Primary 1 Classroom - Ms. Amy, Ms. Corinne and Mrs. Sarah

Amy O'Connor Rissman

Amy O’Connor Rissman has been intimately involved with Montessori since a very young age. In addition to attending a Montessori school as a preschooler, she was surrounded by Montessori at home - her parents founded a Montessori School in Key West, Florida in the 1970’s. She later worked at the Montessori School of Key West prior to moving to Vermont. Amy has seemingly boundless energy both in and out of the classroom and the two frequently intersect. She first joined our community as a parent and found herself at the school often because she truly enjoyed working with the children and staff in the Montessori environment. She began pursuing her own formal Montessori training and joined our staff (officially) in 2006. In addition to being a mother of six who now lives in Westford, she also raises pigs and chickens in her spare time - a boon for our students, who have been able to watch her baby chicks hatch and her baby piglets take in the first few days of their lives. We wonder if the animals have acquired the Montessori gene that seems to run in the family!

Corinne Johansson

Ms. Corinne brings to the classroom experience as a teacher, a naturalist, an artist and a mother. She’s taught in various venues from preschoolers in Norway when she was an exchange student in college to track coach and teaching assistant on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. She’s worked with children with special needs, advocated for the inclusion of an art program in her local elementary school, and taught photography to middle school students among her various experiences. She’s passionate about nature and the outdoors and loves sharing what she’s learned through her graduate work in wildlife biology at UVM and environmental education at Antioch University New England. She got her first glimpse of GMMS when she was a substitute teacher and is so excited to now be a permanent part of Green Mountain Montessori School. Now that her children are grown up, you might find her hiking, snowshoeing, x-c skiing, kayaking, or working in her garden when she is not at school.

Sarah McDougal

Since earning her B.S. in Business Management and her Associate Degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management and perusing such management roles, Sarah has found her true passion: teaching children. Sarah has been working with children since 2007. She brings to the classroom her experience as a business owner, childcare provider, assistant in the preschool classroom and a mother. Through this experience Sarah has developed a deep respect for children and an understanding that all children are unique and have different styles of learning. Sarah’s warm and nurturing approach is one that allows children to feel safe and therefore willing to take risks necessary to explore and discover. In the classroom, Sarah enjoys sharing her love of baking, exploring nature and her knowledge of American Sign Language with students. Outside of the classroom, you will find Sarah spending time with her husband and two children in their Essex home or out exploring all of the amenities Vermont has to offer. She enjoys activities such as camping, hiking, and skiing just to name a few.