Meet Our Team

We’ve got a long list of things to be thankful for — such as a great, in-town location and a beautiful neighborhood site. But, at the top of that list is the team responsible for guiding your children every day. Over the years, we’ve become an incredible team of knowledge-hungry, caring, spirited pros who continue to push ourselves to learn more, do more, and teach more.

The reason we do it is pretty simple. It’s because we want your children to be the best they can be and want to do everything to make that happen.

Check out our staff and faculty below.

Beth Samples, Co-founder and Executive Director and Carey Logan, Director of School

Our Staff

Beth Samples

Co-founder

Beth co-founded Northwoods Montessori in 1972. She serves as Executive Director and is on the Northwoods Advisory Board. At West Georgia College, Beth majored in education. She was inspired to begin Northwoods after witnessing the effects of the Montessori experience on her older child. As a result, she has made a quality Montessori education available to a broad cross-section of children in the Atlanta community.

Carey Logan

Director of School

Carey serves as the Director of Northwoods Montessori School. A graduate of Georgia State University, she holds both an M.Ed. degree and an AMI Elementary diploma from the Washington Montessori Institute. With more than thirty-five years of experience in teaching and administration at the elementary and middle school levels, Carey began her Montessori journey at Northwoods as the Physical Education teacher before completing her AMI Montessori Elementary training. She remains actively involved in the Georgia Montessori community and currently serves on the board of the Montessori Administrators of Georgia.

Sue Zampella

Accounts Manager

Sue is a native of Bowie, Maryland and attended the University of Maryland. Sue's daughter and son attended and graduated from Northwoods Montessori. She came to Northwoods in 1985. As the Accounts Manager, Sue manages fundraising events.

Alyson Richardson

Administrative and Elementary Assistant

Alyson Richardson is entering her third year at Northwoods, serving as an Administrative Assistant in the office. She holds a B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Virginia Tech, as well as a TESOL certification from Kennesaw State University. Following a career transition into education, Alyson taught ESOL to both adults and children for more than ten years. She has also worked as a Montessori assistant in Toddler, Primary, Elementary, and Adolescent programs. Both her husband and daughter are proud Montessori alumni.

Our Teachers

Melissa Jones

Lead Toddler Guide

Melissa attended Northwoods Montessori from age two and a half through twelve, graduating in 2002. She went on to study Education and Early Childhood at Georgia Southern University. For many years, Melissa served as a Toddler Community Assistant, and as Lead Guide in our Toddler Summer Program. She later completed her AMI Assistants to Infancy training at the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies in Phoenix, AZ. Melissa is beginning her fourth year as our Lead Guide in the Toddler Program.

Monika Rawla

Lead Elementary Guide

Monika is beginning her fifth year at Northwoods as the AMI Elementary Guide. She earned her master’s degree in Food and Nutrition from Lady Irwin College in New Delhi, India. With more than fourteen years of teaching experience at the Primary level, Monika also holds both the AMI Primary and Elementary diplomas from the Montessori Institute of Atlanta, and is an active member of the AMI Elementary Alumni Association (EAA).

Jennifer Samples

Lead Primary Guide

Jennifer attended Northwoods Montessori from age two and a half through twelve, graduating in 1992. She earned an Associate Degree in Sociology from Gainesville College and holds an AMI Primary Diploma from the Montessori Institute of Atlanta. Now beginning her 21st year as an AMI Primary Guide at Northwoods, Jennifer also has a deep family connection to the school—both her daughter and son are Northwoods alumni, and her mom is the founder of Northwoods.

Jen Wells

Lead Primary Guide

Jennifer Wells begins her fourth year at Northwoods as an AMI Primary Guide. She brings over seven years of experience serving as a Primary assistant or guide in Metro Atlanta schools. Jennifer earned her AMI Primary diploma from the International Montessori Training Institute in Atlanta and holds a Master of Business Administration from Georgia College and State University.

Classroom Assistants

Jacques Jones

Toddler Community Assistant

Katherine Epps

Primary Assistant & Extended Day

Hema Dilipkumar

Primary Assistant in Jen Wells' Class

Leonora Jashari 

Primary Assistant & Extended Day

Arijeta Piliqi

Primary Assistant in Jennifer Samples' Class



Tsigereda (Rose) Tekle

Elementary Assistant/Extended Day Supervisor

Clara Gonzalez

Toddler Assistant/Extended Day Supervisor



Our Montessori Credentials

We, who have tried other methods, are happy to find ourselves working with the child’s own processes. The faculty and staff of Northwoods are proud of our graduates and we are active members of national and international organizations that support the method that has nurtured them.

Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori in 1929 to ensure that her methods and style would be accurately and consistently represented in the schools that bore her name. The mission of the organization is to promote the growth of Montessori education in public and private schools, to promote the development of Montessori teacher training, to promote public understanding of the Montessori method and principles in educational communities, and to provide opportunities for children to develop normally.

Northwoods Montessori School has been affiliated with and recognized at the highest level by AMI continuously since our founding in 1972. We were one of the first schools to be so certified in the Atlanta area. Our certification and recognition means that we closely adhere to the standards and methods promoted in teacher training courses provided by the Association and that we meet the Association’s criteria for consistent teacher training standards, use of Montessori learning materials, classroom sizes, and adherence to Dr. Maria Montessori’s original educational philosophy. We are AMI certified at the birth to three and three to six age levels. From time to time, our school is honored to host student teachers from local AMI training centers for required Observations and for Student Teaching from the Montessori Institute of Atlanta and International Montessori Training Institute. Also, our faculty participates regularly in the nationwide annual AMI- USA Refresher Course, an AMI-certified continuing education course.