New Faces at Aidan in 2021

Olivia Bartley - Learning Support Specialist

Aidan is pleased to welcome Olivia Bartley as our new Learning Support Specialist. She will be taking over for Mr. Hurwitz and providing assistance in math, reading, language, and executive functioning support for half of the students who need additional assistance alongside Ms. Navarro. Coming from a small town in western Pennsylvania, Olivia always cherished trips outside of her town to new countries and cities, including Washington, DC. She embraced this love for new experiences when she joined the Peace Corps as a English Education Facilitator in Togo, West Africa. Since being evacuated due to the pandemic, she has missed being in the classroom with her kids and is thrilled to be meeting her new students at Aidan. In addition to her time as Education Facilitator with the Peace Corps, Olivia has also worked as an assistant teacher and an aftercare teacher for students with special needs.

In her free time, Olivia loves to belt out to musicals, work on the daily sudoku, and cheer on her Pittsburgh Steelers.

Leah Choe - Assistant Teacher, Sweet Gum Class

Leah Choe joins Aidan as our new Assistant Teacher in the Sweet Gum Upper Elementary Community. Leah’s interest and appreciation for Montessori education began during a developmental psychology course and she recently graduated from the College of William and Mary with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Upon entering college, Leah’s passion for educational advancement led her to work for the William and Mary Office of University Advancement as Lead Caller in fundraising efforts. Since 2015, Leah has worked with Math Tree, a summer math camp for elementary children in the DC Metro area. At Math Tree, she led math classes for children ranging from age 6 to 14. In addition, Leah has also served as a nanny and tutor for several families and spent time volunteering at a preschool in Cuzco, Peru. 

Outside of the field of psychology, Leah’s interests include portrait photography, hiking, and reading classic novels. Born into a DC-sports family, she is a major Washington Capitals fan and is a strong advocate for sports as a means for child-enrichment and development.

Diana Haemer - Assistant Teacher, Magnolia Class

Diana Haemer will join the Magnolia Lower Elementary Community as its new Assistant Teacher alongside Ms. Shirley and Ms. Rind. She is a recent graduate of the College of William and Mary with a BA in English and Oceanography. Diana has worked as a Sunday school teacher for several years at Beth El Hebrew Congregation and Temple Beth El in Virginia. She has tutored and mentored students in a subsidized housing district, worked as a sailing instructor and marine science camp counselor, and volunteered for the Adaptive Ice Program, which provides free ice-skating lessons to mentally and physically disabled children. Diana has also completed numerous science internships, but ultimately plans to pursue a graduate degree in English.

Diana was a Montessori child herself, attending a Northern Virginia Montessori school from Primary through graduation at 6th Grade She is also a former competitive figure skater and enjoys writing poetry and playing piano. Currently, Diana lives at home with her parents where she enjoys baking together as a family. 

Kara Kunciw - Online Learning Support Teacher for Upper School

Kara Kunciw joins the Aidan Community as our Online Learning Support Teacher for the Upper School. She will be working remotely from New Jersey, and will be supporting all online instruction for the Pods and students that are at home in the DLP. Kara is an AMS-trained Montessori teacher who has been teaching internationally for a few years, and has exclusively been teaching online for an American school in Mexico City since March 2019. She will be headed to South America for a teaching assignment for the 2021-22 school year and will only join us for the second half of the current school year.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia as a third culture child with an international teacher for a mother, Kara has been planning on pursuing an international teaching career for years. Prior to her degree in education, she spent five years traveling while working onboard a cruise ship with colleagues and clientele from all over the world. Over the past 12 years, Kara has gained valuable experience working overseas as a Language Arts/Social Studies teacher for grades 3-8. Her classroom experience includes individual, small group and whole class instruction to a diverse range of students. Montessori is a true calling for Kara. It helped her gain experience working abroad. Kara strives to meet the needs of each student and recognizes the importance of building trust in order to successfully establish relationships with students that resulted in a safe and comfortable, yet challenging learning environment.

Gwynne Manty - Online Learning Support Teacher for Lower School

We welcome Gwynne Manty to Aidan Montessori School as the new Online Learning Support Teacher for the Lower School. She will be working primarily with and supporting Primary students in the weeks that they are not attending in-person instruction. Gwynne's 13 years of experience in Montessori education have all been spent as a guide in the primary environments. Prior to joining the Aidan team she worked at schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Her commitment to invest in the communities of which she is a part has led her to serve on the boards of organizations including her local farmers market.

Gwynne's son Axl (5), is a Montessori child who has enjoyed Montessori classrooms since he was a toddler. Gwynne has a great love of music and is a part of a traveling choir (in non-COVID times). She is an avid reader, baker and loves to get outside whenever she can; for a hike, some yard work or kicking a soccer ball around the yard with Axl.

Katrina Walker - Lower School Substitute Teacher

Katrina Walker joins Aidan Montessori School as the new Substitute Teacher for the Lower School. Katrina has more than a decade of experience as a caregiver and educator in a variety of formal and informal settings, including long term roles as a nanny, museum education intern, and a co-facilitator of a theater outreach class. Her professional background includes work as a communications and PR assistant, children's retail, and most recently a year serving with the Ohio History Service Corps as an AmeriCorps Member at the Oberlin Heritage Center. Katrina is currently pursuing a M.A in Arts Management, with a focus on museums, with the aim of working in an administrative capacity in the sector.

While not raised as a Montessori “child,” Katrina has always been part of more non-traditional education, growing up in a Friends elementary school and homeschool setting. She was, however, a Montessori adolescent, completing her education at the former Montessori High School at University Circle in Cleveland, Ohio. Katrina has carried with her many things from her time in Montessori, and she is excited to be back in the Montessori world and joining the Aidan community. In her free time, Katrina enjoys reading, knitting, attending theater performances, and going to museums.