OUR STAFF
We are fortunate to have a dedicated and excellently trained group of educators and support staff at Virgin Islands Montessori School.  All of our teachers from the Toddler Program (La Casa) through Upper Elementary have Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) teaching diplomas.

Toddler Program in LA Casa
Diana Woods - Program Director/Toddler Directress  
Ms. Woods holds an AMI Primary Teaching Diploma, and a BS in Geography and Anthropology.  Ms. Woods has worked at VIMS for 11 years and has been LA Casa - Toddler Program Director for five years.  She is currently working on her Bachelor’s Degree in Inclusive Early Childhood Education at the University of the Virgin Islands.  She was born in India and raised in Hong Kong, Kenya and England.                                   

Shirlin Browne - Toddler Directress
Mrs. Browne joined LA Casa at its inception in 1994.  She holds an AMI Primary Teaching Diploma, and is taking classes in Inclusive Early Childhood Education at the University of the Virgin Islands.  She is a native of Trinidad, and moved to St. Thomas in 1973.

PRIMARY
Mandy Boyle – Primary Directress
Ms. Boyle has both AMI Primary and Elementary Teaching Diplomas.  This is Ms. Boyle’s 14th year at VIMS.  She was born in Dublin, Ireland.   After taking both trainings in Ireland, Ms. Boyle moved to St. Thomas and has made it her home.
                                          
Eve Matthews – Primary Directress
Ms. Matthews holds an AMI Primary Teaching Diploma and a BS in Social Science.  She is in her 14th year at VIMS.  Prior to coming to St. Thomas, Ms. Matthews taught for five years in Ireland and New York.  She was born in Maryland, and raised in Ireland.
                                          
Simone Summer – Primary Directress        
Ms. Summer holds an AMI Primary Teaching Diploma and a BA in Elementary Education.  Prior to joining VIMS in September 2002, she taught for five years in Montessori Schools in the United States and New Zealand.  Ms. Summer was born on St. Thomas and attended VIMS as a student during her elementary school years.

LOWER ELEMENTARY
Ryan Katz – Lower Elementary Director        
Mr. Katz holds an AMI Elementary Teaching Diploma, a BA in History from Pennsylvania State University, and a MA in Education from Loyola College.  He has traveled to many places throughout the world, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan, South America and Mexico.  This is his second year teaching at our school.

Aideen Keating – Lower Elementary Directress        
Ms. Keatinghas both Primary and Elementary AMI Teaching Diplomas.  This is her 33rd year teaching at VIMS.  Through her strong interest in the culture of St. Thomas and the Caribbean, Ms. Keating has been instrumental in bringing these important aspects of our small and larger communities to our school and classrooms.  She was born in Dublin, Ireland.

UPPER ELEMENTARY        
Amanda Bogard-Wilson, Upper Elementary Co-Directress
Ms. Bogard-Wilson has a BA degree with a dual major in Sociology and International Studies, and a MA in Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources from Michigan State.  She took her AMI training in Bergamo, Italy, where she earned her AMI Elementary Teaching Diploma.  She is originally from the United States and has studied at the University of Cambridge and the University of London, England and in Rome, Italy.  Ms. Bogard-Wilson speaks French, and basic Korean, as a result of teaching in South Korea for three years. 

Louise Reid, Upper Elementary Co-Directress
Mrs. Reid is from Puerto Rico. She has two BA degrees from the University of Central Florida; one in Psychology and one in Spanish. She holds a MA Degree in Education from Loyola College of Maryland, as well as an AMI Elementary Teaching Diploma.  Ms. Reid has twelve year’s experience teaching at Montessori schools around the world including schools in Florida, St. Maartin, Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Mexico and most recently at the International Montessori School in Prague, Czech Republic. She is fluent in Spanish and intermediate level in French. She is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

MIDDLE SCHOOL
Camille A. McKayle, Interim International Baccalaureate Director
Dr. McKayle holds a Ph.D. in mathematics and has taught at the collegiate level for fourteen years.  In addition to her classroom activities, Dr. McKayle has been quite active in a variety of outreach activities aimed at increasing interest in science and mathematics for students in grades 3 through 12.  These activities include GEMS (Girls Exploring Math Stuff) for 6th grade girls, Math Lab for students in third through seventh grade, Science Awareness Saturday Academies and Summer Science Enrichments Academies.  Through these activities, she tries to relay her love and enjoyment of mathematics to elementary, middle and high school students.

Chris Dunlap – Middle School Director
Mr. Dunlap holds a BA and MA in Educational Policy with a specialization in Educational Technology from the University of Oregon.  He has taught math and science at VIMS for eight years.  Mr. Dunlap has received training at an IBO Middle Years Program workshop for heads of school in Portland, Oregon. 

Laura Deacon – Middle School Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher
Ms. Deacon holds a BA in Educational Studies and a MA in Educational Leadership, with a Technology Emphasis and Special Education endorsement.  This is her fifth year at VIMS.  Ms. Deacon has attended an IBO Middle Years Program Humanities workshop in Portland, Oregon. 

