The Ethical Society Nursery School staff is truly excellent, with warm, skilled, well- educated individuals who enjoy working with young children. The teachers are the single most important indicator of quality for any school. A note of introduction follows for each teacher.
Talitha Light
Three Day Green
Tali has been teaching at ESNS for 6 years and this is her 5th year in the Green Room. She is the proud mother to 3 boys, Levi (16), Isaac (12) and Micah (6), who attend school in the MRH school district. Tali holds a MA in Psychology and Art Therapy from Antioch University in Seattle. She is an art therapist, and has been working with children and adults of all ages in therapeutic and school settings for over 20 years. In her free time, she enjoys being outside, cooking, and making art in all forms!
Jill Allen
Director
This is Jill’s sixth year as the Director after having taught in the Blue Room for nine years. Jill’s relationship with the school started as the mother of three ESNS graduates.
As a parent, Jill served on the ENSN board and as a substitute teacher. She has experience as a past board president at The College School, years of HR, AR and management work during the time she helped run a local bakery/café and currently coaches swimming at Clayton High School. Jill has a degree in art history from Old Dominion University.
Robert Bernstein
Music
Robert started teaching music at ESNS in 2005. He has a B.S. in communications from Boston University. He has been a drummer and performer for over twenty-five years and a lover of music for even longer. In addition to his time at ESNS, Robert teaches Music Together classes in the St. Louis area. His son, Lucas, an alum of the nursery school, is a junior in high school and his daughter, Emily, just turned 12 this summer.
Lauren Schutte
Three Day Green
Lauren has been a teacher in the 3 Day Green Room since the Spring of 2019. She is the mother to 2 boys, Owen (9) and Alex (7). She has over 19 years of early childhood teaching experience and a passion for educating the youngest students. Lauren’s ties to The Ethical Society come from her past teaching experiences. She taught Early Childhood at The College School for 4 years where she got to work with many amazing students including Jill Allen’s 2 oldest daughters.
Formerly, she was the lead teacher and curriculum coordinator at The Goodvibe School for 8 years, where she taught Tali Light’s 2 oldest sons. Lauren is also a certified School Counselor and also works as a Social Emotional Wellness Mentor with CHADS Coalition for Mental Health to support the mental health and wellbeing of Elementary and Middle School students in the Ladue School District. In the past, Lauren has been a substitute at Emmanuel Preschool where her boys attended preschool. She has also taught at elementary schools in Charleston, SC and Miami, FL. Lauren holds a B.S. M.Ed in Early Childhood Special Education and a M.Ed in School Counseling from University of Missouri-St. Louis. She obtained a B.S. in Elementary Education from The College of Charleston.
On the weekends, Lauren can be found spending time outdoors hiking or enjoying quality family time.
Melissa Boshans
Two Day Green
This is Melissa’s first year teaching at ESNS. She is in the 2 Day Green room with Maggie. Melissa has been working in the field of early childhood education since 2003. She earned her Masters of Education in Early Childhood Instructional Leadership from University of Illinois, Chicago. Prior to teaching here, Melissa taught in many other classrooms, worked as an early childhood developmental specialist, a parent educator and teacher coach. Melissa specializes in inclusion and working with children with special needs in the early childhood classroom. Melissa knows that children learn through play and she loves to create warm and welcoming classroom environments and experiences to support children to learn and engage in activities and materials that interest them. You can find Melissa building with blocks, laughing, singing, and helping kids learn to solve problems in Green Room!
Maggie Horn
Two Day Green
A former board member and parent at ESNS, this is Maggie Horn’s sixth year in the 2-Day Green Room! She holds a BS in theater and French from Northwestern University and spent more than ten years performing in the vibrant Washington, DC theater scene. She wrote grants and raised funds for different arts organizations too. Maggie has three sons in the Ladue School District: seventh graders, Charles and Paul and fourth grader, Wesley. Maggie enjoys baking and experimenting with new flavors when cooking.
Mindy Keller
Yellow Room
This is Mindy’s tenth year at ESNS, her 7th year teaching with Nuni full-time in the Yellow Room. Mindy has a B.S. in Elementary Education from DePaul University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Iowa. She taught third and fourth grade in Chicago for five years and spent one year teaching second grade at Kennard Classical Junior Academy in St Louis. Her son, Graham, is in 10th grade and daughter Sasha is in 12th, both at Clayton High School. Her son Max is in his first year at Carleton College. Mindy’s favorite thing away from ESNS is taking hikes with her husband and dogs.
Laurence Guillot-Smith
Blue Room & Summer Camp
This is Laurence’s 4th year at ESNS. Prior to teaching with Katie in the Blue Room, she was a preschool teacher in Kirkwood for 6 years. She graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in Business and Minors in Marketing and French. Laurence and Katie work together as Summer Camp co-directors.
She has been married to Ken for 28 years and they have 4 daughters. Sophie, Caroline and Emily are triplets attending University of Missouri, Columbia. Her youngest, Hadley, is a freshman, also at Mizzou. Laurence enjoys exercising, travel, golf and family time. She also owns a screen printing and embroidery business on the side.
Becky Craig
Science – Nature on the Move
Becky has retired as a lead teacher in a pre-K classroom after eleven years to take over the Nature on the Move program which exposes and educates young students about Missouri natural flora and fauna. She and her husband have worked very hard in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation to improve their property in Northern Missouri for the benefit of their wildlife neighbors.
Her passion for conservation and education inspire young children to “take care of our community” by taking care of our wildlife neighbors and habitats. Her monthly topics include: backyard animals, the food chain, turkeys and hibernation. She brings pictures, pelts and live animals to help children understand the importance
of our natural world.
Katie Ryan
Blue Room, Ext Day & Summer Camp
Katie is starting her 10th year at ESNS and 6th year in the Blue Room. Katie and Nuni teach the Extended Day Program together. Katie and Laurence work together as Summer Camp co-directors. Katie has a BS in elementary education with a concentration in children’s literature from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. She has taught pre-k through 4th grade and PE in four cities (including Monterrey, Mexico.) Her son, Mac, is a freshman at Marquette University. Her daughters, alumni of the nursery school, are Annie, a junior at St. Joseph’s Academy, and Mia, a 7th grader at Visitation Academy.
In her free time, Katie enjoys spending time with her family, reading and cooking.
Nuni Zimmerman
Yellow Room & Extended Day
Nuni has been teaching in the Yellow Room since 1999 and as a substitute teacher at Ethical before that. In addition to the Yellow Room, Nuni is one of our Extended Day teachers with Katie Ryan. She holds a BA in English from Emory University. She was employed by the University City School District, a commercial photo studio and was a sales representative before coming to the nursery school. Nuni has three grown children, Henry, George and Oliver, all alumni of the school.