Peabody fifth graders are working with Ms. Bernsen, our counselor, to produce Peabody’s first newscast, the Panther Flash. The student production teams consist of scriptwriters, cameramen/women, and on-air personalities. The Panther Flash will air weekly and will feature school-wide news. All fifth graders will take turns participating.
Teaching Assistant
Catherine Gilbert is a 2019 graduate from George Mason University (Magna Cum Laude) with a BFA in Theatre with a Concentration in Acting and Directing. She grew up in Charlottesville and graduated from The Covenant School (2015). Catherine has performed in over 50 theatrical productions in the tri-state area and has been working as a teaching artist since 2016. Her main areas of focus are acting for stage and screen, Shakespeare studies and performance, and makeup artistry and design. She adores reading to children, inspiring them to explore the magic of story-telling, and encouraging young minds along their own literary explorations. Ms. Cat is a huge mental health advocate and encourages kindness and empathy in each classroom. She is thrilled to be a part of the Peabody community and looks forward to a wonderful school year.
Teaching Fellowship Coordinator
Mrs. Wilson graduated from the University of Virginia in 2006 with a degree in History and Studies in Women and Gender. Following her educational pursuits, she gained valuable experience teaching students of all ages, from preschool to high school. In 2010, she returned to UVA to earn her Masters of Teaching, obtaining endorsements in elementary, special, and gifted education.
She joined the Peabody faculty in 2013 as a second grade teacher, where she distinguished herself as an expert in classroom management, creating a productive and welcoming learning environment for her students. Her dedication to fostering empathy and community among students is a cornerstone of her teaching philosophy.
Mrs. Wilson is passionate about her role as the Peabody Teaching Fellowship Coordinator, where she shares her commitment to education with the next generation of teachers. She works closely with the graduate students to help them earn their teaching credentials and develop the skills necessary to create a positive and inclusive classroom experience.
John Duncan is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds expertise in corporate development, national security, and personnel and facility security. Across a 25-year career in defense and intelligence that encompassed public and private sector roles, Mr. Duncan has overseen a broad range of US defense efforts, from large-scale IT initiatives to intelligence and counter-terrorism support operations. He has directed programs with worldwide applications, designed and managed corporate deployment strategies, and personally directed staff operations in a variety of foreign theaters. In June 2019 he successfully exited Intrepid Solutions and Services, Inc.; a company that he co-founded in 2009 and served in a variety of senior leadership roles, including Chief Executive/President. During his tenure, the company received industry-wide recognition and awards including multiple-year rankings as one of the fastest-growing companies in America and designation as Small Business Federal Contractor of the Year in 2012. In 2020, John formed Heahmor, a Charlottesville-based real estate investment and development platform focused on community collaboration-driven projects with synergistic stakeholder outcomes. He is a proud parent of two Peabody graduates and one current Peabody student.
Peabody Teaching Fellow
Amanda Beresford holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Brown University and a M.Div. in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Harvard University. She spent time working in healthcare chaplaincy and in ministry focused on children, youth, and families. She came to Peabody as a parent and is delighted to remain in the Peabody family this year as a Teaching Fellow. Outside of school, Ms. Beresford enjoys family time, singing, reading, and yoga.
Peabody Teaching Fellow
Coni Wichmann (Profe Coni) holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Middle School education from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. For over eight years, she worked as a homeroom and English teacher in a wide variety of grades (3rd to 7th grade), in both bilingual and non-bilingual schools. She moved from Chile in 2023 with her husband and 5-year-old son. Currently, she is working on a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, with an endorsement in Gifted Education. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, and she is a big soccer fan.
Kindergarten
Lauren Elliott holds a B.S. in Elementary Education with a minor in French from the University of Virginia. Before beginning teaching first grade at Peabody in 2022, she student-taught and interned in schools in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. She is passionate about responsive social-emotional teaching and learning and cultivating positive, interesting, and challenging learning experiences. In her free time, Ms. Elliott enjoys playing guitar and piano, playing volleyball, and spending quality time with friends supporting UVA Athletics!
Music (Grades PreK – 3; 6-8)
Katie Hayes will graduate from James Madison University in December with a Bachelor’s in Music Education and a Minor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication (WRTC). She has worked with students from PreK to 12th grade as an assistant teacher, tutor, and student teacher. Katie has experience working with students of various support needs and cultural backgrounds. In addition to her music teaching experience, Katie also has experience teaching French and an interest in Special Education. In her free time, Katie enjoys visiting cat cafes with her friends, improving her Japanese for her next family trip to Tokyo, and hiking in the Shenandoah Valley.
Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grade Math
Samir Malik earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with Finance Applications from Southern Methodist University. He previously taught elementary and high school level math for three years in Midland, TX and high school level math for one year in Santa Fe, NM. Samir also spent 11 years working in the luxury hospitality industry at several hotel properties across the United States and the Caribbean Islands. In his free time, Samir enjoys hiking, swimming, trying new local restaurants, tutoring students in math, and skiing at various ski resorts across the U.S.
