Faculty & Board

Trained in the "classical" tradition, by apprenticeship to a master Kindergarten teacher on the Big Island of Hawaii, Ms. Beth brings many years of experience with children in a Waldorf setting. After her apprenticeship in Hawaii, she solely owned and operated a Waldorf-inspired nursery program (three to five years of age) from her home in Maine for eight years. This program, Juniper Tree, was a feeder school for the local Waldorf School in Blue Hill Maine. In 2004 – 2005 she was a co-teacher in the Kindergarten at the Terra Rosa Charter School in Sedona Arizona. She also taught Handwork to the upper classes there as well.

An avid student of the anthroposophical and pedagogical principles of Rudolf Steiner, she considers her work in the Kindergarten to be her life's calling and destiny. She enjoys knitting and toy and doll making. For over thirty years she has had a deep love of natural healing methods, in particular herbal remedies, flower essences and energetic modalities such as Reiki and gemstone therapy.

Ms. Beth is the mother of five grown children, three of whom were Waldorf students, now artists, writers and musicians. She considers her family to be a very free-spirited bunch, and she loves to see them finding their wings.

Biography to come...

Jessica Moore graduated from New England College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and a minor in Fine and Graphic Arts and Costume Design. After working for more than ten years in Corporate Advertising, Jess decided to return to school to get a Master Herbalist, Diploma in Herbal Studies from the Australasian College of Health Sciences. Since graduating, Jess has started Moore Naturally, LLC, a thriving business of proprietary medicinal herbal remedies for common ailments. Still a lover of theatre and performance, Jess has starred in and worked as costume designer for many regional theatrical productions and has done voiceovers for radio. She had also worked with school-aged children in writing, producing and directing one-act plays.

Jess loves to sing as well as do many types of crafts including: knitting; felting; needle felting; traditional rug hooking and more. She enjoys spending time in the woods, at the lake and under the light of the moon. She lives in Berwick with her husband Dana and her 5-year-old daughter Brenna, who is a Sea Star at Tidewater.

Tricia's background is in the theater and corporate world and has only recently pursued her interest in working with children. Tricia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hofstra University in NY. She worked for 14 years as a production stage manager and actress throughout New England. She has recently completed the Lifeways Training and has been Tidewater's extended day teacher, for two years. She has a special fondness for the very youngest children and hopes to work with babies and toddlers when Tidewater is ready to design a program for that age group.

When not at Tidewater, Tricia is a role-player at Strawberry Banke where she portrays the historical figure, Sarah Goodwin, tending her garden. She enjoys dancing – both tap and jazz – reading and swimming. She lives in Cape Neddick, very near the ocean.

Vickie loves to learn, which fuels her enthusiasm for teaching. She graduated from UNH with a BA in Mathematics and trained to be a Waldorf teacher at Rudolf Steiner College in California. Vickie previously taught at Ashwood Waldorf School in Rockport, ME for eleven years. Her first class is now in college and her second class is in high school.

Vickie's life long passion is reading and she has at least a dozen "favorite" books. She is working towards her dream of writing books for beginning readers and is eager to share her stories with her new class. She is also writing a math resource book for teachers.

Vickie lives in Rye with her cat, Midnight. She likes to walk along the ocean and in the woods; to listen to music and dance; and to play with her niece and nephew.

This is Vickie's first year at Tidewater.

Diana has a BA from San Jose State University, and started her Waldorf teacher training in California at Rudolf Steiner College. She is enrolling at Antioch New England Graduate School for the summer program where she will complete a Masters in Education and Waldorf Certification. In addition she is a certified doula and yoga instructor. Her teaching experience includes a variety of settings and ages including summer camps, religious studies (she directed the Sunday School program), Parent Child Groups and yoga classes.

Diana lives in South Berwick with her husband and 3 daughters; they moved from Cape Cod this past summer and their oldest daughter joined Grade 3 at Tidewater. Diana likes to read, enjoys music, singing, drama and theatre. She has a keen interest in anthroposophy, the philosophical work of Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf Education.

