Little Oak Montessori Staff

Kathy Cotner, Children's House

I attended Arizona State University and graduated with a degree in Special Education/Learning Disabilities. I did my student teaching in Brighton, England, as part of an exchange program. The teacher I worked with was interested in Maria Montessori and was using many of her techniques and materials in her classroom.  I became fascinated with the philosophy.  When I returned home, I enrolled in the NCME Montessori training program, became certified, and taught in the Children’s House for five years. 

My husband and I moved to a rural area in the mountains of Arizona when my son, Christopher, was born in 1990.  We raised our son on a small ranch in a very small town and enjoyed the rural atmosphere and the four season climate.  We moved to Vancouver, Washington in 1999.  After getting settled here in Vancouver, I began the Masters in Education program through Loyola College in Maryland to become AMI certified and further my educational background. I am very happy to be here at Little Oak and am thoroughly enjoying being back in the classroom again!

Having grown up in Phoenix, Arizona, I am greatly enjoying the rivers, lakes, and all the wonderful rain here in the Pacific Northwest.  I love to cook, enjoy oil painting, kayaking, and all of the beautiful gardening one can do here.          

Judi Simmons, Elementary House

I have my BA in Education from Washington State University with a minor in Fine Arts. Before I graduated and before I had children, I looked into Montessori schools. My first Montessori training was when my daugher was 6 years old. I have been teaching ever since.

I taught primary for many years and two years in public school kindergarten. My family moved to Hood River in 1988. In 1990, I started in the lower elementary classroom and found my niche. Because there was no Montessori school in Hood River, I found myself driving to Portland, which lasted a good many years.

I have two wonderful children, a girl and a boy. They just happen to have been born on the same day nine years apart. Happiness, my daughter, is the oldest and lives in Kirkland, Washington and works in Seattle. My son Jake lives and works in Portland. They are both Montessori childre who have learned to live with and tolerate their Montessori teacher, Mom.

Kathryn Eagan, Teaching assistant

Kathryn graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO with a BSc in Zoology.  She went on to work as an interpretive guide at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park before deciding to further her educational studies in South Africa.  Kathryn studied Wildlife Management at the Center for Wildlife Management; a research facility in the University of Pretoria, South Africa.  She explored the extensive flora and fauna of the region and complied detailed management reports to optimize the use of wild land for various entities.  While studying, she led foreign study groups comprised of veterinary students from all over the world on 28-day ‘bush’ safaris.  Upon her return to America she started to work with severe need’s children at Basalt Elementary School in Basalt, CO.  While assisting in the classroom, she launched a ‘kids helping kids’ exchange project that linked her 1st grade classroom with a class of equal size in Thakalang, South Africa (a rural, impoverished community in the Limpopo Province of South Africa).  The year’s curriculum consisted of preparing gifts, donations and educational materials for Kathryn to bring to Africa in exchange for a lesson on how the children of the village experience life in Africa. 

Kathryn is currently undergoing her Elementary Teacher training at the Montessori Institue of Northern Texas under the direction of Jean Miller. She assists Judi Simmons in the Elementary classroom and directs the After School Program from 3:15 to 5:30.