Board of Trustees
Montessori Country School is organized as a non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation, governed by a Board of Trustees. The Head of School is hired by the Board and is in charge of the day-to-day operation of the school, as well as the hiring of the faculty and staff. The Board of Trustees sets policy, approves the budget, and oversees the general operation of the school.
Courtney Scott Olmsted
President
Courtney Scott Olmsted has two children, Sawyer and Lincoln, at Montessori Country School. She loves the way the Montessori method respects children as individuals, and encourages their independence. Courtney and her husband, Andy, moved their family to Bainbridge Island from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and they are thankful to be part of the wonderful, supportive Country School community.
Courtney loves to volunteer her time to support the causes that are close to her heart. She currently volunteers with climate change action, common sense gun reform, and get out the vote organizations. She previously served as an MCS auction co-chair and parent room representative.
Courtney earned a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Courtney has held Marketing and Business Development Executive roles in the clinical research participant protection field. Since having kids, she has found the role of “Mom” to be her very favorite. In her free time, Courtney likes to read, cook, organize, go boating, and plan family trips. Courtney joined the MCS Board in 2022.
Tyler Nix
Treasurer
Tyler Nix believes the Montessori approach is one of the most thoughtful and effective ways to nurture children’s growth, both academically and emotionally. When he and his family discovered Montessori Country School, they were especially taken with the incredible teachers and staff whose care and expertise bring the philosophy to life every day. With three children currently enrolled at MCS, Tyler feels grateful to be part of a community that fosters curiosity, independence, and joy in learning.
Professionally, Tyler studied Construction Management at Texas Tech University and built his career leading large-scale construction projects including schools, hospitals, and office buildings. He later became a full-time real estate investor, and today serves as the Founder and President of an affordable housing nonprofit. Under his leadership, the organization generates hundreds of affordable housing units each year, with a mission of making homeownership and housing stability more accessible.
In his free time, Tyler enjoys playing team sports, hiking, reading, and — above all — spending time with his family and friends. He is excited to bring his financial and leadership experience to the MCS Board as Treasurer and to support the school’s mission of nurturing the whole child.
Vicki Culp
Secretary
Vicki’s relationship with Montessori Country School began as a pre-schooler in the first years of MCS when classes were held in a farmhouse in Port Madison. A deep love of learning led Vicki to become a teacher, earning her teaching credentials at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Vicki taught English at the Pusan University of Foreign Studies in South Korea for three years, and then spent the next decade at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA teaching math and taking on various administrative responsibilities. In 2009, Vicki returned home to Bainbridge where she served as the Assistant Head and Head of School at Hyla. In 2020, upon becoming an empty nester, Vicki stepped away from education and currently works with her husband, Matt, at Bainbridge Lending Group, a local home mortgage company. In her free time, Vicki enjoys gardening, needle-crafts, boating and spending time with her family.
Hilary Benson
Hilary joined the MCS community in 2005 as a classroom teacher and in subsequent years has had many roles in the school — administrator, substitute, specialist, board member (2010-2019), and parent (2014-2024). Her sons are both MCS graduates after attending the program through 6th grade. She is happy to continue to support MCS in the important work of providing families with a high fidelity Montessori education and is honored to serve on the board once again.
Hilary is a graduate of Bainbridge High School and holds a BA from Bates College, a Masters in Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington, and American Montessori Society credentials in Early Childhood Education and School Administration. Hilary’s background in Montessori education has instilled a deep belief that education must be child-centered and designed to meet the child’s needs, socially, emotionally, and intellectually.
In her free time, Hilary can be found volunteering at Helpline House, cooking and baking, doing yoga, weeding the garden, and hiking with her husband and sons.
Patty Christensen
Patty Christensen joined the MCS Board in 2019. She has a long history with the school. Her mother, Dorothy King, founded Montessori Country School with a friend in 1972. Patty knew in high school that she was destined to work with young children. She received a BS in Sociology from the University of Washington and a Montessori teaching certificate from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) in the early seventies. She was a Montessori Primary Classroom teacher for several years in the Seattle area before moving to Bainbridge Island with her family in 1986. Her mother retired from MCS and Patty became the teacher and Head of School for what was then a one-classroom schoolhouse. She saw the school through many years of growth and feels honored to have been part of the phenomenal MCS community. Her dedication to the children never faltered. She is thrilled to be serving on the MCS Board and pleased to be, once again, a part of Montessori Country School. She is committed to serving the school in anyway she can and supporting the Head of School and staff in giving the children and parents the joy and wonder of an authentic Montessori education.
