CEMCS Faculty Bios

Academy 1 – Sabrina Rivera

Sabrina attended Armstrong Atlantic State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching. She is a Savannah native who is married to her high school sweetheart and has two daughters. She also has a cat, two dogs, and several other pets that she makes a part of her classroom community. In her spare time, Sabrina enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and singing.

Motherhood is what awakened a passion for teaching in Sabrina. She says, “Watching my daughter grow and learn new things every day, and experiencing the joy she found in every new discovery and every new accomplishment, made me realize that I wanted to do this every day for the rest of my life. I wanted to be instrumental in this process for more children, to watch them find joy in learning new things and making new discoveries.”

Academy 2 – Mittie Staininger

Mittie Smith Staininger was born in Savannah and attended Savannah public schools during the 1960s. After two years at Emory University, she went to California to visit her sister and returned thirty-five years later! During those thirty-five years, she married and raised two daughters who attended Montessori pre-schools. She worked in theatre, film and television for fifteen years before beginning her teaching career as a secondary Language Arts teacher.

She tested the Montessori waters as an assistant in a Primary classroom during Coastal Empire's first two years. Wholeheartedly converted to the Montessori philosophy, she obtained her Georgia teacher certification and completed her Montessori training in May 2011. Although delighted with her assignment as co-teacher of the All-Day Montessori Primary class last year, she feels she has found her people in 3-and-4-year-olds at the pre-school Academy.

Academy 3 – Melissa Holloway

Growing up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Melissa's love of teaching was inspired from working at her grandparents' toy store. She got a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Art Education at the University of Mississippi. She also earned a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Melissa volunteered at two children's hospitals as an Art Therapist, held private toddler art classes, and worked as a teacher in a two-year-old classroom at an early learning center in Savannah before beginning her training to become a Primary Montessori teacher. She is currently working on completing her Montessori certification from The Institute of Guided Studies in South Carolina.
Melissa’s love of children and of the Montessori philosophy is her primary motivation. A quote from Maria Montessori sums it up: "It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the Universe. She must prepare herself and truly work at it."

Kindergarten 1 – Lynn Avery

Lynn is currently teaching her 15th year in public school and her 4th year as a Primary Montessori Lead. She was trained in Montessori by the world-renowned Sanford Jones and has been with the Coastal Empire Charter since its beginning. She has been the Lead of the Outdoor Committee for the past 3 years and recently obtained her certification as a National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) instructor.
Lynn loves the outdoors and spends much of her free time hiking, kayaking, boating and hanging out with my two dogs, Geist and Heidi. She is originally from Vidalia, GA, and has lived in Savannah off and on for the last twenty years. She has also lived in many different states and countries and enjoys traveling domestically and internationally. Lynn is passionate about sharing her knowledge with my students and helping them to see the interconnectedness of all things and all people.

Kindergarten 2 – Meredith Floyd

Meredith earned her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Georgia Southern University and was trained in Montessori Primary by Sanford Jones. A Savannah / Richmond Hill native, she loved her first-grade teacher and always dreamed of being just like her – and now she is living her dream! She taught first grade in a traditional school before moving over to Coastal Empire.

Meredith has three dogs – Charlie, Wilson and Tippy – and her favorite place is anywhere near the water, especially the beach. I love Italian food, music and the color blue. If you wonder why she teaches Montessori, Meredith has this to say: “I think life is too short to not do what you love, and I love Montessori. It allows me to focus on each individual child and meet his/her needs. I have a chance to help them develop as a whole person that will be an amazing part of the whole world. As Maria Montessori said, ‘Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world.’”

Kindergarten 3 – Kirsten Leske

Kirsten grew up in Wisconsin, where she received her degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. After moving to Georgia in 1995, she taught Kindergarten in the Atlanta area for twelve years and earned her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Her daughter attended a Montessori school at this time and she became intrigued by the methods used there. Upon moving to Savannah for a change of pace four years ago, Kirsten taught first grade at Hodge Elementary and then moved over to Coastal Empire. She received her training during the summer and school year of 2008-2009.

