STAFF BIO’S
Patience Schutrumpf Director
Patience Montessori was born out of a lifelong passion for children. After a stint in IT, Patience switched to childcare and re-discovered her calling. During an internship at a Montessori School for her director training, her belief and confidence in the Montessori Method was cemented. She saw that children are significantly more advanced, balanced, better at interacting with others and, as adults, more successful in life. With her son Alaric as the first student, Patience is now living her dream of running a Montessori school. Patience Montessori is run, first and foremost, the way any discerning parent wants their child nurtured and educated. In addition, Patience is providing the Boulder community with a quality, multicultural childcare center that provides for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. When Patience has a moment to herself she enjoys spending time with her family and relaxing with a good book.
Amy Haywood
Musicare Instructor
Ms. Amy, singer, storyteller, writer, and mother of two, grew up in Asia and sang in bands throughout high school. She has two degrees in Education and English Literature with a minor in Music from Guilford College. She has been teaching Musicare since 1987. In 1999, Amy and four other Musicare instructors created Camp Oonie Koonie Cha, an early childhood music camp in Winston-Salem. Musicare and Camp OKC, nourish Amy’s profound interest in children. Amy and her music partner, Claire Valine, have won two Parents’ Choice Awards for children’s music recordings. They have five works in total. Amy resides and teaches in Boulder, Colorado. She is working on publishing “Miss Ellie”, the story from her “Rockin in the Rabbit Hole” CD.
Miss Laura
Musicare Instructor
Laura graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Performance. In addition to teaching Musicare and Music Together, Laura is a member of St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and Harmonia and performs regularly with these groups. She recently completed her Orff Certification Level 1 and is excited to bring some new ideas into her teaching. Laura loves experiencing music as part of her everyday life, and is delighted that she can share this experience with your children.
Jamie Kurzman
Floater- All Classrooms
Jamie was born and raised in the city of Chicago. After high school, she attended Skidmore College in upstate New York for one year. While there she received training in early Childhood education. Jamie received the remainder of her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she graduated with two Bas in Sociology and Communication. Throughout college Jamie worked for a start-up company in Boulder as a marketing intern and as a part-time volunteer in the Literacy Room at Crestview Elementary School in North Boulder. Her volunteer work at Crestview sparked her interest in working with children. This passion has led her to pursue a masters in Speech and Language therapy. Jamie began working for Patience Montessori in May of 2011 where she continues to hone her experience and interest in working with developing children.
Ann Meijer
Lead Teacher – Wobbler Room
Ann Meijer is a native of Sweden. She has experience in many different areas that make her a wonderful asset to this school. The Montessori philosophy was an early part of Ann’s life. As a teenager, she helped out in a Montessori School. When her own children started attending a Montessori school, Ann started teaching using the Montessori Method herself. While in Sweden she joined up with other parents and started her own Montessori School Co-Op where she was the director. Not only does she have many years of Montessori experience but she was also a nurse in a Neurosurgery unit. In her spare time she enjoys skiing, golfing, reading a good book and being creative with watercolors. Her 3 children and 4 grandchildren are a big part of her life.
Athena Dubois
Lead Teacher – Primary Room
Miss Athena joins us from Lyons Community Montessori, where she has been a lead teacher in their Primary Room for the past four years. Prior to her work at Lyons Community Montessori, Miss Athena taught at Central Elementary and Spengler Elementary School in Longmont. Miss Athena is an AMS-certified Montessori teacher, and is group-leader qualified. Miss Athena spent 14 years in Holland and is fluent in Dutch. Her multicultural background combined with her passion for children makes her a strong and effective teacher here at Patience Montessori School. During her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family.
Megan Slattery
Floater – All Classrooms
In 2008 Megan graduated from Miami University in Ohio and moved to Boulder. For three years Megan utilized her bachelor’s degree in communications and film by helping produce documentaries for the National Geographic Channel. In the fall of 2010 she took time off to travel and found herself in Tanzania, Africa. She became inspired to work with children after volunteering at an orphanage located on a coffee plantation in rural Tanzania. Megan intends to go back to school to obtain an early childhood education certificate.
