Head of School - Amy Malik
Amy has spent sixteen years working in Montessori education and was a Montessori child until the age of eight. During college, she realized an intention to work with children in an alternative pedagogy. At this point, Montessori re-entered Amy’s life, and she began working as a Primary assistant in a Denver-area Montessori school. In 2003, she received her AMI Primary diploma from the Montessori Institute of San Diego, where she started and directed a new demonstration classroom for the teacher training program. She has a wide variety of experience working in Montessori as a classroom guide, an administrator and as a Positive Discipline™ consultant. Amy lives in Golden and enjoys practicing yoga, mountain biking, camping and spending time outdoors with her family.
Director of Community Integration/Nido Guide - Claire Wolcott
Mrs. Claire grew up as the middle child with an older and younger sister in a military family. Her early life experiences consisting of admiring her older sibling and having the opportunity to mentor her younger sister. The experience of living and traveling to many places as part of a military family gave her the strong belief that experiencing diversity is foundational for building empathy.
While studying early childhood development Mrs. Claire was introduced to Montessori and felt inspired. In 2007 Mrs. Claire moved her family to Denver Colorado to pursue the AMI Assistant to Infancy training. After completing this training she opened a toddler community and then stayed home raising her two youngest children, running an in home Montessori environment for several children, and serving on a Montessori charter school board. In 2014 she had the privilege of joining a team united in the dream of building a learning community with the core values of AMI Montessori, diversity and community partnership; Great Work Montessori School. In her time here she has developed and guided parent-infant classes, led grassroots campaigns, opened a Young Children’s Community and Nido environment, and organizes Community and Family Partnerships.
Outside of school you can find Claire enjoying delicious food, running, skiing, or curled up with a good book with her 3 children!
Dean of Students/Elementary 208 Guide - Nicholas Ferguson
Nick grew up in North Texas with his twin brother, indulging in childhood passions around drawing, the outdoors, animals, and music. He studied creative writing in college before beginning his Montessori journey as an assistant in a primary classroom in Grapevine, TX. In 2013, Nick moved to Colorado and managed to complete his Elementary Montessori training in Boulder despite (or perhaps thanks to) the allure of mountains, sunshine, and snow. He believes the key to education is to create a community in which every voice has value and every person a purpose, a principle that guides his work in the classroom as both a teacher and a pupil. Nick lives in Denver with his partner, Sophie, and a pack of dogs. They can usually be found camped out near one of Colorado's beautiful rock climbing areas.
Business Manager - Stephanie Woodward
Stephanie Woodward is the Business Manager at Great Work Montessori School. Her involvement in education began in 2004, when she began working in the charter school environment. She has carried out administrative duties from enrollment, aiding in classrooms, website set-up, and licensing to financials and more. Stephanie earned her Psychology degree in 2003 from Metropolitan State College of Denver and then followed up with her Masters Degree in 2013. She is always in support of community and helping others and will do what it takes to get the job done, such as advocating for others. There are a lot of activities she enjoys such as skiing, walking, reading, movies, traveling, spending time with her family and friends and learning new things. Stephanie has been married for 24 years, has one daughter who is 19, and has lived in the mountains of Evergreen for the last 22 years.
Administrator - Ashley Hudson
Coming soon.
Nido Guide - Beth Beehler
Coming soon.
YCC Guide - Lesley Lefkowitz
Coming soon.
