Faculty and Staff
Congratulations to Terrie Craig, appointed the new Assistant Director for the 2023/24 school year!

Christine Kovago
DIRECTOR
Christine Kovago is the Director and Teacher at Pincushion Hill Montessori School, now celebrating her 44th year of devotion to the children. She began her career at Pincushion in 1978 after completing a BA in Early Childhood Education with a triple minor in Elementary Education (grades 1-6), Art History, and Special Education from Worcester State College. She did extensive studies of fine art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Worcester Art Museum. She also received her LPN certification from the St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Worcester. She worked at St. Vincent Hospital in the Trauma Ward and at Worcester City Hospital in the Geriatric Unit. Christine received her Montessori training at Boston College in 1979. She was in the first graduating class of the New England Montessori Teacher Education Center here in Massachusetts, and she taught directly for 14 years at Pincushion both in the Children’s House (ages 3-6) and Elementary (ages 6-9) classrooms before becoming the Director of the school. She has served the Pincushion Hill community as the director for 30 years. Montessori education is a calling for Christine. Teaching and directing in a Montessori environment inspires confidence, nurtures the child’s desire for learning, discovery and social skills where we encourage, engage and value the individual child. Children learn how to learn and this prepares each child for future academic and social excellence.
Her hobbies include life-long learning, reading, gardening, snorkeling, walking, practicing yoga and meditation, and world traveling. She looks forward to many more successful, happy and prosperous years here at Pincushion Hill!

Gus Kovago
BUSINESS MANAGER

Terrie Craig
Assistant Director

Lisa Wyman
BUSINESS DIRECTOR

Alison Petersen
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR
Our Teachers

Geetha Rajapakse
Mainback Children’s House Teacher

Sarah Jones
Mainback Children’s House Teacher

Sunita Mahalaha
Mainback Children’s House Teacher

Alyssa LaCoy
Downstairs Children’s House Teacher

Charmaine DeBay
Downstairs Children’s House Teacher
Charmaine is joining the Pincushion Hill team with 15 years of experience educating children. She is EEC certified to work with infants, toddler and preschool-aged children. In previous years, she worked as an elementary teacher, a substitute teacher, bilingual tutor and a child care provider. Charmaine’s focus is to help children reach their full potential by providing an individual Montessori learning environment for each child. She believes the role of a teacher is to facilitate learning and build a connection between theory and practice. Charmaine believes children represent hope for the future of society. Outside of work, Mrs. DeBay enjoys cooking, trying new recipes, dancing and playing ukulele. She loves the beach, working out and going for a walk with her husband. She is fluent in Tagalog and Kimaray – a native dialect.

Camryn Roberts
Downstairs Assistant Teacher

Michelle Tate
Music Teacher