Andrea Barricklow
Assistant Teacher – Nido Room
Andrea is originally from St. Louis but moved here from Laurence, Kansas where she lived for 8 years and attended the University of Kansas. She is planning on going to the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies in Boulder this summer to complete her Montessori education with infants and toddlers. She worked at Raintree Montessori School in Laurence for two years. She started working there as a part time job but quickly realized it was her life time passion. In her spare time she joys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, watching KU basketball games, and spending time outdoors.
Ellen Malone
Floater – All Classrooms
Ellen was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2005 she graduated from the College of Wooster, a small liberal arts college in Ohio, where she earned her B.A. in history with a focus on Northern Ireland. She lived and worked in the Washington DC area before moving to Boulder in 2009. She was inspired to pursue a career teaching children after time spent as a volunteer ceramics teacher at a youth center in Denver for underprivileged children. Ellen hopes to eventually pursue a Masters degree in early childhood education.
In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, drawing, ceramics, photography, spending time with her family, cooking with her husband, and playing with their dog Clancy.
Laura Durkin
Office Assistant/Floater
Laura grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin then moved to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado in 2007. She graduated in May of 2011 with one BA in Spanish and one in Psychology. Her love of children started when she worked at an orphanage in Panama during her sophomore year of high school. She is also a certified yoga and Principle-Based Partner Yoga teacher. She has aspirations of getting a certificate in Family and Marriage Counseling and then combining clinical therapy with yogic healing methods to treat her patients holistically. Until then, she enjoys learning more about children and their development in the educational and familial context. In her free time she loves to travel, hike, ski, and practice yoga.
Michelle Hanks
Lead Teacher – Mini Room
Michelle is really happy to be working at Patience Montessori. She brings with her nine years of experience of working as a lead teacher in elementary 6-9 Montessori classrooms in both public and private Montessori schools. Some highlights of Michelle’s career include working for five years at Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, a dual language public Montessori school in Denver as well as working abroad at the International Montessori School of Prague in the Czech Republic. Michelle has also worked as a drama teacher for children in D-9th grade, creating, writing, and directing plays with children, and running drama camps for the Montessori School of Denver.
Farahnaz (Naz) Jabbariazar
Assistant Teacher- Primary Room
Naz is originally from Iran. She is a wife and a mother of a three year old son. She was an early childhood teacher for twelve years in Iran. She believes that each child is a jewel that must be nurtured in order to develop his or her potential. She believes that service to mankind, and children in particular, is a form of worship. She has BA in psychology from Baha’i University in Iran. Her Montessori training was from the Montessori Educational Center of the Rockies in Boulder, Colorado. She is fluent in Turk and Farsi with some knowledge of Arabic. Her son speaks English, Turk and Farsi.
Shannon Solomon
Assistant Teacher – Mini Room
Shannon Solomon grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado and moved to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado in 2007. She obtained a degree in Linguistics and Language Development in 2011. She speaks Spanish and French. Her passion for childcare is in early childhood bilingualism. She has always enjoyed working with kids and gained experience teaching enrichment classes in several preschools around Boulder. She loves to travel and has visited every continent except Antarctica. She also enjoys scuba diving and cooking.
Kimberly Subulski
Assistant Teacher – Wobbler
The vast majority of Kimberly’s 15 years of experience working in early childhood education programs she has spent at NEYC () accredited schools. She is passionate about working with this age group because she believes this is when the child strives for independence and self-mastery. As an early childhood educator, she believes, it is her job to provide a setting that allows for this while meeting each child’s individual needs. In her free time she enjoys reading, practicing yoga, playing the guitar, drawing, painting, mountain biking, snowboarding, and backpacking.
