Head of School

Crystal Davis

Crystal began teaching at Brookeside Montessori in 1999. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education from Kutztown University and holds a Pennsylvania teaching certificate from the Department of Education. Prior to Brookeside Montessori she has several years’ experience teaching preschool children and substituting in public school classrooms. In 2002, she completed Montessori training in Elementary (ages 6 -9) from the North American Montessori Teacher Training Center. Crystal also completed training at Princeton Center for Teacher Education in 2010 to earn credentials from the American Montessori Society in Elementary (ages 6 – 9). In June 2018, Crystal became the Head of School of Brookeside Montessori.

Crystal’s favorite hobbies are making greeting cards, reading, and playing board games. Recently Crystal has become interested in genealogy research, and she volunteers organizing a family reunion that has been meeting for over 100 years.

Assistant Director of School Operations

Edie Hartman

Edie’s daughter Amanda, a recent college graduate, attended school here at Brookeside.  Amanda was a student in the Pre-School, Kindergarten and Elementary classrooms.When Amanda attended Brookeside Edie was the school bookkeeper and an Instructional Assistant in the classroom. In June of 2018 Edie returned to Brookeside to join the administrative team.

Edie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from LaSalle University and has spent over 30 years working in various positions within the non-profit field.  She has certifications in Non-Profit Financial Management and Executive Leadership.  Edie served as the Executive Director of the Phoenixville Area Senior Center, ran her own bookkeeping company and was a founding member of Open Hearth in Spring City.

Edie has been married to Tom Hartman for 24 years.  She enjoys spending time with her very large extended family.  Tom and Edie enjoy pickling and preserving fruits and vegetables.  Their family and friends look forward to receiving the fruits of their labor at Christmas time.

Primary Teacher

Miranda Marks

Miranda joined the staff of Brookeside Montessori in 1999 and has served in several different positions including Pre-K teacher, computer teacher, and Administrative Assistant. She earned her degree at Clarion University of PA in the areas of Elementary Education and Special Education. Miranda’s previous work experiences have been as a therapeutic aide for Crawford County Intermediate Unit, running a satellite preschool program for Bethesda Children’s Home, and working in with school-age children in an Afterschool Program at the Meadville YMCA. Miranda completed her Montessori training for Primary (ages 3 – 6) at Princeton Center for Teacher Education in 2013.

Primary Teacher

Audrey Phelan

Audrey began teaching at Brookeside Montessori in 2020. She has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Pennsylvania State University.  She is a certified Apple teacher and holds a certificate with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  Audrey has 16 years of experience teaching Pe-K and Kindergarten students in private and public school settings.  Audrey will be starting her Montessori training soon.

Audrey enjoys spending her spare time with her husband and 2 children. She also enjoys swimming, going to the beach, and baking cookies.

Primary Assistant

Phyllis Miller

Phyllis began working at Brookeside Montessori in 2013 as an instructional assistant in the Primary class. Before her work at Brookeside, she had several years’ experience working in a childcare center then providing childcare in her home while raising her two daughters. 

Besides being a dedicated instructional aid, Phyllis enjoys cooking and baking. Her main hobbies are participating in games like bingo, mini-golf, and playing the card game Skip-Bo.

Wellness Coordinator & Teacher

Kayte Messinger

Kayte has been with Brookeside Montessori since 2015. Prior to her work at our school, she had several years experience in education and healthcare. Kayte started as an instructional assistant and now teaches health and physical fitness classes. Kayte is a certified health coach and certified personal trainer. She is currently working on her hours to become a certified Yoga instructor and is taking additional education to become a certified trainer in youth fitness. As our Wellness Coordinator, Kayte leads a team to support children, their families, and our staff in their decision-making regarding healthy choices and activities. 

Primary Assistant

Sarah Imhoff

Sarah began employment at Brookeside Montessori as a Summer Camp Assistant in 2021 and started her position as a Primary Assistant during the 2022-2023 school year. Sarah graduated from Temple University, Fox School of Business, in May of 2022 with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, with a major in Marketing. 