UPPER SCHOOL
Bridget Heersink – English/Humanities/Arts
Ms. Heersink holds a BA in English and an MA in Literature, and has taught in the 9th-12th grades for seven years. She is IB certified in the areas of Humanities and English, and plans to attend an Arts workshop this fall.  Ms. Heersink is thrilled with the blossoming programs of the Upper School and looks forward to a third exciting year at VIMS.

Gloria Zakers – Science/Math
Ms. Zakers holds a B.S. in Marine Biology.  She formerly worked as an aquarist and in the student education program at Coral World, and as a research scientist studying the health of Caribbean coral reefs and endangered sea turtles.   She has taught science at the both the high school and college level.  Ms. Zakers attended an IBO Middle Years Program Workshop for science in Keystone, Colorado this June.  She plans to attend more IBO workshops and possibly work towards her master’s degree in Marine Science at UVI.  Ms. Zakers is married with two beautiful children who also attend VIMS.  She has been a resident of St. Thomas for thirteen years.

Lesmore Howard – Virgin Islands/Caribbean History
Mr. Howard has an AA from the former College of the Virgin Islands, a BA in History and Government and a MA in African History from Kent State University.  He taught at CAHS for thirty years and was the head of the Social Studies Department.  Although he is ostensibly a retiree, he is in such demand that he is currently teaching two courses at UVI as well as the one for our students at VIMS. 

SPANISH/PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Adalio Araujo – Spanish & Physical Education Teacher
Mr. Araujo is a native of Sao Tome, a Portuguese principality, and holds a MA in Linguistics obtained in Bescincon, France.  For the past 18 years, “Senor” has been offering a quality Spanish program to students starting at the elementary level.  In addition, “Senor” teaches Physical Education and coaches our Soccer teams. He is a FIFA-certified soccer coach and has refereed JV/varsity soccer for 13 years.

Maria Crespo – Middle/Upper School Spanish Instructor
Ms. Crespo is from Puerto Rico.  She has a BA in Education from the University of Puerto Rico and an MA in Education from Teachers College, New York and Columbia University; a degree in Administration & Supervision of Schools from the University of Puerto Rico; and over twenty years of teaching experience.  This will be her third year at VIMS.

AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
Linda Brooks, Director
Ms. Brooks holds a B.S. and M.A, in Early Childhood Education from Southern Illinois University.  She has worked for over 25 years with children and staff in child care programs.  Ms. Brooks teaches part-time in the Education Department at the University of the Virgin Islands.

ADMINISTRATION
Shournagh McWeeney - Administrator
Ms. McWeeney has been the school’s administrator since 1980.  She holds an AMI Primary Diploma and taught Montessori for ten years prior to joining VIMS in 1977.  A native of Dublin, Ireland, her teaching took her to the U.S. mainland where she taught in Boston, Denver and San Francisco before moving to St. Thomas. 

Katherine Huttel - Administrative Assistant 
Prior to joining our staff in January 1997, Ms. Huttel was a very active PTA member and served on its Board for a number of years.  Her two daughters, Margo and Lauren graduated from VIMS Upper Elementary. She is originally from Texas, and moved to St. Thomas in 1979.

Peggy Hunt – Business Director
Ms. Hunt has a BA degree in Business Administration from Ohio State University.  Her experience includes working at two major Fortune 500 companies for over 18 years.  Her last position was as Senior Project Manager for a global systems implementation with a $40 million budget and 60 IT technicians and managers.  Ms. Hunt moved to St. Thomas 1997.  She and her husband, Harry Gauriloff, have a daughter, Karen in Ms. Keating's class. She has been very active with our school, including serving as VIMS PTA President last year.

Maryann Paul - Front Office Secretary
Ms. Paul, a native New Yorker, moved to St. Thomas in 1987.  She attended Drake Business School in New York before joining VIMS in November 2000.  Ms Paul takes care of parent, staff and student needs.

Ruth Clark, Head Librarian
Dr. Clark holds a MA degree in Library & Information Sciences from the University of Hawaii and a PhD in the same major from Texas Women’s University.  She has been a college professor for 13 years. Last year Dr. Clark entered our collection into the electronic Destiny system.  This is her second year serving as our library consultant.

Hanne Buckhalton – Assistant Librarian
Ms. Buckhalton has a BS degree in Biology from the University of the Virgin Islands, and is working on her MS degree in Human Nutrition.  She has lived on St. Thomas for 27 years and has taught physics and geometry at the high school level.  Last year she served as the assistant in our Upper Elementary class.

Heather Anderson – Guidance Counselor
Ms. Anderson holds a BA degree in Psychology and is finishing her thesis to receive her MA degree in Counseling.  In addition working as our part-time guidance counselor, she provides therapeutic services to adolescents at Seaview Rehabilitation Center on St. Thomas.