Faculty & Staff

Administration

Kathy Morrison

Director

Mrs. Morrison brings a wealth of experience to Highlawn. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School, she attended the University of Kansas where she graduated with a Bachelor in Education degree with a focus on history and language arts followed by a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Mrs. Morrison taught an elementary classroom for ten years in the Blue Valley School District. While teaching she served on the district’s technology, curriculum, and assessment committees. During this time her own three boys became students at Highlawn and she served in several volunteer roles including Board President. She began working for Renaissance Learning, an education software company, where for ten years she provided staff development seminars and consulted in schools across the country in the areas of math, reading, and standards based assessment. Mrs. Morrison joined the Highlawn team in the fall of 2006 as the Director of Highlawn.

Lora Kokjer

Assistant to the Director

Mrs. Kokjer joined the Highlawn staff in 2007 as a Children’s House assistant. Over the years, Lora has worked through out the school as needed in various positions and joined the office staff in 2017. In this position, she is involved in the day-to-day school activities and communications.

Wilma Rubenstein

Office Manager

Mrs. Rubenstein joined Highlawn’s staff in 2004 as our office manager. She assists the school director in the office accounting and day-to-day operations of the school. Mrs. Rubenstein also help with the admission process. Several of her grandchildren have attended Highlawn with her youngest currently enrolled in our elementary program.

Karen Connell

Classroom Directress

Miss Connell grew up attending one of the original AMI Montessori Schools established in the early 1960s in Houston, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas. After a lively and varied career in the Washington DC area, fond memories of her Montessori days led her back to the Montessori classroom and AMI training. She trained at the Washington Montessori Institute under the direction of Hildegard Salzabacher and Janet McDonell. Miss Connell received her AMI Primary Certification in 1995 and taught in Northern Virginia for seven years before moving to our area in July 2003 when she began her tenure as a directress at Highlawn Montessori. "I interviewed and observed in schools over a three state area for just the right one, a Montessori environment that had a feeling of home. Highlawn was my favorite, with its cheerful classrooms, friendly staff and beautiful materials. I was thrilled to join the Highlawn staff, and after years of working with the Highlawn families, I have not been disappointed. Highlawn is home." Karen Connell

Nancy Doolittle

Classroom Directress

After graduating with a B.A. degree in Elementary Education, Mrs. Doolittle completed her Montessori training through the American Montessori International training center in St. Louis. Mrs. Doolittle was part of AMI's first satellite training class held right here at Highlawn Montessori. She gained valuable teaching experience working as a directress in the Kansas City Missouri School District at one of the three Montessori magnet schools. As one of the few public Montessori schools in the nation, Holliday Montessori became a model for modern public Montessori education. In 2004, after teaching at Holliday Montessori for 14 years, Mrs. Doolittle happily moved to Highlawn. "I have loved this school since I took my training here 18 years ago. Two of my own children graduated from kindergarten here and my son Ian continued on in the elementary program. There is a wonderful sense of family in our Montessori community that I really enjoy." Nancy Doolittle

Ricki McEachen

Classroom Directress

Mrs. McEachen has been working with kids for many years. A graduate of Highlawn herself, she ran her own day care before starting as a teacher assistant at Highlawn. She worked as a teacher assistant for nine years before starting her own classroom. Mrs. McEachen completed her AMI Montessori training at the Montessori Training Center of St. Louis. Mrs. McEachen is also our Before School Care teacher daily. "I have been surrounded by the Montessori way since childhood. I attended Highlawn as a child with my two brothers and my son Kai graduated kindergarten from Highlawn. I can honestly say that Highlawn is truly a family affair!" Ricki McEachen

Megan Michael

Classroom Directress

Linda Smith

Classroom Directress

Mrs. Smith learned about the joy of Montessori education through her children who attended the Montessori lab school at Avila College under the direction of Miss Lena Wikramaratne. She decided to enter the training program at Avila and received her AMI diploma in 1984. She then taught for two years at Belmont Montessori. While teaching there, she also began working as a Parent Educator for one of the model Parents as Teachers Programs. She continued this work for five years while also teaching. She substituted at Highlawn for one year before becoming a directress in 1987. Mrs. Smith also holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from UMKC. “I began substituting at Highlawn to help out a friend. I quickly knew I wanted to teach full time at this wonderful school and I’ve always been thankful I made that decision. I appreciate the opportunity to truly ‘follow the child’ as Dr. Montessori directed. There is such a sense of community among the staff, children, & parents.” Linda Smith

