Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Lindsey Schnell Preschool Teacher

Lindsey joined Great Oak School as an assistant for the Rose Garden in 2015 and began her Waldorf Teacher Training at Pleaides Initiative in Austin the same year. She grew up in the West Texas town of Midland where she worked in the oil and gas industry. Lindsey has four children ranging from 17 to 4. She has been involved in community theatre as an actor, director and stage hand. She is also a runner, a vegetarian, a recent convert to trough gardening, and a live music fan.

Vanessa Williams Kindergarten Teacher

Vanessa joined the Great Oak Staff in the fall of 2018. She holds two degrees, a bachelors in piano performance, and a masters in music history. She has taught in the classroom for 15 years and has devoted her last 7 years to teaching music to families with young children and developing music and movement curriculum for several preschools. She holds music certifications including Kindermusik and Smithsonian World Music Pedagogy. She has also studied yoga through several organizations earning her RYT 200 in 2018, and enjoys teaching both children and adults. Currently she is working on her Waldorf certification through The West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy. Vanessa lives in the Woodlands with her husband and two sons. Her other hobbies include rock climbing, camping, hiking, and writing folk songs for children.

Beth Holden Parent Child Teacher

Beth’s family joined the Great Oak School community in 2015. As a parent she sat on various committees including the Parent Education Committee, lead the Simplicity Parenting study group and substituted for Parent Child classes as needed. Beth also organizes the annual Ladies Handwork Retreat. She joins the faculty as lead Parent Child Teacher in the upcoming 2019/2020 school year. Beth grew up in West Texas and moved to The Woodlands area in 1995. She enjoys studying holistic nutrition and herbal medicine, is passionate about working with parents and their children, and she loves music, theater, yoga, crafts, and coffee. Her husband Buck is a member of the Board of Trustees and all three of their children attend Great Oak School.

Angela Maar First Grade Teacher

Angela grew up in Austria, where she graduated from a business school. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Keene State College in Sociology and French. She also has her Master’s of Education and Waldorf Certification from Antioch University. She has worked as a Key Account Manager for three industrial valve companies dealing with companies in the chemical, pulp and paper, water and waste water, as well as the oil&gas industry throughout Europe. Together with her husband Wolfgang and their two sons, she moved to Texas in 2008. Angela taught German in diverse settings before joining Great Oak School in spring of 2016 as the German teacher and becoming a lead teacher in 2017. Angela’s hobbies include bikram yoga, weight lifting, reading, cooking, skiing, snowboarding, running, and writing.

Andrea Badot Second Grade Teacher

Andrea spent the 2019-2020 school year as Grades Assistant at Great Oak School while simultaneously pursuing Waldorf grades training through Sound Circle Center in Seattle, Washington. Andrea’s passion for joy-filled education started with a strong interest in the Montessori Method for her own children and finally with obtaining a certificate in Montessori Lower Elementary Education with the Houston Montessori Center in 2013. She served as Lower Elementary Guide at Kingwood Montessori School for seven years. She is excited to apply wisdom from both Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori as she moves into the lead First Grade position at Great Oak. Andrea loves spending time outdoors and took an early interest in nature and portrait photography. Originally from Colorado, she loves to ski, take nature walks, sit around campfires and cook. One of the best gifts she ever received was Julia Child’s modestly titled book “The Way to Cook” as a young bride living in France! She raised two children with her French husband, and has lived in Kingwood, Texas with her family for 20 years.

Tami Arndt-Beatty Third Grade Teacher

Tami was born and raised in the small Northern California coastal village of Point Reyes Station. As a young adult she was employed as a nanny in Hawaii where she discovered Waldorf education. This discovery lead her to pursue a study in anthroposophy on the islands and ultimately to return to California to enroll in the Bay Area Waldorf Teacher Training. Tami graduated in 2002 and started her family in West Marin. Over the course of her teaching career, Tami has taught as an assistant and lead teacher in a home preschool using Waldorf principles, was an assistant at Marin Waldorf School for four years and eventually created and opened her own home-based preschool inspired by Waldorf education once her two sons were born. In January 2015 Tami moved to the Houston area with her husband and three children. Tami taught as a Lead Kindergarten Teacher at Bayou Village School in Houston for two years. Tami is an active runner, enjoys crafts and creative work and is devoted to her family.

