Staff

Head of School

Courtney Walsh

Courtney grew up in Northeast and Northwest Washington state.  She participated in a variety of athletics and studied theatre and music through the end of college, beginning her work with children early on as a piano accompanist for children’s musical theatre, and then as a regular babysitter and nanny from when she was a teen through the end of grad school. She moved to Portland to attend Portland State University for her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, intending to pursue a career in mental health.  She unexpectedly learned about the Montessori philosophy in one of her early childhood development classes and was inspired to see the method in action.  After working as a Primary Assistant at West Hills Montessori in Portland for three years, she attended Montessori Northwest where she earned her AMI Primary Montessori Diploma and a Masters of Education from Loyola University Maryland.  Courtney has been working with Montessori children and families in Portland since 2005, and she was a founding member of Montessori Children’s House as a Primary Guide in Tanager Meadow (and part-time Administrative Assistant) when the doors first opened in 2010. Courtney started the Chickadee Grove Primary Community in 2011. When there was a need for a new Head of School in 2021, it was a natural progression for Courtney to move from the classroom into the office, bringing with her more than a decade of classroom leadership experience and her historical knowledge of MCH’s evolution over the years.

Courtney and her husband Mike are both avid outdoors-people, enjoying hiking and backpacking, skiing and snowboarding, and bicycling; they live in Milwaukie.  They are both active members of the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol and spend most weekends (and many weeknights!) volunteering with MHSP; Courtney is a Toboggan Trainer, Hill Captain, the Training Director, and also Secretary on the MHSP Executive Council.  Courtney enjoys spending time gardening, exploring the great outdoors, cooking and baking delicious vegan food, snuggling her precious cats, listening to podcasts and audiobooks whilst doing chores, and reading.

Toddler Lead, Heron Cove

Andréa Roberts

Andréa Roberts works as the Lead Teacher in the Toddler Community. She has worked at MCH for over 10 years since it opened in 2010. She has taught in Montessori schools all around Portland for 20 years.

Andréa is the creator of the “Portland Montessori House.” They provide housing for adults who travel from all over the world to come to take Montessori training here in Portland at Montessori Northwest. Andréa manages two houses, one in the historic Piedmont neighborhood and another in Alameda.

She attended Grambling State University and majored in early childhood Education, with a minor in Art. Her hobbies include baking and cooking for friends and co-workers. She also enjoys crafting in her home studio.

Primary Guide, Tanager Meadow

Merrett Krahn

Merrett grew up in Minnesota in a small town about a half-hour east of the Twin Cities, and attended a Montessori school for Primary.  She has always loved working with children, starting in high school as a Junior Kumon instructor at a Kumon Math and Reading Center.  She moved to the west coast to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.  While in Walla Walla, she worked at Harper Joy Theater as a theater technician, building sets, rigging lights, and creating sound designs for the college’s productions, and continued to work with children at the Kid’s Place, Walla Walla’s Reggio Emilia daycare center.  In her studies for her Philosophy major, Merrett encountered the writings of Maria Montessori in a Philosophy of Education class, and it provided the focus and drive for the rest of her undergraduate studies.  Her senior Philosophy thesis was focused on Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education, and how it addresses questions of art and beauty during both the Primary and Elementary years.  

After getting her BA in Philosophy, Merrett knew her next step would be to get her Montessori training, so she moved to Portland to take the AMI Elementary training course at Montessori Northwest.  Upon graduating with her AMI Elementary degree in 2014, Merrett was hired to work as an Elementary Course Assistant at Montessori Northwest.  Merrett spent two years at Montessori Northwest, helping two academic-year Elementary courses through their own Montessori trainings, as well as participating in launching Montessori Northwest’s Elementary summer training program at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.  After she left MNW in 2016, Merrett worked as an Elementary assistant for a few months before starting at MCH as a Courtney’s Primary assistant in the Chickadee Grove classroom in February 2017.  It was not long before Merrett knew that she had found a home at MCH!  She assisted in the Chickadee Grove classroom from 2017 through 2019, and led Chickadee Grove’s summer program in 2018 and 2019.  In 2019, Merrett was ready to take her Primary training and get her M.Ed., and returned to Montessori Northwest.  She graduated from Montessori Northwest in June 2020 with her AMI Primary degree, and from Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, with her Master’s in Montessori Education in September 2020.  She returned to MCH in Fall 2020 as the Tanager Meadow Guide.

Outside of school, Merrett loves spending time with her cat Marbles, and rock-climbing.  She enjoys going to see movies, viewing exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum, and attending plays and musicals.  Merrett is also a lifelong vegan who loves a piping hot cup of green tea, and enjoys visiting local gardens, thrift shopping, cooking, and visiting her family in Minnesota and friends in Seattle whenever she can. 

