Born in England, “Penny” moved to Newfoundland, Canada when she was five, then, four years later, to Montreal, where she lived through college. She received a Bachelor of Education in P.E. and French at McGill University. After she graduated she moved to Labrador, in the sub-arctic at the eastern edge of Canada, where she taught for a year and coached what can only be described as a dedicated volleyball team. In her words, the team “had to fly on the Iron Ore Mining company jet to play volleyball tournaments in isolated fishing villages that had no access by road from Labrador City.” The next year brought warmer weather as she moved to Los Angeles where she received a Master’s in Kinesiology from UCLA. This degree was followed by a Master’s of Montessori Education from Xavier University.

Penny currently teaches fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at Winton Montessori. She has three children: Tim, a marine pilot, Michael, studying graphic art design at Ohio State University, and Alexa, a biology major at Coastal Carolina University. Penny hopes on day to establish Montessori schools in small villages in underdeveloped countries.