Faculty & Staff
"Children...react to all the impressions of the people around them. Everything that is done in their presence is transformed in their childish organisms into spirit, soul, and body. ...We must work to transform ourselves so that the children in our care will be nourished by the truth, beauty, and goodness living in our thoughts, words, and deeds."
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
Our Faculty brings a wealth of training, experience, and dedication to our homelike classrooms every day. All of our teachers are trained professionals who have made early childhood education their career. They are modern-day Mary Poppinses, skilled in the techniques of preventative discipline, creating ways to gently guide behavior through clear expectations and positive example. Even more important, our teachers are warm, loving people who care for each child as a special being.
JODY MEESE, Director, grew up in western New York State and has been part of The Mountain School since 1990. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Education, a master’s degree in Fine Arts, and is a Certified Simplicity Parenting© Group Leader. Before coming to The Mountain School, Jody worked as a public school teacher and enjoyed a long career as a professional flutist in such diverse cities as Hartford, Toronto, Cleveland, Boston, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Salt Lake City, finally settling in the Bay Area in 1988. Jody came to The Mountain School first as a parent, and shortly thereafter joined as an employee during the first year of the school’s existence. She is the apparently successful mother of two grown children, and a student of yoga and calligraphy.
GALE MORFIN, Lead Teacher, grew up on Long Island, received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Florida, and completed her Waldorf teacher training at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento. As Lead Teacher at The Mountain School since 1994, Gale brings tremendous experience and expertise to the artistic process of caring for young children in the Hummingbird Nest. “When I first encountered Waldorf education,” she remarks, “I was stunned. It seemed to hold within it everything I wished I had experienced as a child.” Gale and her husband lived in Finland for four years where she taught preschool before coming to The Mountain School. For 2007-08 she spent a sabbatical year in Italy.
KIMI KEATING, Lead Teacher, received her bachelor’s degree in Art History from San Francisco State University and graduated from the San Francisco Waldorf Teacher Training in 1999. Kimi says she was drawn to the depth and creativity of the Waldorf philosophy as well as to its highly sensible approach. “It nurtures intellectual development and wonder through activities that are practical and well thought through.” Kimi was a classroom assistant for three years in the Mill Valley public school system, was lead teacher at a local home preschool, and spent two years as a kindergarten apprentice at the San Francisco Waldorf School where she also taught Summer Kindergarten Camp. She joined The Mountain School in 2002 as Assistant Teacher, and in 2005 became Lead Teacher in the Chickadee Nest.
SYLVIA DONATI, Assistant Teacher, has traveled far and wide from her childhood home in New York State. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chinese from Connecticut College, and two master’s degrees in Asian Studies and in Urban Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After moving to the Bay Area to work as an environmental planner in San Jose, Sylvia became a mother and switched gears. She went back to school (again) and received her certificate in Waldorf education from the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training. In 2007 she accepted a position at The Mountain School, where she enjoys sharing her love for song, play, and the natural world.
BRENDA NOVICK, Assistant Teacher, grew up in New Mexico and attended Dominican University before being introduced to Waldorf education while seeking schooling for her children. Drawn to its emphasis on nature, beauty and imagination, Brenda went on to graduate from the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training and joined The Mountain School in 2009. Says Brenda, “Here, every activity, every action, every gesture, has meaning. In a world where we often rush, our children can still have a place to experience purpose and happiness in the everyday pursuits of life.”
LISA O'CALLAGHAN, Aftercare Lead Teacher, grew up in San Francisco and Novato. She holds a degree from UC Davis with a major in Psychology and a minor in Education. In addition, she is a graduate of the Environmental Forum of Marin, an education and advocacy program, and enjoys studying dance and poetry. Prior to joining The Mountain School staff in 2011, she taught for for four years at Garden's Nest preschool in Woodacre. “In Waldorf education,” she says, “I have found a home for myself, my son and my family. It is a joy to be able to share this education in such a warm, nurturing environment.”