Devoted to the arts, to mindfulness, and to nurturing children, Montessori Assistant Kate Emmerson describes Green Hedges as a place that feels like home in all three ways.  The sense of calm foundation and abiding joy that she brings, and that she recognizes, is something that she also seeks to instill in her young students, who, she says, “carry an energy that can be encouraged, cultivated, and directed.”

Ms. Emmerson holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies from California State University, San Marcos, where she went on to earn a Teacher Credential.  Currently, she is enrolled in the M.A. in Museum Studies program at Johns Hopkins University.

Following her undergraduate studies, Ms. Emmerson taught Middle School subjects in San Diego, California and at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas, later changing her focus to working with young children. “After having my own babies, I became more interested in early childhood development,” she says, adding that later, she taught preschool in Texas and in Northern Virginia.

Ms. Emmerson got to know Green Hedges when serving as a long-term substitute art teacher on campus. The heart connection she feels with the campus and its community extends to her appreciation of the visual beauty here. “The children, too, benefit from the beauty,” she says.

Outside the classroom, Ms. Emmerson loves spending time with her family, which includes three children, and working as an abstract expressionist painter.