"If education is protection to life, you will realize that it is necessary that education accompany life during its whole course."
- Dr. Maria Montessori
Our Staff
Office
Karen Kuse
Karen has been in Montessori education since 1990 when she began her career as a lead teacher in a lower elementary classroom. ... She has been a Montessori Head of School in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and a Master of Science in Elementary Education. She also holds two certifications with the American Montessori Society and is certified in School Management. Karen is also an adjunct professor and teacher trainer, and she became Head of MSC in 2010. Read more
Leslie Greene
Leslie graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s degree in Experimental Psychology, Cognate in Child Psychology. ... She earned her 3-6 certification from the Center for Montessori Teacher Education in Raleigh, North Carolina. Leslie is a level 250 certified yoga instructor for children and adults. After teaching in MSC’s primary program for 5 years, Leslie joined the administration as Assistant Head of School in 2016. Read more
Primary
Sunshine Gallahar
Sunshine has been working in private and public Montessori classrooms since 2012. Her career began at the Montessori School ... of Spartanburg where she earned a Montessori assistant training and fell in love with the pedagogy. She created a mindfulness room at Caughman Road Elementary and was Logan Elementary’s 2022 Classified Employee of the Year. Sunshine is completing her Bachelor’s in Behavioral Health Science and her Primary Certification from the Houston Montessori Center. Read more
Garet Fryar
Garet joined MSC as an aftercare teacher and immediately fell in love with the Montessori method. She earned her Bachelor ... of Arts in Psychology and Sociology at Wake Forest University. From The Children’s Home in Winston-Salem, N.C. to Bright Horizons in Arlington, V.A., Garet has been working in childcare since 2011. Read more
Janeta Radieva
Janeta received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and Master’s Degree in Pedagogy and Primary Education from the University of Sofia in ... her native country, Bulgaria. She holds more than 30 years of experience working with children, 13 of which were spent as a primary teacher in Bulgaria. After moving to the U.S., her focus has been working with preschool children and she has spent the last 6 years teaching in Montessori schools. Read more
Corey Jungclaus
Corey earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from the University of North Dakota. Since graduating in 2011, she has worked as a ... Montessori teaching assistant, a nanny, and a mother. She received her 230-hour yoga certification and loves to practice Ashtanga yoga. Corey completed her primary AMI teaching certificate at the San Diego Montessori Institute. Read more
Sarah McCants
Sarah is completing her undergraduate studies in early childhood education at the University of South Carolina. She has been working at ... MSC since 2015 and has worked as a classroom assistant, extended-day teacher, and summer program counselor. Before joining MSC, Sarah worked to create and establish her family’s hydroponic gardening company in Ridgeway, SC. Read more
Elementary
Misty Dickson
Misty graduated from USC with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and returned to USC for a Master’s degree in ... Early Childhood Special Education. She taught first grade in South Carolina for two years and spent five years teaching first and second grade in Indiana. In 2011, Misty completed her Montessori elementary certification at the Seacoast Center for Education in New Hampshire. Read more
Sidney Little
Sidney graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of South Carolina and has since ... worked with all age levels of our school in roles such as extended-day teacher, physical education director, and summer program counselor. Prior to his career at MSC, Sidney volunteered at Tutor Eau Claire and was a professional baker for Publix. He’s completing his training at the Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Center in Lexington, MA. Read more
Kathy Young
Kathy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina. She earned her Montessori lower ... elementary certification at the North Carolina Center for Montessori Teacher Education. Kathy was an owner, administrator, and teacher at the Montessori School of St. Andrews in Columbia, and she taught lower elementary Montessori at the Montessori Community School in Durham, NC. Prior to her work as a Montessori teacher, Kathy had extensive editorial and writing experience at various South Carolina newspapers, schools, and businesses. Read more
Michael Thigpen
A career student, Michael has three degrees from the University of South Carolina and one degree from Lander University. He holds ... a Master of Education, a Master of Arts in Teaching, a Master of Public Administration, and a Bachelor of Psychology. Michael completed his Montessori lower elementary training in 2015 and his upper elementary training in 2019. He taught in the public school system for ten years before becoming a Montessori teacher. Michael joined the Montessori School of Columbia elementary teaching team in 2016. Read more
Erin Knox-Boyd
Erin is an MSC alumna, having attended from age 3 through the sixth grade. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies ... from the College of Charleston with a minor in Studio Art. After graduating college, Erin moved to Portland, Oregon where she obtained her AMI elementary teaching certificate from Montessori Northwest. Read more
Stuart Stoner
Stuart has been in the Montessori classroom since 2003, beginning as a Teacher’s Assistant and growing into a Lead Teacher role ... in Upper Elementary at Brockman Montessori School in 2011. He has experience at the Primary, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary Levels. Stuart holds his Master’s Degree in Montessori Education from Lander University and his Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Columbia College. He also achieved Media Studies and Art and Design Degrees from his home country, the United Kingdom. Read more
Middle School
Erica Patterson
Erica has her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in English from the University of South Carolina, as well as two degrees in elementary education ... from Drexel University and Lander University. She is certified by the American Montessori Society to teach lower elementary. Erica has taught English at Keenan High School; writing, ESOL, and 4th grade at public schools in New York; and was a lower elementary teacher at Brockman Montessori in Forest Acres. Read more
Enrichments
Nitzia Gutierrez
Nitzia Gutierrez is a native Spanish speaker from Mexico. She holds a Bachelor’s in law but found her passion as a Spanish teacher at ... the Bridges Language School in Charleston, SC. Nitzia teaches our students in small groups five days a week. Read more
Cathy Wiskes
As a senior instructor of Spanish at the University of South Carolina, Cathy coordinates foreign languages and teaches Spanish. Her ... academic interests are foreign language acquisition and instruction, translation, and sign language development. She has been teaching at the University of South Carolina since 1998. Cathy has also worked as a translator and interpreter for the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health and Environmental Control and has translated and recorded materials for McDonald’s and BCBG Max Azria. Read more
Jennifer Roche
Jennifer has a Bachelor’s degree in music and is a certified K-12 music instructor. Jennifer is also trained in Montessori elementary education ... and enjoys incorporating music into the Montessori curriculum. She plays the piano and has taught music to children both in public and private schools. Read more
Jessica Smith
We are thrilled to have Jessica Smith teaching art at MSC. Jessica, or “Jess” as we fondly call her, has her bachelor’s degree in studio art ... from Winthrop and has worked as an art teacher at The Hive Studio and Gallery, The Art and Play Therapy Center of SC, The Portrait Gallery, and Our Heritage Studio. Jessica is also a yoga instructor for people of all ages and abilities. She is certified in trauma yoga and is now a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider. Jess describes herself as an artist, spouse, mother of two girls, and lover of nature. Read more
Where to Next? Our Campus
At MSC we strive to develop the unique capabilities of each child. Guided by the work of Dr. Maria Montessori and informed by current research, our committed staff honors the natural curiosity of children.
