MEET OUR TEAM

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Each Harmony educator has outstanding experience, specialized training, and a commitment to ongoing professional development. Above all, each teacher shares our passion and love for guiding children through the wonder and discovery of early learning.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Chrissy Rupp
Owner & School Systems Manager

As a new mom, Chrissy felt societal pressure to incessantly “teach” her child. Thanks to her educational background in parenting support and her awareness of the many benefits of natural, play-based learning for children’s optimal development, she knew better, and founded Harmony in 2010. Ever since, Chrissy has been honored to share her passion for play-based early education and lead greater Newburyport children toward simple, beautiful, natural materials to inspire creative play, cultivate healthy social experiences, and unlock each child’s unique love for learning. Chrissy studied child development and visual art before earning her MS in Family Support and Parenting Education at Wheelock College. Before Harmony, Chrissy spent five years building a hospital’s Child Life program—supporting families through difficult medical experiences, and advocating play as children’s greatest healing modality during times of familial uncertainty and overwhelming stress. Today, she and her husband are parents of six biological and adopted children. Raising and homeschooling a large family with a complex array of backgrounds blesses Chrissy with endless learning opportunities on her own parenting journey.

Amy Pertl-Clark
Owner & Director

Amy’s leadership at Harmony exemplifies her belief that early childhood education is an essential foundation for lifelong learning and growth. Amy is deeply honored to devise dynamic, enriching, engaging, developmentally appropriate, natural- and play-based curriculum for the children of greater Newburyport. Hired as Harmony’s first teacher, Amy quickly became integral to its operations, and rose to serve as its Director and Co-Owner—roles that continually reignite her passion for the power of a collaborative, child-centered approach to early childhood education and the importance of fostering a supportive community for families. Prior to Harmony, Amy spent 14 years teaching in public schools, and upon welcoming daughter Emerson with her husband in 2006, embarked on the most inspiring, instructive, joyful journey of her life. Amy earned an MEd in Early Childhood Education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a BS in Elementary Education from the University of Akron. Her enthusiasm for children's literature shines through her blog, Emmy’s Book of the Day, where she spent many years advocating for literacy and sharing her favorite stories.

ADMINISTRATION

Lauren Zafris
*Assistant Director*

Lauren has loved being around children for as long as she can remember. Following professional experiences teaching kids’ yoga, working as a nanny, and serving as a Team Leader at Jumpstart—dedicated to helping preschoolers in low-income neighborhoods develop language and literacy skills to set them up for success—she is delighted to now be part of Harmony’s team. Each day, she feels grateful to experience the world through children’s eyes, and blessed to soak up Harmony wisdom to benefit her daughter, Maisie, who now attends school here. Lauren studied human services and psychology at UMass Lowell and Southern New Hampshire University, and completed both childbirth education and doula training. She is currently working toward her EEC Director Certification to become Assistant Director at Harmony. Beyond campus, Lauren enjoys exploring new eateries with Maisie and her husband, Nick, spending time with extended family and her close-knit group of friends, and—in those rare alone moments for new moms—poking around a flea market, reading, walking, or practicing yoga.

PRE-K & KINDERGARTEN TEAM

Sylwia Willcox
*Pre-K & Kindergarten Teacher*

Parenting first inspired Sylwia to explore play- and nature-based learning. She finds Harmony her perfect fit as an educator, and has taught in our Pre-K & Kindergarten classroom since its inception. Sylwia could not be more passionate about each moment she spends with her students, and especially loves the individual connection afforded by Harmony’s intimate class sizes, which allow her to customize curriculum for each child. Beyond the bounds of Harmony, Sylwia is founder and instructor at Newburyport Aikido, teaching children and adults this modern Japanese martial art focusing on non-violent conflict resolution and mind-body connectivity. Sylwia earned an MA in Philosophy from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Mindful Teacher Certification from Mindful Schools, and a Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care teaching certificate. In all that she does, Sylwia is grateful to have the opportunity to impart the simple techniques and many benefits of mindfulness to her students.

Ezra Sesto Ferguson
*Pre-K & Kindergarten Teacher*

Ezra has always been passionate about teaching and learning from young children. After a distinguished career in New York City as a photographer, artist, and educator, she shifted her focus to raising her family, and eventually teaching private art lessons from her home studio as well as substitute teaching. A lifelong advocate of the arts, Ezra incorporates nature and organic elements into her teaching to inspire children’s intuitive creativity. Ezra holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, has completed graduate early childhood coursework at Saint Elizabeth’s College, and is currently pursuing an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. In her free time, she can most often be found walking along the beach with her children, or curling up with her cat, Mary, and a great book.