Grae Drake
Grae Drake joined the Montessori Country School Board in 2021. He currently serves as the Executive Director of BARN (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network). He brings his experience in building mission-driven products, teams, and companies as a senior executive in the educational technology sector. In addition, he has a background in corporate law and as a nonprofit board member. Grae has two children who attend MCS.
Kourtney Maka
Kourtney Maka is a dedicated educator and passionate advocate for the Montessori method, with a strong belief in the power of individualized learning. A proud mom of two MCS students, Lincoln and Luke, Kourtney is deeply involved in both her children’s education and the broader educational community.
Kourtney holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Christopher Newport University, a Master’s in Special Education, and an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from Regent University.
When she’s not working, Kourtney enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, hiking, mountain biking, and creating art, which allow her to connect with nature and recharge her creativity. Her professional and personal passions are driven by a love of lifelong learning and fostering meaningful educational experiences for all students.
Sarah Martin
Sarah has been a parent at MCS since 2016 when she and her oldest joined the Parent Infant class. She currently has two children at MCS and feels strongly that the Montessori method enables children to reach their fullest potential both academically and emotionally. She is thrilled to be able to give back to the community by joining the Board of Trustees in 2025.
Sarah brings significant experience with fundraising, event planning, and communications having served on the MCS Auction Committee for four years (as Co president for two), as the President of the Parent Teacher Organization at x̌alilc (Halilts) Elementary School, as well as the President of the Bainbridge Island Parent Teacher Organization Coordinating Council. Her experience in both public and private school settings brings a broad perspective to the board.
Sarah is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an AB in Theater and Art History. She holds a MArch from the University of Oregon and is a practicing Architect specializing in custom single family homes.
When given the chance, Sarah enjoys communing with nature, testing new recipes and traveling with her family.
Jessica Nance
Jessica Nance is an alumni mom to two MCS students. She fell in love with the Montessori method after researching various educational models while finding a preschool for her oldest daughter. Jessica is passionate about social justice issues and appreciates how the Montessori method teaches even the youngest students to be kind, thoughtful and engaged citizens of the
world.
Jessica grew up on Bainbridge and returned to the island in 2016 after the birth of her first child. She has a background in law and holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Jessica is a regular volunteer with the local public schools, the Bainbridge History Museum, and has worked on a variety of pro bono legal matters, most recently through the Seattle Clemency Project. She previously served on the Boards of two nonprofits, Keshet Center for the Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and PDX Diaper Bank in
Portland, Oregon.
In her free time, Jessica loves to dance, travel, hike, garden, read, and spend time with her two precious daughters who are growing up way too fast.
Alan Oriard
Linda Waterman
Linda Waterman is passionate about non-profit work. A native of New Orleans, Linda volunteered with the non-profit NO/AIDS Task Force (now CrescentCare) in the 1990s. She was a law student intern at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office and Bay Area Legal Aid -San Francisco in the early 2000s.
In 2008, Linda and her husband Andrew drove from Berkeley, California to Chiapas, Mexico to pursue their dream of working abroad. In Chiapas, Linda helped launch an NGO to benefit and educate women weavers in the small mountain villages surrounding San Cristobal de las Casas. In late 2013, Linda and Andrew returned to the States to pursue a different dream-starting a family.
Linda developed a deep appreciation for the Montessori Method in early education when she attended the MCS Parent/Toddler class in 2018 with her son Ziggy.
Linda holds a Juris Doctor from New College of California School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University. Linda’s additional interests include baking, cooking authentic Louisiana recipes, and expanding her collection of books written by African American women. Linda joined the MCS Board of Trustees in 2020.
Mike Wynne-Jones
Michael Wynne-Jones is an alumni parent of three MCS students, and is a strong advocate for multi-age learning and the Montessori model. He believes in education priorities in which foundational concepts such as numeracy and literacy are taught from an early age, and thematic learning in which a subject in the real world is studied from multiple academic perspective such as language, geography, social structure, wildlife, all at the same time.
Mike previously served as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, drawing on experience as Treasurer of various other non-profits including the Parent Teacher Organization at Odyssey, where he was an advocate for multiple programs against the closure of Commodore Options School in 2018. Professionally he is the Group Head of Model Validation at Chubb insurance, managing a team of actuaries in the US and India. Previous experience includes roles in electronics engineering, computer science, software design, financial regulation and risk management. His board skills in addition to financial supervision include governance, leadership, and management.
Mike’s external interests include chilling by mountain lakes, coastal exploration, mapping, data science, languages, cooking and cultural diversity.