Primary Assistant, Tanager Meadow

Ryan Mudd

Ryan graduated in 2009 with a BA in Elementary Education with a focus on kindergarten and 1st grade. He has taught 1st, 4th, and 5th grade all at the public level. He stumbled across the Montessori teaching method and fell in love with working with children using this teaching method/lifestyle. Ryan has been a Toddler Guide in the past and loves getting to assist in the classroom setting. Ryan transitioned to working with the Primary age group at MCH in 2020 .

Ryan grew up the oldest of three boys in a small town in Oregon. His father immigrated from England at a young age and, because of this, a lot of Ryan’s family traditions are based in English tradition, including the fact that he has multiple middle names. As a teenager Ryan developed his faith and that faith has driven him to serve and love others in his life. For the past twenty years Ryan has helped to build houses for the houseless in Mexico. He has also lived and worked in an orphanage in Haiti. Ryan currently works with a youth group and mentors at-risk teens. He has been a part of an organization called Night Strike that works with and feeds the houseless communities in Portland. Ryan believes that Maria Montessori’s methods of teaching peace and equality align heavily into his own beliefs and the way he wants to interact with the world. 

Toddler Assistant / Toddler PM Care Lead

Alyssia Stephan

Alyssia Stephan was born and raised in New York; she spent most of her time growing up either at the beach or running around Manhattan. 
One of Alyssia’s first jobs was assisting people with various abilities, this resulted in her finding her passion to help people, and went on to study Art Therapy. While obtaining her Bachelors of Science degree she worked with all different populations; 4th graders, formerly incarcerated, the elderly, and children on the autism spectrum. Wanting to get out of the fast-paced lifestyle of New York and the east coast she went to continue her education in Santa Fe, NM. 

During her time in Santa Fe she learned about herself and other ways of life. The consciousness-centered approach of her grad school taught her about meditation and self-awareness.During this time she worked with individual clients, providing education on self-care, addictions, and goal-setting. She also co-facilitated an art therapy group for new mothers where she created art directives that integrated self-care skills for parents to strengthen the family structure.  

Wanting to work more directly with children again she found herself at Montessori Children’s House and has been here since January of 2018. She uses the skills learned through her background of therapeutic intervention in her work with the toddlers, and she is looking forward to incorporating more art activities this school year.

Toddler Assistant, Heron Cove

Carrie Folkestad

Carrie is an AMI certified Primary Montessori educator with years of childcare/education experience. She has worked in both roles of assistant and guide in a range of Montessori classrooms, as well as in more conventional classroom settings. She has worked with toddler aged children all the way up to middle schoolers. Carrie is an avid baker, art appreciator, and loves a good book. She is completely committed to the Montessori educational philosophy.

Carrie was raised in Portland, but born in Port Townsend, WA. She has three children who attended a local Montessori school for many years ,and a hardworking husband of fourteen years. As a family, they spend a lot of time baking, traveling (not during the pandemic though!), and spending time with family.

Primary Assistant, Chickadee Grove

Ella Beaver

Ella grew up in Southeast Portland, and entered a Montessori school at age three, staying there until they were twelve, before attending public middle & high school. They feel lucky to have been profoundly shaped by Montessori philosophy as a child and are thrilled to return to the Montessori classroom as an Assistant. They volunteered in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms while in high school and have been a regular babysitter for many lovely families since they were a teenager. They are deeply inspired by the way children approach and understand the world. They have also worked as a seller of rare books and a gelato-scooper.

Ella is also a part-time student at Portland State University, working on a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, with a focus on Women, Gender & Sexuality studies. They are invested in learning anti-oppressive ways of relating to others and appreciate Montessori’s divergence from traditionally rigid educational structures. They enjoy spending time with their friends, family and rabbit, taking meandering walks through the wetlands near their house, playing guitar, reading & writing poems, and experimenting with art.

Toddler Lead, Hummingbird Garden

Mikaela Lieb

Mikaela was born and raised in Colorado, where she grew up skiing, playing soccer, and exploring the outdoors. She babysat and nannied throughout high school because she’s always loved kids, even when she was a kid. She took a hiatus from childcare to attend Reed College, where she worked in the Admission Office and read books for four years instead. After she graduated in 2017, this love of working with children brought her back to nannying, and she started working for a family that she still works with today. She has also spent several of the past years running summer camps with Portland Parks and Rec, reading and evaluating college applications for Reed, and babysitting for families all over the city. Exposed to Montessori through these families, she is so excited to start working with the methodology directly and to get back into a classroom. After working as an Assistant in the Heron Cove Toddler Community for the 2021-22 school year, Mikaela led the re-opening of our second Toddler Community, Hummingbird Garden. She is currently in the process of finishing her Montessori Toddler Teacher training.

Outside of the classroom Mikaela is an artist, throwing ceramics, painting, and working with different craft mediums. She loves plants, animals, and bugs. She enjoys watching women’s soccer, cooking, and playing with her puppy, Luigi.

