Teaching Assistant/After School Assistant
Mykel Paige earned a B.S. in Communications from Kaplan University in 2009 and A.S. degrees in Teacher Assisting, Gourmet Cooking & Catering, and Nutrition, Diet & Health Science. Mykel’s professional experience includes becoming Trauma-Informed Certified and working as a Residential Counselor in a group home for abused teens, as well as being trained in behavior management and crisis intervention. Mykel is currently working toward a degree in Early Childhood Education.
Director of Educational Technology
& Technology Teacher, grades 3-8
Amy Brudin has been teaching and learning with technology since she graduated from UVA in 1994. She spent 10 years in the Washington, D.C. area, teaching at the National Cathedral School and consulting privately with families looking to set up networks and computers at home. She and her husband and fellow UVA graduate George moved to Batesville in 2003 and are proud parents of Lune, Peabody class of ’21.
Spanish
Emmie Wright holds a B.A. in Spanish with a minor in Anthropology from Washington and Lee University. She earned her M.A. in Spanish from the Middlebury Language School, finishing her last summer in Guadalajara, Mexico. She has spent a number of years teaching both middle and upper school Spanish in Charleston, SC, New York City, and Charlottesville. She took time off from teaching to stay home with her two children, both of whom attend Peabody. In her free time, she loves to travel with her family (especially to Menorca, a small island off the coast of Spain), garden, read, and run.
Marie Bourgeois holds an A.A. in Interior Architecture and Design from the Intercontinental University of London and a B.A. in the Arts from Tulane University. Originally from Charlottesville, Marie has worked in design in New Orleans, Charlottesville, London, Gibraltar, and Sotogrande, Spain. Following graduate school, she worked on multiple projects in the London offices of Joanna Woods and Tim Gosling, including Gosling’s redesign of the Goring Hotel. From London, she relocated to Gibraltar to work with Patricia Darch Interiors, with offices in Gibraltar and the south of Spain. Her work has been featured in LPA, La Revista, and Casa y Jardin. She returned to Charlottesville in 2014 and is the principal and owner of Marie Bourgeois Design. Marie has been in involved in several local charities, including the Women’s Initiative and the Music Resource Center, which she helped design for its initial opening in 2004. She has six children at Peabody.
Maran Garland earned her undergraduate degree in Communications with a concentration in Marketing and Public Relations from Marymount Manhattan College, followed by a Masters in Liberal Studies with a focus in Literature from Stony Brook University. After nearly 10 years of living and working in Manhattan, Ms. Garland relocated to Charlottesville where her husband Rob was, and continues to be, a local photographer. She was a member of The Paramount Theater’s marketing team for two years before being promoted to Director of Marketing and member of the Senior Leadership Team for the nonprofit theater. Since 2019, she has proudly served as a lecturer for the course, Arts Marketing: Theory and Practice in the Arts Administration division of the Department of Art at UVA. Most recently, she joined Ting Internet’s local team as the Marketing Manager for Charlottesville.
The Garlands are the proud parents of a Peabody student who began her Peabody tenure as a three-year-old in the Peabody PreK program. In her free time, Ms. Garland enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying the sights of Charlottesville and Central Virginia, and cheering for the ‘Hoos.
PreK After School Teacher
Kasha Viets-Wood graduated from Guilford College in 1989 with a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Art. She has worked with children in a variety of capacities for more than 35 years in public and private schools, daycares, preschools, and after care programs. Outside the classroom, Ms. Viets-Wood enjoys spending time with her her husband and three dogs, in addition to swimming, watching a good mystery series, socializing at the dog park, growing flowers, going for walks in the woods, and spending time with family and friends. She is thrilled to return to Peabody’s After School program.
Community Connections Coordinator
Eric Anderson earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree at Columbia University in cognitive biopsychology with certification in conservation biology. He has worked in urban education and environmental non-profits, and both taught in and led independent schools in New Jersey and Charlottesville. A Peabody parent, Mr. Anderson will work to build bridges both within the school and to the broader community in his role as Peabody’s new Community Connections Coordinator. A middling birdwatcher, soccer and ultimate frisbee player, and outdoor enthusiast, he is currently trying to learn guitar to help drown out his oft-unwelcome singing.
Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grade Math
Hope Sikora received a B.A. in Mathematics and a MAT in Secondary Education from the University of Virginia. Ms. Sikora loves math because it encourages problem solving and helps us understand the world. In her free time, Ms. Sikora enjoys cooking, exercising, and cheering on the Hoos!
Fifth Grade Math
Heather Miller received a B.A. from Dartmouth College in history and an M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching from Columbia University Teachers College. She has taught several different age groups but has a particular passion for math and for students in the upper elementary grades. Ms. Miller has taught at private schools in Connecticut, Ontario, Manhattan, Charlotte and, most recently, Barcelona. She has served as both a homeroom teacher and as a learning support specialist. When not teaching, Ms. Miller spends time with her children, who are young adults, and she enjoys hiking, reading, yoga and relaxing with her two cats.
Third Grade
Jillian Wilde earned her B. A. from the University of Connecticut in Political Science and her M.A.T. from Goucher College in Elementary Education and Special Education. Mrs. Wilde holds teaching licenses in both Elementary Education and Special Education. She taught preschool for four years, followed by four years of teaching third grade in the Montgomery County, Maryland Public School system, before coming to Peabody. In her free time, she enjoys reading and traveling, as well as antiquing and thrifting. She also loves a variety of outdoor activities and is a certified scuba diver.
Business Manager
Jeannette Ortega received a B.S. in Business and Accounting from the University of Phoenix. She has worked for small businesses as well as larger corporations for nearly 20 years, and has both accounting and operational experience. Ms. Ortega moved to the mountains of Virginia with her daughters in 2018. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, country living, dancing, and visiting the lake with her family.
Third Grade
Nicole Dreyfus graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing, and earned her Master’s of Science in Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. She holds a teaching license for grades PreK-6 in the state of Virginia, and is also a certified and licensed teacher of Meditation, Hatha, Kundalini and Raja Yoga. Ms. Dreyfus loves learning new things, chess, crossword puzzles, reading about everything, yoga, jogging, skiing, camping, snorkeling, creative writing, history, poetry, chemistry, art history, painting, travel, zoology, psychology, anthropology, volunteering, philosophy, theology, Halloween, mycology and pugs.
Online Learning Coordinator
Sarah FitzHenry holds a Masters in Library Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a B.A. in English and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, both from Bowling Green State University. Ms. FitzHenry brings experience from both public and independent schools, having taught a diverse range of subjects from elementary literacy to computer science. Additionally, she is an experienced educator coach and presenter, and is passionate about helping teachers and families shape the next generation of leaders and citizens. Ms. FitzHenry lives in Charlottesville with her family, and is pretty much always reading a book or asking someone a question.
School Nurse
Tara Montgomery holds a BSN from the University of Virginia. Her experience includes nursing in the inpatient setting (Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital), outpatient clinic (UVA Cancer Center), and most recently, Telehealth nursing. Ms. Montgomery’s goal as Peabody’s school nurse is to provide a safe environment for students to learn and play as well as to promote health and wellness in exciting and proactive ways.