Mary Smith

Classroom Directress

Mrs. Smith grew up in the Kansas City area and graduated from Olathe North High School. She came to know Highlawn as a parent. She fell in love with Highlawn watching her daughter thrive in Children’s House. In 2016, when a classroom position opened up, she jumped at the chance to join Highlawn’s staff and learn everything she could about the Montessori classroom. In 2018, she received her AA in Liberal Arts and began the Primary AMI teacher training program at the Montessori Training Center of St. Louis, under the guidance of Dr. Larry Quade and Lakshmi Shekhar. She took over the full day Children’s House program, as Directress, starting in 2019, and loves how Montessori theory awakens a love of learning in the children she teaches. Her daughter still attends Highlawn and is thriving in the elementary program. “The minute I joined the Highlawn community, it immediately felt like family. I knew that I would never want to leave. I am honored to work alongside teachers who truly understand a child’s heart and mind, and thrilled to be a part of this wonderful community for years to come,” Mary Smith

Julie Gill

Classroom Assistant

Lindsay Henley

Classroom Assistant

Brennan Hubbard

Classroom Assistant

Laura Schmidt

Classroom Assistant

Jessie Schneider

Classroom Assistant

Elementary Teachers

Bridget Cotter

Lower Elementary Classroom Lead Teacher

“A dream is a wish your heart makes” is a start to a beautiful song. That song often plays in Mrs. Cotter’s mind. Her most cherished job in life has been to be a wife and a mother to six extraordinary children. Her family is her center and her greatest joy. Outside of her role as wife/mother, she has been privileged to teach for 27 years and lovingly call those students and families her “second family.” Is there a job that gives more joy and satisfaction on a daily basis? She thinks not. Mrs. Cotter values education, and feels privileged to play a role in children’s love of school and nurturing them to be confident and reach for their best in all areas of development. She believes that children learn best when they are talking and doing, when learning is meaningful, interesting and functional, and when students make their own choices as they learn to become a community of learners. A Montessori classroom offers just that. “It goes without saying that your child’s guide is there to help them develop academically and intellectually, but the bigger and even more important work they will be undertaking is the creation of a classroom culture that supports the development of character, positive habits of mind, and the social skills needed to be a happy contributing member of our work culture based on collaboration, mutual help, and mutual care.”

Bethany Hininger

Upper Elementary Classroom Lead Teacher

Mrs. Hininger began her career in 2002 teaching English as a second language in the Kansas City, Missouri School District. During her time there, she was asked to become a Montessori teacher at Holliday Montessori in an effort to bring the English as a second language program and the Montessori program together. She received her Master’s degree in Montessori Education as well as her AMS credential for elementary at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN. She joined the Highlawn family in 2015 and greatly enjoys working as a team in upper elementary with Ms. Brooks. “I love working with the Upper Elementary students as the leaders of the school. It brings me great pleasure to see the Montessori program come full circle as these students use all they have learned throughout their time at Highlawn.”

Liz Gunnigle

Upper Elementary Classroom Lead Teacher

Matt Smith

Upper Elementary Classroom Lead Teacher

Patrica Wright

Lower Elementary Classroom Lead Teacher

Ms. Wright began her teaching career in 1990 as a first grade teacher in a newly created computer magnet school where children enhanced their studies with the latest technological advances. After completing her Masters Degree in Education, Ms. Wright continued her studies at the Center for Contemporary Montessori. The center is part of the College of St. Catherine, Minneapolis, MN where she earned her AMS Montessori Elementary credentials for both 6-9 and 9-12 year olds. She taught lower elementary students at Holliday Montessori for six years and joined Highlawn Montessori School in 2003. Ms. Wright believes, as did Maria Montessori, that the world beyond the classroom is a key factor in teaching the elementary age child.