VCMS FACULTY
Virginia Center for Montessori Studies has a variety of well-qualified Montessori Instructors. Our Early Childhood and Infant & Toddler Instructors all hold Montessori credentials at the level that they teach, and have many years of classroom experience. Our instructors are equally as experienced working with the adults in our programs.
Michele Mohar, Director
Michele Mohar has been a director at VCMS since 2014 and involved with VCMS since its inception in 2007. She has over 30 years of experience in the classroom working with children as young as 18 months through middle school. Most of Michele’s years of teaching were in the Montessori classroom. She has Infant & Toddler and Early Childhood credentials, as well as a master’s degree in Special Education. Michele volunteers her time to AMS and the Teacher Education Action Commission. She is also active in local and regional Montessori organizations.
Suzanne Moughon, Early Childhood Instructor
Suzanne is our Practical Life Instructor, and also collaborates with instruction of Language and Observation. Suzanne worked in a Montessori classroom for over two decades. In 2006, she earned an AMS Early Childhood Certification, and her Infant and Toddler credential in 2020. Suzanne holds a B.S. degree in Psychology and lives in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband of 30 years, William, and their Havanese, Phoebe, and cat Mollie.
Susan Kennedy, Infant and Toddler Instructor
Susan Kennedy has been a key contributor to VCMS’s Infant and Toddler curriculum design. She has taught Environmental Design and Pedagogy since our program’s inception, and became our IT Child Development instructor in 2020. Susan holds her Infant and Toddler AMS credential and has taught in the Charlottesville Montessori Community since 1993. She developed a successful Parent Infant Montessori program.
Kelley Granger, Early Childhood Instructor
Kelley Anne Granger is an Early Childhood Lead Teacher at West End Montessori School, where she has worked for 26 years. She one of VCMS’s Language Instructors, and also teaches Art, Music and Movement. In addition to her AMS Early Childhood credential, Kelley holds an Early Childhood Reading Certificate from the American Montessori Society and is a certified Music Together Instructor. Kelley has been married for 20 years, has three grown boys, and recently became a grandmother.
Ashley Reece, Early Childhood Instructor
Ashley became the VCMS Math instructor in 2022. She has her Early Childhood certification and is a teacher in the Charlottesville Montessori community with 20 years of classroom experience. She holds a MEd with a concentration in Montessori education and a BA in Music. Ashley has a passion for bringing music into her classroom. She is the mother of twin boys.
Beverlee Mendoza, Infant & Toddler Instructor, Early Childhood Instructor
Beverlee has been part of VCMS for 10 years, working as a field consultant, and an instructor for both our Infant and Toddler, and Early Childhood programs. Beverlee began her Montessori journey over 30 years ago, as an Infant Directress, a toddler program coordinator, and a 3-6 teacher. She has worked in Trinidad (where she was born), the US and China. Beverlee is the founder of Ixora Montessori School in Williamsburg, Virginia. She is passionate about bringing Montessori to all in the Central Virginia region.
