Meet The Instructors

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Excited to collaborate with passionate educators at NEMTEC, Catherine advocates strongly for Montessori education. She began her Montessori journey as a parent and volunteer at Meeting House Montessori School in Braintree, MA. With nearly 24 years of experience teaching elementary-age children at MHMS, Catherine began as an assistant in Children’s House and rose to become a lead teacher and the Director of Elementary Education. She became interested in sharing her experiences and passion for Montessori education and began teaching Child Development at NEMTEC in 2010. Her journey includes a BA from Colby College and Montessori certification from the Seacoast Center. Prior to Montessori training she spent 15 years as a business owner, overseeing staff and training programs for seven locations. Proudly, she served as the first female president of the Cohasset Rotary Club and was an active executive board member of Northeast Fabricare Association. Outside of work, she cherishes time with family and friends, explores nature and delights in cooking for others.

Patti is honored to join NEMTEC as the philosophy instructor. With a lifelong passion for the Montessori method, she brings a wealth of experience to the role. As a mother of three Montessori alumni, Patti firmly believes in the transformative power of the Montessori Method. She has dedicated over 13 years to teaching and leadership positions in Montessori schools. 

Beyond her classroom experience, Patti has led the American Montessori Society Accreditation self-study for Blue Hill Montessori School (BHMS) and served as the Education Coordinator at Golden Opportunities for Independence, a nonprofit service dog organization. Currently, she is a Project Manager for Power Forward Inc.'s Dog Ownership Enhancing Recovery (DOER) initiative.

Actively engaged in her community, Patti sits on the Board of Directors at BHMS and serves on the Advisory Board for the Joshua Kaye Foundation, where she also volunteers as their coordinator. Her involvement in these organizations reflects her deep commitment to philanthropy and education.

Patti is excited to share her enthusiasm for Montessori Philosophy, which began during her own training at NEMTEC over twenty years ago.

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Sherla Phillips graduated from the UWI in Barbados with a BA in Literature, Linguistics and Sociology. She has been an educator for the past 30 years. She taught Literature and Language Arts at high school level in Barbados for 10 years before changing her focus to early childhood education. This happened when she discovered Montessori Education and immediately connected with the philosophy. Sherla then formalized this connection becoming a certified Montessori teacher in 2005 through her training at NEMTEC. 

She went on to guide children within the Children’s House for some years before accepting a position at Torit Montessori School in Boston where she both taught and mentored Guides. Sherla soon assumed a leadership role at Torit writing and implementing curriculum at the Elementary level. 

She continues to work at the Torit Montessori in her current role of Associate head sharing her experience and love for the Montessori philosophy and way of life. 

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The program founder and director, has been active in Montessori teacher education since 1973. After teaching in public school, she earned her AMS certification and a Master's in Early Childhood Education from Xavier University. Bonnie has served AMS as head of the AMS Teachers' Section, member of the teacher education committee, and AMS consultant for schools.