PRESCHOOL TEAM

Joanna Casaburri
*Preschool Teacher*

Joanna adores working with young children, influencing their learning experiences, and helping them prepare for life’s next steps. Her early childhood education coursework led her to Harmony and she’s excited to continue her teaching journey in this environment she so deeply connects with. Outside the classroom, Joanna enjoys traveling, hiking, photography, otherwise exploring the outdoors, and time with her family. She is currently completing her degree at Northern Essex Community College.

Kathy Dunfee

*Preschool Teacher*

Kathy acquired a deep reverence for nature from spending many childhood hours in the woods. As a result, she feels the natural world is an ideal catalyst to cultivate and enrich children’s innate sense of wonder, imagination, and creativity. Following a successful career in corporate Human Resources, Kathy spent 20 years homeschooling her two children, coordinating programming for her local home school community, teaching Pre-K, and since 2011, as a nature studies and math teacher at a North Shore private school. In Harmony, she has found the perfect environment to share and apply her lifelong adoration of the outdoors and her background educating children. A Mass Audubon-trained teacher naturalist, Kathy holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Emanuel College in Boston with a focus in Curriculum Design, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Outside the classroom—when not immersed in nature—Kathy facilitates mindfulness workshops to help others find presence, peace, and cultivate a quieter mind.

Becca Raven
*Preschool Teacher*

Becca is wholeheartedly dedicated to fostering children’s love for learning *early*—because she believes it will foster their love of learning for life. Through her early childhood studies in college, she discovered that hands-on, play-based learning experiences, meaningful teacher-student relationships, playful risk-taking, and connection to the natural world are the ideal ingredients to unlock a child’s lifelong passion for learning while searing lasting educational lessons into their memories. She is therefore delighted to be part of the Harmony teaching team today, to allow children the space for these impactful learning experiences through play. Becca earned both a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Master’s Degree in Special Education from Endicott College. When she’s not teaching, Becca enjoys family time with her toddler, Jack, and her husband—cooking, outdoor adventures, and excursions to Plum Island as often as possible.

Megan Shanley
*Preschool Teacher*

Megan first began her career working with children as a nanny for several local families. During this time, she observed the positive learning impact when she encouraged the kids to independently explore, experiment, discover and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways. She has since worked with children in a variety of school settings, and is thrilled today to merge her experience and her passion—implementing Harmony’s play-based, nature-immersed approach to early learning. A graduate of Salem State College, Megan enjoys spending time with family, hiking the White Mountains, biking throughout the North Shore, running, working in her garden and exploring greater Newburyport’s many local beaches.

Nicole Sevigny
*Preschool Teacher*

Nicole began her education career as a Jumpstart Corps member in low-income preschools before devoting a decade to working as a firefighter and paramedic. During that time, she designed and implemented a youth fire safety education program and attended the National Fire Academy for further youth-specialized training. After reconnecting to the joys of educating the earliest learners through parenting her own young children, Nicole is excited to be back in the classroom again, immersed in the natural play environment Harmony offers. Nicole attended Bridgewater State University for Elementary Education and is a certified postpartum doula. When she’s not working, Nicole loves spending time with her children—gardening, tending to their chickens, hiking (ideally in the White Mountains), or immersed in a family baking project—and when time allows, getting lost in a great book.

Cadi Dragonis
*Preschool Teacher*

Inspired since age 10 to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a teacher, Cadi took teaching coursework throughout high school. Immediately upon graduation, she became teacher-certified, and began preschool teaching while completing her early childhood degree. Cadi then taught English to children ages 8 and up in South Korea, where she learned the art of tailoring education to children at different skill levels while encouraging them to persevere and continue growing. Cadi returned to preschool teaching in the US in 2017, and is delighted to be part of Harmony’s team today. Cadi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Psychology from Salem State University. Beyond the bounds of Harmony, she enjoys reading, learning Korean, and spending time with her family—especially her toddler daughter, Eula—and their pets.

