Bios
Larry and Pat Schaefer
Co-directors
Larry and Pat Schaefer are internationallyrecognized speakers on Montessori
education and have founded three successful
Montessori schools. With their experience as teaching principals of these schools, Pat and Larry have more than 25 years experience in educational administration.Their combined teaching experience spans 70 years and covers all ages, from Children's House through college.
Larry received an AMI diploma from Bergamo, Italy, studying under Eleanora Honneger and Camillo Grazzini; he holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Fordham University and a M.A. in Education from Fairfield University. Pat holds an AMI/AMS primary diploma, having studied under Elizabeth Stephenson, and an AMI elementary diploma from Bergamo, where she was trained by Eleanora Honneger and Camillo Grazzini. Pat also received a M.A. in History from Fordham University.
In 1964, Larry and Pat founded The Montessori School, now in Wilton, Connecticut, for their four children. In 1976, they founded Lake Country School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in 1982, Larry created a Montessori adolescent program at Lake Country, a program that continues to serve as a model for other urban adolescent programs. Larry created the blueprint to obtain a grant from the Gates Foundation, establishing Great River School, a charter junior and senior high school founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2004.
Although now retired, Pat and Larry remain committed to Montessori's vision of education for peace, social justice, and the realization of human potential. This work and their 7 beloved grandchildren continue to inspire and motivate them.
Sara Nelson
Operations Manager and Project Coordinator
Sara Nelson holds an undergraduate degree in English and Zoology from UC Davis, an MFA in poetry from Washington University in St. Louis and a Minnesota Language Arts and Communications teaching license. She has attended NAMTA's Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies and has taught in Montessori adolescent programs for over 14 years, teaching English and sex education and health to junior and senior high students at Lake Country School and Great River School. She has assisted in a Montessori toddler program and has tutored Montessori elementary students. She studied martial arts for ten years and writes poetry and non-fiction. In addition to her work at the Institute, Sara serves as a legal assistant in a firm specializing in employee rights and consumer protection. She lives in Minneapolis with her dog and two cats.
Anne Schaefer Wussler
Anne has been involved with Montessori education all her life. She is currently teaching at Oak Hill Montessori, where she has taught at the Lower Elementary Level for seven years. Anne's rich teaching background includes public school, charter school, private Montessori programs and leading creative movement and dance programs. Anne holds her AMI Montessori certification from Bergamo, Italy. Anne has a B.A. in anthropology, humanities and a minor in dance from Macalester College, a MALS in Dance and Movement Studies from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and a M.A. and Teaching Certification in Education from the University of Saint Thomas.
Anne's love of movement and dance has led her to perform with a variety of companies including Ethnic Dance Theater, Kusanovich Dance Theatre, Ballet Arts Minnesota, and the Dance Revels. She is an ACE certified personal trainer. Anne lives in St. Paul with her husband and young son.
Larry P. Schaefer
Larry points out that his main value to the Institute stems from having been a Montessori child, but he provides the Institute with creative problem-solving, inspiration, and legal counsel. Perhaps most importantly, Larry is a resource when it comes to issues of peace and human rights. Larry has been practicing law for over twenty years and advocates on behalf of employees and consumers regarding issues of civil rights and consumer protection. He feels strongly about giving a voice to victims of workplace misconduct. Larry lives in Minneapolis with his daughter, Linnea who is, of course, a Montessori student.
Mary Schaefer Enright
Research and Development Director
Mary has taught in the fields of educational and rehabilitation psychology at the college and graduate level for 15 years. Her research background and interests lie in curriculum development, learning styles, and the education of exceptional learners. Mary holds a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology (with an Educational Psychology minor) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to her work at the Lake Country Institute, Mary serves on the psychology faculty of Walden University and Capella University. Mary lives outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband and three children.
Kris Schaefer
Kris Schaefer is currently the coordinator of the adolescent program at Lake Country School in Minneapolis where she has worked for the last 13 years. She received her AMI elementary training from the Milwaukee Training Center in 1991, after completing her bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College in 1987. Kris has taught primarily at the junior high level, but she also taught for three years as an elementary guide in Portland, Oregon and Boulder, Colorado. She lives in Minneapolis with her partner and two children.