Dennis graduated from Anderson University in Indiana, with a degree in History, and minored in Art and Design. He attended Antioch New England Graduate School (Keene, NH) and graduated with a degree in Integrated Learning and Waldorf Education. Dennis is also a certified public school teacher, with four years teaching experience.

Dennis has worked in a variety of public and private teaching institutions. His most recent experiences include working as an environmental educator in the White Mountains, NH, and working with children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. This is Dennis' third year at Tidewater.

Dennis lives in Portsmouth, NH, and his interests include kayaking, painting, and traveling.

Martha has been with Tidewater School since 2002. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and a Master of Education in Early Childhood Special Needs from the University of New Hampshire. She is currently enrolled in the Waldorf Spatial Dynamics Training.

Martha's previous experience includes over 11 years of management in both municipal and corporate sectors as well as work with children of all ages in educational, recreational and athletic programs.

Martha lives in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire with her husband Jeff and two young daughters. She is an avid gardener and loves outdoor recreation. Martha has also been a long time field hockey coach and swim instructor.

Tracey graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Salem State College and a master's degree in Education from UNH. She received her Waldorf Certificate from Antioch New England Graduate School. Tracey has worked as an art teacher in Kingston, NH, a sixth grade teacher at Barrington Public School and a teacher for middle school special education students for four years. At Tidewater she has been the Handwork teacher and a class teacher. This is her sixth year at Tidewater.

Tracey lives in Kittery, ME and has two children who attend Tidewater. She likes reading, handwork, violin, and feeding the birds.

Biography to come...

Christa has an undergraduate degree in German, French and Political Science and has done extensive graduate work in German Linguistics. She has taken many graduate classes in teaching children German and attended a Waldorf foreign language training workshop.

Christa has taught a wide range of language classes from liaison interpreting at the University of Heidelberg in Germany to teaching 3 year olds at a language school in Portsmouth. Christa started teaching at Tidewater in December of 2005. Christa has 10+ years teaching experience at various schools and institutes.

She moved to New Hampshire from Germany in 2003. She lives in NH with her husband, her two children, and her four racing Siberians. Her two children attend Tidewater.

Interests include learning languages, ski joring and dog sledding with the family.

Claudia is an artist and bilingual teacher, born in Caracas Venezuela. She graduated from Instituto de Diseno de Caracas with a degree in graphic design, and also studied fine art at Armando Reveron College of Art. After moving to Newburyport, MA in 2001, she taught private art lessons and "Spanish through Art" for children, based on young children's literature and songs. In 2005, she started working for Language Advantage as a Spanish teacher. Claudia works at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, MA and this is her first year as Spanish teacher at the Tidewater School. Currently, she lives with her husband in Newbury, MA and she has her art studio at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, MA.

Erin graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Art Education for kindergarten through 12th grade. She has been involved with Tidewater since the doors opened in 1999 and has worked in early childhood for 5 years. Erin started the woodworking program in 2006 – 2007 school year. She lives in Newington, NH and her interests include art, traveling and cooking.

Biography to come...

Ramona was born in the Chicago area, but grew up in the South: Richmond, VA, Atlanta, GA, and Pensacola Beach, Florida. She has a in BA Philsophy/Math from the University of West Florida in Pensacola; an MS in Government from Florida State University in Tallahassee and a MLn in Librarianship from Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She has taught Goverment at the college level, worked as a librarian in a number of settings and currently is a medical librarian (part-time) at York Hospital in York, Maine.

Ramona has always studied music. She plays piano, guitar, violin, and cello. She has studied classical, folk music and has played Irish traditional dance music for the past 15 years. She plays with several bands, plays for both ceilis (dances) and the feis (dance competition) at a local Irish dance school and leads Irish music sessions in the area.

Ramona loves to read and learn new things...the world is so rich! She gives private lessons to adults and children in violin and piano. This is her second year at Tidewater.