Hayley Kay Haynes Fourth Grade Teacher

Hayley joined Great Oak School in the Spring of 2014 as a child shadow in the 1st and 2nd grade classes. Since then she has worked 2 years as an early childhood assistant and approximately 2 years as an assistant for 1st through 6th grade. She has led a 1st grade play and a 6 grade play. She has also taught movement, handwork, and substituted in every grade level throughout the years. Hayley has a Bachelors of Arts in Child and Adolescent Psychology and a Master’s of Education and Waldorf Certification from Antioch University. Hayley enjoys drawing, hand work, obstacle course training, theater, and working with children.

Dawn Coe Fifth Grade Teacher

Dawn received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas and her Waldorf teacher certification and Master’s in Education from Rudolf Steiner College in California. For her Master’s Capstone project, Dawn created a math curriculum based on origami for grades one through eight. Dawn feels that her greatest accomplishment has been in the homeschool education of her five daughters that spanned two and a half decades. Having tested Waldorf methods in her own home laboratory, Dawn became convinced early on that it is the education of the future. The top two items on Dawn’s bucket list are living long enough to celebrate her 80th wedding anniversary and assisting the birth of an accredited Waldorf school in the Houston area. Dawn also created and currently teaches a series of adult education classes to help parents learn more about the philosophy behind Waldorf education. Dawn’s favorite artistic media are fiber arts, sandcastling, origami and photomontage; and she recharges by gardening, dancing with her husband, and hacking up stacks of magazines to feed her photomontage habit.

Angela Harris Middle School Teacher

Angela was born in Southern California and has since lived in or near five major cities, including San Francisco and New York. Growing up, she enjoyed a bit of an unconventional education and, together with her husband, decided to homeschool their two boys. In 2011, Angela co-founded a learning community for homeschoolers in Northern New Jersey and began teaching a variety of subjects such as world history, literature, and writing. She has contributed articles to online magazines such as Education Revolution (AERO) and The Homeschool Post. Before moving to Texas in 2013, she piloted a course for a fellow homeschool mom and former NASA Goddard rocket scientist which focused on teaching math concepts to young children through play and exploration. In 2015, she became a writing instructor for Brave Writer, LLC. During the 2018 academic year, Angela served Great Oak School as an after-care teacher initially and then as the Preschool Assistant in the Butterfly Garden. She began her Waldorf certificate training with Gradalis Teacher Education in the Summer of 2020. Angela enjoys yoga and reading. She also manages multiple youth baseball teams in the greater Houston area.

Stacy Todd Middle School Teacher

Stacy was born in Northern California, and has lived in four states and the Middle East. Her travels have taken her to over 37 different countries. She studied Great Books at St. John’s College in Annapolis, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from LSU. Her extensive educational background includes such areas as accounting, geology, and classics. Stacy has been a substitute teacher for Tomball ISD since 2016, and taught middle school math and English Language Arts in Coldspring ISD. This wide range of experience led her to homeschool her children using a Waldorf curriculum for seven years, before they entered private, and now public school in Texas. She has been active in theatre with the Renaissance faires since 1994, specializing in costuming and historical reenactment. She is a board member of the Tomball STAGE HANDS, the booster organization for Tomball High’s theatre department. In her free time, she enjoys reading, seam stressing, leatherworking, and playing with her cats, and sells wellness products at local farmer’s markets. Stacy especially enjoys adventures with her two daughters, on road trips and time in nature, both near and far.

