rhode Island School of Design. Anne’s career as an art educator includes experiences working with students ages 3-8 at the Roeper School in Michigan to working with middle and high school aged students at ACE Academy, a middle and high school for adjudicated young men. Anne’s focus at RISD was community based art education and social justice. She studied out-of-school-time programs that provided free access to art experiences for New England youth. Anne was able to work with several arts based organizations including RISD Project Open Door, English for Action, Community Music Works and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Anne’s creative practice is as much about education and community engagement as it is about making works of art.
Music
Antonio Forte
Antonio is Quest’s Music Instructor. Antonio is a skilled musician with a degree from American University in Music with a minor in Studio Art. Antonio comes to Quest with past Montessori experiences as he previously taught in a Montessori environment at Meeting House Montessori School in Braintree, MA.
Physical Education/Health and Wellness
Timothy Burns
Timothy is our Health and Wellness Instructor and comes to Quest from Rocky Hill School where he was the Middle School PE and Health Teacher. Tim has a background in teaching elementary ages as well, serving as an Elementary PE Teacher in Cumberland, RI. Outside of teaching, Tim is experienced as a coach in soccer, basketball, and track and field. Tim holds a Bachelors of Science from URI in Kinesiology with a focus in Health and Physical Education, and is a credentialed K-12 PE/Health/APE Teacher in the state of RI.
Outdoor Education & Agriculture
Ady Wheeler
Ady oversees the Quest Outdoor Education & Agriculture Program and supports science studies in the Elementary classrooms. She holds a Montessori Lower Elementary certification from the Seacoast Center in New Hampshire. She also holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from Hobart College in Women’s Studies and a minor in Religious Studies. Ady brings unprecedented institutional knowledge to Quest as she was one of the school’s first teachers and is also a Quest parent of two.