Primary 1 Guide - Claire Droge
Miss Claire is originally from Hawaii and grew up with five siblings on the big island of Hawaii. As an undergraduate, she began her studies at USF studying Psychology. Upon graduation she began working with victims of domestic violence and researching PTSD. She also worked as a tutor at Sylvan Learning Center in Hawaii and, in her spare time, volunteered with underprivileged children. She researched learning programs as a way to better aid children developmentally and decided to study Montessori at MISD, where she received her AMI Primary degree in June of 2003. She fell in love with Montessori and went on to obtain her Masters from Loyola University in Maryland. She started teaching Montessori in Boston but really missed the warm weather and moved back to California, where she taught for 14 years. She has been teaching at the primary level for 13.5 years now, with two years of experience at the elementary level. She has also worked as Director in a Montessori school in Fallbrook, CA, and has been a mentor to other teachers in San Diego. She moved to Colorado in Jan 2016, and has been with Great Work Montessori since then. She is fascinated with how children learn and develop and is dedicated to the growth of children. Miss Claire is excited to be at Great Work Montessori and looks forward to working with the staff as well as the parents and children. She loves Hawaii and tries to visit her family once a year. She now has ten nieces and nephews! She loves cooking and exercising and believes that what we put on and into our bodies is really important. She also enjoys reading and loves to practice yoga, pilates and mindfulness, as well as see new things here in Colorado.
Primary 2 Guide - Zareena Mohamed
Ms. Zareena grew up in Southern India. As part of her curriculum at Fatima College in Madurai, India, she took courses in Child Development and Early Childhood Education. It was there that Ms. Zareena developed a new passion in the Montessori Method.
Upon receiving her Bachelor's degree in Home Science, Ms. Zareena was interested in learning more about child growth and development and pursued a Master's Degree in Human Development at JBAS College in Chennai, India. The grad school experience exposed her to different methods of education and strengthened her passion for the Montessori philosophy of 'educating the whole child'. The Montessori concepts of Independence and Self-Correction fascinated Ms. Zareena.
In 2006, Ms. Zareena left India to deepen her knowledge of the Montessori Method. She received her AMI Primary (3 to 6) training from the Washington Montessori Institute and acquired her second Master's in Montessori Education from Loyola University Maryland in 2007. She worked as an AMI guide for 8 years in Maryland and for 3 years in San Diego. She also held positions such as Assistants Training Coordinator and Primary Program Supervisor through the course of her career.
Dancing is another passion for Ms. Zareena. She also has a strong interest in traveling and exploring cultures around the world, which often make for great stories to offer the children. Ms. Zareena is excited about her move to Denver and to have become an integral part of the Great Work Montessori community.
Primary 3 Guide - Lili Grieves
Miss Lili is a new member to the Great Work Montessori team and is so excited to begin her career as a Primary Guide in such a caring, welcoming and community oriented environment. While she is originally from a small town in Maine she has been fortunate enough to travel to many different places both in and out of the United States. She is a sister, daughter, friend, writer, reader, hiker, bike rider, chef, appreciator of nature and loved one to many. Montessori education found Miss Lili a few years after she had received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education in North Carolina. She fell in love with the way in which Montessori followed the child’s developmental needs and more importantly, the interests and love of the child. After working as an assistant in Maine she moved to Denver, CO where she grew her experience further as a Primary assistant for several years. After realizing this was the path she was meant to follow, she went back to school to receive her training to become a Primary Guide at Montessori Northwest in Portland, OR. Miss Lili recently moved back to the Denver area and has found a home at Great Work Montessori. She is so thankful to be witness and participant in such a beautiful style of education.
Elementary 208 Guide - Nicholas Ferguson
See above.
Elementary 205 Guide - Hannah Wasserbaech
Hannah was born and raised in Michigan where she received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. During her time in traditional elementary classrooms, she noticed a disconnect between developmental psychology research on how children best learn and the practices utilized in traditional elementary classrooms. After experience teaching in a variety of traditional kindergarten through 8th grade classrooms, she decided to pursue Montessori training because she loves the way Montessori is designed to meet the needs of children with a developmental approach. Hannah holds an AMI Elementary Montessori Diploma from the Washington Montessori Institute and a Masters of Education from Loyola University Maryland. In her spare time, she loves reading and learning new things, backpacking, skiing, playing various musical instruments, and cooking.
Elementary Program Director/Elementary 202 Guide - Rachel Feres
Coming soon.