Sheldon Clark

Adolescent Program Director | Montessori Certified Teacher
Email: sheldon@montessoricenter.org

[su_expand more_text=”Learn more about Sheldon” height=”0″ link_color=”#586067″ link_style=”button” link_align=”left” more_icon=”icon: list-alt”]Sheldon Clark has been involved in Montessori education since the early 1990s. He has served in administration as well as in the classroom and was the founding Upper Elementary Director of Follow the Child Montessori School in Raleigh.

Sheldon joined The New School in 2011 as its Upper Elementary Director and served in that role through the 2013-2014 school year. He took the AMI/NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies in the summer of 2013 and opened TNS’s Montessori Adolescent Program in the fall of 2014.

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Linda Wellenius

English and Literature Teacher
Email: linda@montessoricenter.org

[su_expand more_text=”Learn more about Linda” height=”0″ link_color=”#586067″ link_style=”button” link_align=”left” more_icon=”icon: list-alt”]Linda comes to North Carolina from Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating from NCSU with a B.S. in sociology, she began working with North Carolina Teacher Corps to gain her lateral entry teaching license in special education.

Prior to graduation, Linda tutored the student athletes at NCSU, specifically the football and baseball players. She has previously worked for Durham Public Schools at Hillside High School as an inclusion teacher for 9th-12th grade
students with disabilities. She is certified to teach K-12 core and content with a focus on special education.

While at Hillside High School, she received the Beginning Teacher of the Month Award on three different occasions
as well as Positive Behavior Intervention Support Teacher of the month. Linda volunteers with the Special Olympics
in Durham County, and she helped to coordinate an inclusive district-wide prom for self-contained students with
disabilities from Durham area middle and high schools.

Linda and her husband live in Raleigh with their sons Milo and Nils and their dog Daisy. In her free time, Linda
likes to run, practice yoga, garden, read, listen to a variety of music, and attend live shows, cook, and most importantly, bake. Her favorite activity is baking, so feel free to ask for a sweet treat on occasion!

She also loves to take her sons to the park to swing or on walks around the neighborhood to take in the fresh air and enjoy the sights.

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Art Pierce

History and Social Studies Teacher
Email address: art@montessoricenter.org

[su_expand more_text=”Learn more about Art” height=”0″ link_color=”#586067″ link_style=”button” link_align=”left” more_icon=”icon: list-alt”]Art was born in Rhinebeck, New York and relocated to Albany, New York at an early age.

Upon completion of two years of studies at Ithaca College, Art moved back to Albany to pursue a career in music with the band he co-founded in high school. After scratching the surface of success with a significant amount of airplay, major label interest, and the opportunity to open for some of the biggest rock acts of the time period (Collective Soul, Fuel, Cracker, Gin Blossoms), Art and his wife Beth decided to settle down and start a family.

While obtaining his A.A.S. in teacher education, Art taught private drum lessons to over 55 students a week. In November 2006, he and his wife Beth, along with their newborn son Aidan, relocated to North Carolina to pursue new opportunities. While teaching elementary-aged and adolescent students music lessons, Art realized his long-time passion for teaching and decided to pursue a degree in history, obtaining his B.A. in historical studies from SUNY Empire State. Art also recently completed the NCTeach certification program through North Carolina State University and is looking forward to broadening his long-term educational skills and goals within the Montessori environment.

In addition to playing drums and listening to music, Art enjoys carpentry, gardening, reading, volunteering, and spending quality time with his wife and two children, both of whom have attended TNS.

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