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Dorrie Knapp-Guy
Growing up in a small college town in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Dorrie’s years in Montessori education are rooted in her own early childhood experiences in a Montessori Primary school. With a BA from Smith College in Northampton, MA and experience working at Pacific Crest beginning in 2005, she went on to earn an AMI Elementary diploma from the Washington Montessori Institute in DC and a Masters of Education, with a focus on adolescent education, from Loyola University in 2009. She returned to Pacific Crest School in 2009 to teach in the Middle School and in Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms.
In late 2015 she stepped into administration as the school's Operations Manager, and she became Head of School in 2016. She completed program certificates in NAMTA's Whole-School Montessori Management and the NWAIS New Heads Institute in 2016.
Dorrie lives in Ballard with her husband and two nieces. She finds inspiration through her work with the dedicated and creative teachers, staff, parents and children of Pacific Crest as each discovers with joy their own unique gifts and character.
“Directing our action toward mankind means, first and foremost, doing so with regard to the child. The child, that ‘forgotten citizen’, must be appreciated in accordance with his true value. His rights as a human being who shapes all of mankind must become sacred, and the secret laws of his normal psychic development must light the way for civilization.” - Maria Montessori (Education and Peace)
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Ruby Sparks
Ruby is a dedicated Montessori educator with deep roots in the Pacific Crest Montessori community. She attended Pacific Crest from the age of three through middle school and returned in 2014 as an assistant in the primary program. Ruby completed the AMI Primary Teacher Training in 2019 and the AMI Assistance to Infancy (0-3 years old) training in 2024. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring nature, growing flowers, and spending time with her playful cat, Noodle.
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Jen Costigan
Jen has been working in Montessori education since 1998. She is Montessori trained and has taught in Toddler Community, Children’s House and Elementary classrooms. She has a BA from St Olaf College in Minnesota and a Masters of Education from Loyola University. Before guiding the Lower Elementary, she worked at PCS in Learning Support, receiving specific training in programs such as Wired for Reading, Handwriting without Tears and Orton-Gillingham, to work with students having difficulty with literacy, math and writing. She feels fortunate to work at a school that expresses and explores compassion for the world around us.
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Inma Perez
Inma is from Córdoba, Spain and has been teaching Spanish at PCS for 16 years! She works with everyone from Primary through Middle School. Inma holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Foreign Language and Literature from the Universidad de Filosofía y letras, Córdoba.
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Erika Nedderman
Erika has a BA in Humanities from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Primary Montessori Certificate from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. She has been teaching in Montessori schools in the PNW since 1995. In 2012 she began tutoring, using Wired For Reading, a program geared towards students with learning differences. Working as a Learning Support Specialist at Pacific Crest joins these career paths. Outside of school, Erika enjoys exploring the great outdoors, seeing live music, land based whale watching and helping out with salmon habitat restoration.
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Erin Gubelman
Erin has been teaching at PCS since 2006. She holds a Master's in Teaching from the University of Washington as well as a Masters in Conservation from the University College London. Prior to completing her AMI Elementary training in Minnesota in 2009, she worked in the Edmonds School District teaching math at Meadowdale Middle School. Her first career was in wildlife conservation. She has worked in a variety of protected areas in Africa, including mountain gorilla conservation in Uganda and marine turtle preservation in Kenya.
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Rob Kimmerer
Rob has been with Pacific Crest since the Middle School's founding in 1991. Rob has an MFA from the University of Washington where he studied under Jacob Lawrence. His vibrant art studio in the Middle School building is home to a vintage Seattle Time’s printing press, a Pfaff sewing machine, fashion dress form, as well as all the classic art making materials. Students from 1st grade through 8th grade work on individual and group projects ranging from mural-sized stencil paintings, to architectural models, to mini pet portraits.
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Jennifer Keller
Jennifer has been the manager of the Pacific Crest Farm for 8 years. She has spent seasons working on farms in Maryland (where she grew up), Alaska, Ireland and the Snoqualmie Valley of Washington. She has done conservation work and volunteer management with EarthCorps in Seattle and was active in the University Heights P-Patch garden.
"The care of the earth is our most ancient and our most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” -Wendell Berry
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Katherine Anderson
Katherine is from New Jersey and has been teaching for 14 years, 11 at PCS. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College in the teacher training program. “I love working at a school where the staff are so deeply committed to improving their practice, rooted in a deep understanding of Montessori philosophy and a belief in the potential of all people.”
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Chuck Kilbridge
Chuck joined the Pacific Crest Middle School staff in 2006. He holds a B.A. from the University of Washington in Political Science and completed the AMI-NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies in Ohio. He lives in Ballard with his wife Gina and enjoys gardening, home improvement projects and tromping around in the woods.
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Peter Carty
Peter is originally from Maine and is currently in his 7th year at PCS and his 6th year as a Middle School teacher at PCS. Peter holds a B.A. from Colby College and his NAMTA/AMI Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies. “I enjoy how each day brings new and various opportunities for exploration and engagement with students at PCS, from discussing books, writing, and algebra to days spent outdoors working at the farm or skiing at Crystal Mountain.”