Kirsten’s daughter attends the school and she is active in the Coastal Empire Parent Teacher Organization. She also co-leads a Girl Scout troop and enjoys spending time outside hiking and camping. It is her wish to spread her love of nature to the children in her care. She is also a very passionate reader and is thrilled when the children feel the excitement of learning to read and the doors that it opens to both learn and dream.

Lower Elementary 1 – Thea Monsion

Thea has been teaching at Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School since 2009. Before switching her career path to teaching, she worked in both Environmental Education and Marine Biology. Her interest in Montessori began when she was living in the Virgin Islands and had a chance to meet several students and teachers from a local Montessori school and was impressed with the joy of learning that the students displayed. Now that she is a trained Montessori teacher, she says, “I can tell you that I wholeheartedly believe in the philosophy and the independence and self-confidence that it inspires in the children.”
She has been married to her husband, Mark, who is also a teacher, for five years, and their first child, Zephyr, just arrived in January 2012. They also have two dogs, a cat, and a snake. Thea enjoys exploring the world, anything having to do with the water, cooking, reading, camping and gardening.

Lower Elementary 2 – Sonya Tokerud-Hoelscher

Sonya grew up in Montana and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and completed the K-5 Elementary Education Program at Metropolitan State College of Denver. She and her husband moved to New York City, where she received my Master of Science Degree in Literacy in the Classroom at Bank Street College of Education. Sonya has taught for ten years – six years as a first grade teacher in New York City, two years in second grade in Chatham County at Largo-Tibet, and for the last two years at Coastal Empire Montessori School.

Sonya’s interest in Montessori started when she finished high school and read about the Montessori teaching methods, which molded my teaching philosophy around the idea that children learn first and foremost by doing. She believes that in order to spark interest, you need to follow what the child knows and what they are ready to understand. Sonya was trained by Sanford Jones in the Lower Elementary Montessori curriculum. She recently took part in the Coastal Savannah Writing Project and is also working on her math endorsement. Sonya loves spending my time with her husband, a painting professor, and her daughter, a vibrant six-year old.

Lower Elementary 3 – Patricia Loper

Patricia earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Miami University of Ohio before completing her Primary training at Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Center in Chicago. She had traveled in Europe after college and worked as an au pair and it was there that she discovered her love of working with children. She taught in North Carolina and in her current home of Bluffton, South Carolina, for several years before getting married and retiring to stay home and start a family. Patricia and her husband have three children whom she home-schooled for eight years, while running small home-based morning programs when they were young. She returned to work outside her home when she discovered that Sanford Jones was offering Lower Elementary training at Coastal Empire, and she joined the faculty at the school the following year in the All- Day Montessori Primary class. This is Patricia’s first year as an elementary teacher and feels blessed to have the support and guidance of the school’s “amazing staff.”
Patricia is currently completing her Master’s Degree at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Lower Elementary 4 – Brooke Tuscano

Brooke completed her Bachelor’s Degree at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in 2004 and then spent one year substitute teaching in Ohio. In 2005, she moved to Savannah, where she taught one year of Pre-K followed by four years of first grade in a traditional school. In 2009, she earned her Master’s in Education from Armstrong Atlantic State University and completed the Lower Elementary Montessori training with Sanford Jones at Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School. She joined the CEMCS family in 2010 as a Lower Elementary teacher.

Brooke and her husband are expecting their first child.

Lower Elementary 5 – Heather Carswell

Heather is from New Fairfield, Connecticut. She graduated from Mount St. Mary's College with a degree in Elementary Education before earning her Master’s in Education of the Hearing Impaired from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. During graduate school, she interned at a Montessori-based deaf preschool program. Her four children all attended the Montessori Academy of Savannah. She has taught Pre-K through college level classes over the last twenty-one years. She has also developed an art program and taught art for grades Pre-K through eighth. This is Heather's second year at Coastal Empire Montessori and she is currently teaching in the first grade Lower Elementary class.

In her spare time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and doing crafts and anything outdoors.

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