Our Staff

Rainbow Montessori School actively seeks a wide variety of staff in order to share all manner of talents and interests with the children. All head teachers are certified Montessori instructors, and are committed to creating an optimal environment for every child placed in our care. We truly love the children and enjoy working and learning with them. Our staff is very stable, and the children usually spend their years at Rainbow with the same teacher. 

Renate Chadwick founded the school in 1983 and retired from the classroom after nearly 40 years of teaching. She still comes to join us whenever we need an extra helper, and substitutes as needed.

Renate's daughter Barbara Chadwick has been teaching with with us since 2009 and is now the school director, the teacher for the afternoon class, and the extra helper for the morning classes.

Julie Schoenbacher teaches the 9am-1pm 4-hour class, and is in her 8th year with us. Her specialty is botany, and she teaches all about plants and shows the children how to grow things throughout the year. Her assistant is Lisa Lucarelli, who has her degree from the University of Washington and has been teaching since 2010.

Jen Sherer teaches with Martha in the 8:30-12:30 4-hour class. Jen has a background in science and has fascinated the students with her science lessons! Her co-teacher Martha Diliani, has her Masters degree in Education, and has been teaching with us since 2015. Martha brings the perfect combination of patience and humor in her work with her students. Martha is contemplating retirement so if anyone is interested in applying for the best job in the world, please let us know!

We are lucky and grateful to have such a wonderful staff. Teaching assistants are all trained directly by the teaching faculty. Our assistants share a desire to work with children and come to us experienced in early-childhood development and usually stay for many years. Often, assistants are preparing to receive their own Montessori teaching certification. 

The staff distributes a monthly newsletter detailing the children’s activities and projects, current curriculum, and upcoming events or celebrations. We encourage parents to communicate freely with their child’s teacher and discuss any concerns or questions about the child’s progress at school.