Dana Fleming German Teacher

A German teacher since 1987, Dana pours a great deal of energy into every type of lesson. She thrives on the versatility and flexibility teachers must demonstrate at a young school. She enjoys teaching adults as well as children, offering classes and workshops. Dana joined Great Oak School’s Faculty in Fall 2012, and served for 6 years on the Great Oak School’s Board of Directors. She has taken two wonderful groups of children from first through fifth grade as a Waldorf class teacher. Dana is married to a theoretical physicist who cooks like a chef and invents astonishing things. Education: B.A., University of California, San Diego and M.A., M. Phil., and ABD, German Literature, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Dana completed her Waldorf Class Teacher Training at Sunbridge College while earning her Foundation Studies Certificate in Austin.

Heather Matthews Strings Teacher

Heather grew up in the Houston area and graduated from Klein High School. She and her husband have been married for over 20 years and have 3 children. Mrs. Matthews holds a degree in Music from Pensacola Christian College where she studied violin under Dr. Alberto Jaffé. She has been playing professionally and teaching strings classes and private lessons since 1994. Over the years, she has been hired to play in concert halls, recording studios, musical theater orchestras, weddings, and other special events. She has taught strings in both public and private schools as well as college pedagogy courses. Many of her students have received music scholarships. Mrs. Matthews enjoys being involved in her church where she plays violin and piano and sings in the choir. She also plays violin with the Symphony North of Houston.

Hilda Rueda Spanish Teacher & Art Teacher

Hilda is a native Spanish speaker and teacher, born in Columbia, who has taught the language abroad in public and private school settings. Hilda is a talented artist who possesses a deep love for connection and learning. She joined Great Oak School in Spring 2016.

Paul Sommer Orchestra Teacher

Paul is the founder and director of Instruments of Praise bands and orchestras. Since 1993, he has directed over 100 home-school and private school bands and orchestras in the Greater Houston area. His professional life includes teaching, performing, speaking and conducting at various churches and schools. He has a B.B.A. from Baruch College in New York City. Throughout the years, his bands and orchestras and students have been recognized for their musical excellence and individual achievements and have received numerous awards. Paul has four children ranging from ages 24 to 18 who still play their string and/or brass instruments along with him in a local orchestra. Along with his passion for music, he enjoys the beautiful outdoors while fishing, kayaking, hiking and biking.

Becky Blanton Gardening and Handwork Teacher

Bio coming soon.

Marine Kojanyan Eurythmy Teacher

Bio coming soon.

Administration

Didianne Gilman Administrator

Before joining Great Oak School in 2020, Didianne was a Waldorf grades teacher in Colorado. She taught one class 4th grade through 8th grade and a second class 1st grade through 8th grade. After graduating her second class, Didianne became a Faculty Administrator before her family was relocated to Houston for her husband’s work in late 2019. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Education and a Waldorf Education Teaching Certificate. Prior to her career in Waldorf Education, Didianne worked in human resources for corporate and start-up high-tech companies. She has lived on the east coast, west coast and in between. She has been been married for 30 years and has three grown children who are still grateful for their Waldorf educations. Her joys include any and all family time, travel (she has been to all 48 contiguous US states and 5 foreign countries), water and mountains in major doses, reading, gardening and just taking in the world in all of its complexities and wonders.

Zuzana Leckova Finance Director

Zuzana has a BBA in Accounting from Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, MBA in Managerial Accounting from Pace University, New York, NY and MS in Taxation from Fordham University, New York, NY. She is a CPA in the state of New York. Zuzana’s accounting and tax experience ranges from Big Four Accounting Firm to VP of Tax in The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. She has served on the Board of Directors of Great Oak School as the Treasurer from January 2010 until becoming a full time staff member at Great Oak School in November 2014. Zuzana joined the board back in September 2016. Zuzana’s two daughters Emma and Kate joined Great Oak School in September 2009, when the school first opened its doors. Zuzana loves traveling, photography, tennis and music.