Arts

Name: Meri-Lee Mafera 
Dept: Music
Title: Music Instructor K-8
Date Appointed: 2005
Phone: 781-545-5544 x142

Meri-Lee Mafera is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, where she obtained her BFA in piano and vocal performance. She completed her graduate studies at Boston University and the Guildhall School of Music in London. Some of her favorite summers have been spent performing and teaching at Tanglewood, and her Broadway credits include "Pippin" and "Godspell." She has provided music direction and performed for numerous organizations throughout the Northeast. She also  contracted the orchestras for the Wang Theater in Boston while serving as Musical Director for their Young at Arts program.

In addition to teaching at Inly, Meri-Lee is the founder and artistic director of the South Shore's Kidspot Performing Arts Center and the director of music at St. Christine's Church in Marshfield. Meri-Lee has been very involved in theater performance and teaching, but says her favorite role will always be that of Mom to her son.
 

Name: Colleen Quinn
Dept: Music, Movement Arts & Theater
Title: Music Instructor (Toddler, Preschool); Movement Arts and Theater Instructor
Year Appointed: 2001
Phone: 781-545-5544 x143

Colleen is the music, movement and theater instructor at Inly. She has her M.F.A. in dance from Smith College and danced professionally in New York City for eight years. She was also a member of the touring Isadora Duncan International Institute Dancers and currently teaches the Isadora Duncan dance technique at the Hingham Community Center. Colleen is a current and founding teacher at Summer Stars Camp for the Performing Arts. She is also the choreographer and frequent performer in the annual Inly Players productions.
 

Name: Annemarie Whilton
Dept: Art
Title: Art Instructor
Year Appointed: 2006
Phone: 781-545-5544 x141

Before joining the Inly faculty in 2006, Annemarie worked for six years as a substitute teacher and art specialist in the Cohasset and Hingham public schools. In addition to running Art-Under-Foot, a home-based business custom designing floorcloths, she has served as a member of the Reading Arts Lottery Council and the Gloucester Arts Lottery Council. Annemarie received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a master's in liberal arts, with a concentration in studio arts, from Harvard University's Extension School. Her master's thesis focused on "art as a form of non-verbal communication." Annemarie enjoys making art, practicing yoga, walking her Labradoodles, and being a mom.

Library & Technology

  Name: Kelley Huxtable
  Dept: Technology, Academic
  Title: Technology Integrationist
  Year Appointed: 2011
  Phone: 781-545-5544 x401

Kelley has a B.A. in Management (with a concentration in Management Information Systems) from Babson College and a Masters in Library and Information Science from Simmons College. Prior to joining Inly she worked as a quality assurance engineer in Silicon Valley, Systems Librarian for the Old Colony Library Network, an Associate Director of Technology for the Healey Library at UMass Boston and Director of Information Services at Beaver Country Day School. When not fiddling with technology or teaching Lego robotics, Kelley loves to spend time with her family and volunteer. She has run three Boston Marathons (two of them for Dana Farber) and has volunteered at numerous national parks with the Wilderness Volunteers Organization.
 

Name: Brigid Lengyel
Dept: Specialists
Title: Assistant Librarian
Year Appointed: 2008
Phone: 781-545-5544 x112

Brigid checks in as an addition to the library staff. She has worked in the Paul Pratt Memorial Library in Cohasset and the SRI International library in Menlo Park, CA. While living in California she also taught in Half Moon Bay and Santa Clara County. Brigid has a bachelor’s degree from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, and a master’s degree in education from Lesley College.
 

Name: Shelley Sommer
Dept: Library and Middle School
Title: Head Librarian & Literature Teacher
Year Appointed: 2000
Phone: 781-545-5544 x112

Shelley joined our staff after working for 15 years as director of public relations for the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. She holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Dayton and an M.A. in children's literature from Simmons College. Shelley's first biography for young readers, John F. Kennedy: His Life and Legacy, was published in 2005 by HarperCollins Children's Books. Her latest biography, Hammerin' Hank Greenberg (2011, Boyds Mills Press), was named a 2012 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a 2012 Boston Authors Club Finalist in the Young Reader category. Every day Shelley inspires the Inly students and staff to read, by sharing her infectious love of books. Her blog about books, Sommer Reading, has a wide public following.

Outdoor Classroom 

 Name: Ellyn Einhorn
 Dept: Outdoor Classroom
 Title: Outdoor Classroom Instructor
 Year Appointed: 2012
 Phone: 781-545-5544 x407 

Prior to joining Inly full-time as a co-teacher in Lower Elementary Two, Ellyn had been a familiar face in the school as a substitute teacher and after-school instructor. Ellyn worked at Mass Audubon for 23 years as the Education Coordinator Teacher/Naturalist. She began her Montessori career in 2008 at the Bridgeview Montessori School in Sagamore, MA and completed her Montessori training at Sea Coast Center for Learning in New Hampshire. Ellyn is thrilled to be a part of the Inly community. As she puts it, "I knew that I was in the right place when Donna encouraged us to spend more time exploring the natural world with children." 