PreKindergarten Teaching Assistant & PreK After School Teacher
Ms. Li earned a Master of Teaching degree in Elementary Education from the University of Virginia and holds a K – 6 teaching license in Virginia. She completed her student teaching at Stone- Robinson and Jackson Via Elementary Schools, and worked as an assistant teacher at the University of Virginia’s Child Development Center. Ms. Li also has a Master of Science in Material Science and Engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. With her bilingual and science background, Ms. Li is passionate about creating a curiosity-driven supportive learning environment.
Technology (Grades 5-8)
Somasundari Hannon has a B.A. in Computer Science and English from Mount Holyoke College and a Masters in Game Design and Development from Bradley University. They have experience working as a programmer and recently made the shift to education. Soma just moved to Virginia this fall with their cat, and in their spare time enjoy writing, drawing, and playing video games.
Seventh and Eighth Grade English
Blecha earned a B.A. in English Literature and a Secondary Teaching Certification from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has taught High School and Middle School English in Colorado, Niigata Japan, California, and Virginia. Audrey took time off from teaching to start and run a specialty cut flower business. Selling flowers at Charlottesville City Market for several years provided the opportunity to make lasting connections and become a part of the Charlottesville community. In her free time she enjoys gardening, reading, and spending time outdoors on her small farm.
Gary Fox has practiced law for more than 45 years, first in the private sector, and then as a trial attorney within the Office of General Counsel at a federal agency. He received an A.B., with a concentration in political science from Brown University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. A number of years later, Gary returned to school on a part-time basis, ultimately earning a Master of Theological Studies from Boston University. During that time, he served for two years as a teaching fellow for Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel, assisting in the development and presentation of four academic courses. Mr. Fox’s daughter has taught at Peabody for several years.
Will Mayo holds a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and an M.B.A. from University of Colorado-Boulder. Will is the Chief Revenue Officer of WillowTree, where he leads sales and revenue functions for the company. Prior to this role, Will was a Director of Business Development at Twitter, where he led partnerships for Twitter’s data services business. Will spent 9 years in management consulting where he provided commercial, government and non-profit clients with strategic planning and financial advisory services and spent the first couple of years out of college working for Lockheed Martin as a Satellite engineer. Will and his wife, Carol Lynn, have two Peabody students. He spends his free time running, fly fishing, and traveling with his family.
Eric Bundonis received a B.A. in history from Middlebury College and an M.B.A. in finance and management, with honors, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a managing director at UVIMCO, with responsibility for Absolute Return and Credit investments. He serves as a member of UVIMCO’s investment committee and is involved in all aspects of the investment process and portfolio risk management. Prior to joining UVIMCO, Mr. Bundonis served as Head of Research at Artivest in La Jolla, California, where he was a member of its investment committee and oversaw the identification, sourcing, due diligence and ongoing monitoring of alternative fund managers across multiple investment strategies totaling approximately $4 billion. Before joining Artivest in 2009, Mr. Bundonis served as an associate at OneCapital Management Partners in New York and began his career at Auda Hedge, LLC in New York. He previously served as the Treasurer of the Bird Rock Foundation. Eric and his wife Jaylene are proud parents of four Peabody students.
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. Marie and her husband Pat have five children at Peabody and one Peabody alumna.
Business and Operations Manager
Nettie Lovet 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. Lovet moved to the mountains of Virginia with her daughters in 2018. In her spare time, Nettie enjoys gardening, country living, dancing, and visiting the lake with her family.
Music (PreK – grade 3, grades 6-8)
Ms. Stees earned a B.A. in Music Education from James Madison University and an M.Ed. in Special Education from Indiana University. Mary is certified in both vocal and general music K-12. Mary has most recently been the music teacher at Rogers Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana in addition to teaching two after-school programs (Musical Beginnings and IU Children’s Choir) with the Indiana University Jacobs Academy. Her previous employment experience includes working for the IU Auditorium as the educational outreach specialist and at Brown County Junior High School as the performing arts director. She has also led the Rogers Elementary School Equity Committee.
Fifth Grade Humanities
Jessica earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Louisiana State University, an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois where her graduate work focused on the ancient Maya, and a Master’s in Teaching from LSU, where her graduate work focused on teaching history through primary sources (her action research project was titled, “Exploring Indigenous History through Historical Inquiry: Filling the Gaps with Primary Source Documents.”) She is joining Peabody after four years of teaching 6th-12th graders in public schools in Louisiana and Illinois, including 6th Grade Social Studies, and AP Human Geography and European History. In her free time, Jessica enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her two dogs.
Fifth Grade Math
Ms. Miller received a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College 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 teaching math to students in the upper elementary grades. Ms. Miller has taught at private schools in Connecticut, Ontario, Manhattan, Charlotte, and Barcelona. She has served as both a homeroom teacher and as a learning support specialist. When not teaching, she spends time with her children, who are young adults, and she enjoys hiking, reading, yoga and relaxing with her two cats.
Director of Educational Technology
& Technology Teacher, grades 5-8
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.
Middle School 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.
Teaching Assistant/After School Teacher
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.
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!
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.
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.