Christina Dempsey
*Preschool Teacher*

Christina has loved nurturing young children since the age of 12, when her two baby sisters were born and she poured her heart into helping them—and her mother—as much as possible. After years working as a KinderCare Toddler Teacher, she is excited to facilitate the natural play environment at Harmony today. Christina studied Early Childhood Education at Northern Essex Community College. Outside the classroom, you’ll likely find Christina with her three beloved young children. She loves photography, reading, art, exploring new places, and above all, spending time with her family.

Transitional Preschool TEAM

Amanda Lake
*Transitional Preschool Teacher*

Amanda’s love for young children has led her through many joyful years as a lead preschool teacher, a lead HeadStart teacher, a student teacher helping develop curriculum for grades K-2, and an early childhood educator for infants through pre-K. A nature enthusiast with a particular love for autumn, Amanda is excited to be part of the Harmony team today, and especially enjoys sharing her love of literature with the earliest learners. Beyond the bounds of Harmony, Amanda is most often found immersed in the outdoors with her husband and two children—hiking, biking, running, or swimming. Amanda holds a BA in English from Salem State College, where she is currently in the process of getting her MEd in Early Childhood Education.

Lisa Budd
*Transitional Preschool Teacher*

Following more than two decades working as a preschool teacher, corporate daycare provider, and nanny, today, Lisa is excited to apply her education experience and caregiving skills to her favorite age group at Harmony. Before joining our Transitional Preschool classroom, Lisa further applied her vast experience and passion for nurturing development in the early years as a stay-at-home mom to her son, Hazen. Lisa studied Education and Sociology at Gordon College. When she’s not at Harmony, Lisa loves spending time with Hazen (now in elementary school), either outdoors, reading, solving puzzles, cuddling their guinea pig, Waffles, or snuggling with their cats, Rascal and Tootsie.

Leigha Wade
*Transitional Preschool Assistant Teacher*

Leigha began her early education career teaching at Little Sprouts before spending nearly five years as a stay-at-home mom with her two boys, Ollie and Arlo—an experience that reconfirmed her passion to continue along this path once her children reached school age. When Ollie was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 2, Leigha became deeply connected to the tenets of modeling social-emotional regulation, and learning to teach this critically important skill to young children. Leigha brings these leadership abilities to her role at Harmony today, where she is delighted to be gently fostering creativity and emotional balance in our play-based learning environment. When she’s not at Harmony, Leigha loves exploring nature, reading, and game-playing with her husband, Tyler, their sons, and beloved pets. Leigha is currently working toward earning her Early Education and Care Certificate from the state of Massachusetts.

Susan Lopez
*Transitional Preschool Teacher*

Susan has been devoted to caring for children since she was a teenager. After several years working in corporate daycare, she nannied for a decade, adventuring outdoors with the children for daily play and exploration. Today, Susan is excited to foster creativity, independence, and outdoor play in the Transitional Preschool program, and can’t wait to see each child engage, grow, and thrive. Susan studied Early Childhood Education at Middlesex Community College and is Lead Teacher-Certified. Away from Harmony, Susan loves spending time outside—exploring parks, swimming, boating, enjoying campfires, and more—with her children, Thomas, Lilly, and Acadia, and husband, Anthony.

Katrina Perez
*Transitional Preschool Teacher*

Driven by her commitment to nurturing young learners' curiosities, Katrina is delighted that her passion for nature and experience with children have led her to Harmony. Her deep appreciation for the impact of early childhood education was cemented by her career in corporate daycare and her journey as a mother of two. She is thrilled to be part of Harmony’s unique, natural environment fostering play-based learning today. Currently completing her degree in Early Childhood Education at Northshore Community College, Katrina enjoys spending any free time with her family—paddle-boarding, swimming, camping, getting engrossed in home projects, and walking on the beach with her dog, Finn.

Taylor Morash
*Transitional Preschool Assistant Teacher*

Taylor has loved spending time with young children for as long as she can remember. She enjoyed many years as a nanny for local families, and completed an internship in a foster care setting, where she learned how to support children coming from challenging circumstances. Taylor is thrilled to devote her lifelong love for children and family to the Harmony team, as she helps toddlers discover their individual creative and artistic interests through play. Taylor holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Missions from Northpoint Bible College. In her free time, Taylor can be found writing music, playing guitar, and hiking, fishing, or traveling with her husband and family.

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS

If your child’s usual teacher has to miss school due to illness or another reason, you may temporarily see one of our wonderful, fully trained substitute teachers in your child’s classroom.