Primary Assistant

Teneil DiDomenico

Teneil joined the staff of Brookeside Montessori in January 2023. Her journey in working with children began 26 years ago. She was a toddler teacher in a private early learning center. Then she went on to be a nanny for some amazing families before ultimately raising her own 2 children. She feels blessed to have had the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, and is excited to return to the early childhood field at Brookeside Montessori Teneil enjoy taking fitness classes, riding 4wheelers, paddle boarding, being with my friends and spending quality time with my family and 2 dogs.  

Lower Elementary Teacher

Adrienne Mihal

Adrienne started teaching at Brookeside Montessori during the 2022-2023 school year. Adrienne went to Penn State University and received a bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation and Human Services. After graduating Adrienne decided to pursue a career in teaching. She taught in different early childhood settings, and obtained a graduate degree in Education from West Chester University.  She holds a Pennsylvania teaching certificate from the Department of Education for Prek – Grade 4. Adrienne has experience teaching in different early childhood settings as well as substitute teaching in the public school system. She loves to bake, cook, and tend to her garden. Her favorite place to relax and have fun is at the beach.

Upper Elementary Teacher

Sharon Miller

Sharon joined Brookeside Montessori during the 2021-2022 school year. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Elementary and Special Education from Alvernia University, and holds a teaching certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Prior to Brookeside Montessori she has taught students from PreK-5 as a substitute teacher in the public school setting. She is looking forward to completing her Montessori training in the future.

Sharon loves to spend time with her husband Tom and two cats: Coulson and Jax. Her hobbies include reading, music, movies and spending time with her family at the beach. She also enjoys candy making, baking and other arts and crafts.

Elementary Assistant

Wendy Bisbort

Wendy began as a parent volunteer and joined the Brookeside Montessori staff during the 2019-2020 school year as an Instructional Assistant in the Elementary Classroom.

Primary Assistant

Sarah Imhoff

Sarah began employment at Brookeside Montessori as a Summer Camp Assistant in 2021 and started her position as a Primary Assistant during the 2022-2023 school year. Sarah graduated from Temple University, Fox School of Business, in May of 2022 with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, with a major in Marketing. 

Art Teacher

Kate Mishriki-Baglivo

Kate started teaching art classes at Brookeside Montessori during the 2020-2021 school year. Kate holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art (Temple University) and an MA from The University of Oklahoma in Museum Studies. She has previously worked as an art teacher for children aged 3 – 18. She is the museum registrar for The Freedman Gallery at Albright College. Kate and her family have been part of the Brookeside community for several years. Her son is an alumni student, her daughter is in the Primary class, and her husband, KooKoo the Cartoon Magician, has performed several shows at our school.

Spanish Teacher

Mary Cris Guerin

Mary Cris has been a Spanish instructor for children and adults since 1995.  She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the Universidad Iberoamericano in Puebla, Mexico and completed course work in English as a second language at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, PA.  She taught Spanish in public and private schools for children in Pre-School through middle school for over twenty years.  Mary Cris also provided Spanish language instruction to parents in the Phoenixville School District.  In addition to teaching Spanish at Brookeside, Mary Cris is the Private Catholic Home School Co-op teacher for our area as well as a Spanish instructor for an extracurricular Spanish program at St. Francis Academy in Bally.

Music Teacher

Mollie Larkin

Mollie has been teaching music at the Brookeside Montessori School since 2003.  She has a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Therapy from Mansfield University.  Mollie has worked as a music therapist at many facilities including the Southeastern Veterans’ Center, Parkhouse Providence Pointe, and Keystone Villa.  She also worked as a TSS with autistic children and ran music therapy groups for the MARC infant program.  She is a licensed Kindermusik educator and has taught music in classrooms and private instruction for 20 years.   Mollie currently teaches private music lessons at her home studio.

Wellness Coordinator & Teacher

Kayte Messinger

Kayte has been with Brookeside Montessori since 2015. Prior to her work at our school, she had several years experience in education and healthcare. Kayte started as an instructional assistant and now teaches health and physical fitness classes. Kayte is a certified health coach and certified personal trainer. She is currently working on her hours to become a certified Yoga instructor and is taking additional education to become a certified trainer in youth fitness. As our Wellness Coordinator, Kayte leads a team to support children, their families, and our staff in their decision-making regarding healthy choices and activities.