Primary Guide, Chickadee Grove

Gina Werremeyer

Gina was first introduced to Montessori as a child by her mother, a trained Montessori Guide. This became the fundamental building block of her everyday life, as well as a love of the outdoors growing up in the mountains of Colorado. During high school she remained connected to children as a nanny during the summer and led a group of 5th graders during their annual camping trip. After high school she continued working as a nanny, gaining more knowledge and interest in child development through different parenting techniques and books. Her interest then developed more towards physical health, as well as the drive to cultivate change in order to make this world a better place. She then obtained her Massage Therapy license, bachelor’s degree in Health with a concentration in Ayurveda, and certification as a yoga instructor. After working in the health field for a number of years in Iowa, Oregon, and Minnesota, Gina felt a pull to return to working with children and happily found a position as an Assistant at a Montessori Children’s House just outside the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The Montessori environment fit like a glove and four months later she started her graduate degree in Montessori Education. She finds the Montessori pedagogy joyful, self-enriching, and giving of hope to the future of humanity.

When she isn’t in the Children’s House she enjoys gardening and hiking with her dog Elaine.

Primary PM Care Lead

Nena Dudley

Nena is a student herself, working towards her B.A. in Elementary Education at the U of Phoenix. Prior to U of Phoenix she received her Associates of Science at Mt. Hood Community College where she fell in love with the outdoors and completed her internship doing wilderness therapy with elementary age children. Outside of school Nena plays slow pitch softball, backpacks, canoes, and skiing, amongst many other outdoor activities.

Nena also enjoys scrapbooking and spending time with her dogs. Throughout the years working with kids, whether it be through sports, school, tutoring, teaching, nannying, or even spending time with her own nieces and nephews, Nena’s time with them has offered her the most joy and greatest reward of all.

Nena joined the MCH team, working with Primary’s PM Care program, in 2021.

Toddler Assistant, Hummingbird Garden

Elijah McVae

Moving from Ashland Oregon in 2022, Elijah is originally from a small town in northern California, where he first found his love for working in childcare volunteering in the kids’ wing at his church. Soon after, he found himself working in the education and childcare field in a variety of ways: lifeguarding, camp counseling, etc. He even helped build an arts curriculum for his high school while still attending. He now holds an AA and is working, in his own time, towards a BFA with a focus in education.

Elijah has always been an advocate for alternative education as a past student of both homeschooling and the charter school system, and is now incredibly excited to learn about the immense value in Montessori curriculum. Before joining staff at Montessori Children’s House, Elijah worked for many years in the field of specialty coffee, a passion he currently practices in his spare time. While away from work Elijah also loves Painting, forging local mushrooms, and eating quality food with his wife. 

Administrative Assistant

Sophie Domengeaux

Working with families and children has always been Sophie’s passion. She babysat and nannied throughout her time in high school and college and spent several summers as a camp counselor. Sophie graduated from University of Oregon in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management with a minor in Nonprofit Administration. Shortly after graduation, she worked in development for a family and youth focused nonprofit on the Oregon coast. 

In 2021, she moved to Portland to train as a birth and postpartum doula. She discovered Montessori through her birth clients. Several of them had older children who flourished in Montessori education. While new to Montessori, she can clearly see how valuable it is to children and families. 

Sophie is a sixth generation Californian, but now officially considers Oregon home. When not at Montessori Children’s House, she explores Portland with her partner, William. She has a special love for the Oregon coast, especially Wheeler, Nehalem and Manzanita. She is so excited to start her Montessori journey and join the MCH community!

School Snack Lead / Primary PM Care Assistant

Ashlee Allen

My name is Ashlee, and I was born and raised in Miami, FL. I’ve always enjoyed communicating with others and making folks feel comfortable. I was a before/after school care teacher at Cottonwood Elementary prior to my time at Montessori Children’s House. My focus at MCH is to maintain a healthy and safe classroom environment for all students in my care. I’ll aim to always leave a kiddo with a smile at the end of the day. 

Before moving to Portland I completed cosmetology school; I had my little beauty business and did childcare on the side. I love to help people feel great and highlight their beauty. I am a proud aunty to my beautiful niece and my beautiful nephews. I enjoy being with my family, my five schnauzers back home, and have a passion for art. 

Toddler Assistant Teacher / Toddler PM Care

Nahyun Park

Hi I am Nahyun Park from Korea. I like playing piano and hanging out with people. I love children because they give me so much love. I am willing to learn new things. So excited to be part of at MCH! Thank you. 

Toddler Assistant, Heron Cove

Madi St. Germain

Graduating from the Unversity of Minnesota Morris with a B.A. in psychology with a focus on child development in December 2021, Madi moved to Portland soon after. While in school, Madi gained experience caregiving for toddlers. Through her education, she found a passion to learn how children can become their best selves. Her education is driven towards understanding what young children need for personal growth; her focus for her senior thesis was closely related to Montessori philosophy. Madi is excited to dive into the practice of Montessori at MCH! 

In her free time, Madi loves to run, train, and take pictures of her dog. She also enjoys reading, finding a new coffee shop, and exploring the surrounding area of Portland with her partner.