Physical Education & Movement Arts

 Name: Cathy Harder-Bernier 
 Dept: Physical Education
 Title: Physical Education Instructor
 Year Appointed: 2010
 Phone: 781-545-5544 x129

 Prior to joining Inly, Cathy served as a personal trainer at the South Shore YMCA and assisted in many roles including the Cancer Wellness Instructor, Older Adults Liason and worked on fundraising drives.  Cathy was the owner of H-B Consulting and Training which provided management and supervisory training and consulting services to non-profit and municipal organizations. She also served as the Staff Development and Training Administrator at the Pine Street Inn in Boston.  Cathy holds a BA from the University of Vermont, a Masters in Education from Indiana University and is a certified personal trainer through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.

Name: Colleen Quinn
Dept: Music, Movement Arts & Theater
Title: Music Instructor (Toddler, Preschool); Movement Arts and Theater Instructor
Year Appointed: 2001
Phone: 781-545-5544 x143

Colleen is the music, movement and theater instructor at Inly. She has her M.F.A. in dance from Smith College and danced professionally in New York City for eight years. She was also a member of the touring Isadora Duncan International Institute Dancers and currently teaches the Isadora Duncan dance technique at the Hingham Community Center. Colleen is a current and founding teacher at Summer Stars Camp for the Performing Arts. She is also the choreographer and frequent performer in the annual Inly Players productions.

World Languages

 Name: Kaela Conroy
 Dept: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary
 Title: Spanish Teacher
 Date Appointed: 2012
 Phone: 781-545-5544 x403

Kaela has studied, taught and lived abroad for many years, including two years teaching English in Spain. In 2010, she graduated Elon University with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and an array of honors. Her love for travel, language and culture has been a compass thus far in her life, and Kaela hopes that that passion will rub off on her students. 

Name: Marisol Ruscio
Dept: Children's House, Bridging & Toddler
Title: Spanish Teacher
Year Appointed: 2011
Phone: 781-545-5544 x405

After studying psychology and nursing in Monterrey, Mexico, Mari worked at Crece y Aprende, a child care and kindergarten program in Monterrey. After moving to the States, she spent several years working as a dedicated au pair in Connecticut and nearby in Hingham. Mari is thrilled to continue her work with children at Inly, where she teaches Spanish in both the Toddler and Children’s House programs.

Name: Ling Tang
Dept: World Languages
Title: Chinese Instructor
Year Appointed: 2007
Phone: 781-545-5544

Health & Learning Services

Name: Janet Dolan
Dept: Specialists
Title: Special Services Director
Year Appointed: 1989
Phone: 781-545-5544 x137

Janet has a B.A. in elementary education from the University of Massachusetts and a Master's degree in special education from Bridgewater State College. She has also completed advanced courses at Boston University in language disorders, courses at Massachusetts General Hospital in reading, and has studied the Montessori overview at Seacoast Center. A certified elementary special needs teacher, Janet is trained in Wilson Reading, Project Read (Decoding & Comprehension) and Lindmood Bell (L.I.P.S. and Visualizing/Verbalizing). She is also certified in Orton Gillingham at the Basic and Advanced levels.

Name: Wendy Nelson
Dept: Specialists
Title: Counseling Consultant
Year Appointed: 2002
Phone: 781-545-5544 x402

Wendy has been an educator for more than 25 years and serves as a counseling consultant here at Inly. She is a licensed psychologist. In addition to working with Inly, she consults at Quincy schools and preschools. Wendy has a private practice in Hanover and travels the speaking circuit, addressing parents and educators on topics of child development, education, and parenting.

 Name: Ryan Detwiler, NP
 Dept: Specialists
 Title: School Nurse
 Year Appointed: 2011
 Phone: 781-545-5544 x109 

Name: Ruth Rizzi, RN
Dept: Specialists
Title: School Nurse
Year Appointed: 1982
Phone: 781-545-5544 x109

Ruth began her Inly career as a Children's House assistant in 1976. As the school grew she moved to become both School Nurse and Director of Extended Care. As the school grew even more, she assumed the full-time role of School Nurse and Health Care Consultant. Ruth holds a degree in nursing. She is actively engaged in professional development to stay current with all aspects of school medicine and is particularly interested in the fields of brain research and holistic medicine.