THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL STAFF

Head of School

Dottie Foote, Ph.D. came to the school as Executive Director in the Fall of 2008. She holds a PhD in Education and Psychology and a MS in Human Development from The University of Maine and is thrilled to be following in the footsteps of the school’s founders  – advancing the work of alternative education. After spending years in the banking industry, non-profit leadership, and teaching for UMaine, Dottie worked on issues of social justice, specifically with issues surrounding HIV/AIDS in rural Maine. Her work with adolescents over 10 years prior to coming to the Community School was in the development of a cutting-edge social justice program for teens aged 14-19 called the Diversity Coalition (DC). The goal of DC is to stimulate these young men and women to develop a heightened awareness of real-world socio-cultural issues, reflect on their own social positions within these issues (class, race, ethnicity, gender, etc,) and further are encouraged to fully engage themselves in the community at large through concrete and public social activism.

Dottie teaches Psychology of Adolescence for The University of Maine and is a Board member of The Restorative Justice Project. Dot also is on Maine’s Shared Youth Vision Council and acts as an adviser to the Commissioner of Education as a member of the Committee on Truancy, Dropout and Alternative Education. And although the gardens need tending and the piano continues to gather dust – she loves to run and ski and keep an eye to the next new adventure for the CSchool. She lives in Rockport with her husband Charlie and her own adolescent personal trainers, Andrea 21, Morgan 18, and William 15 and a splendid Maine Coon Cat named Puck.

Passages Staff

Martha Kempe is the Community School’s Passages Program Director.  Martha holds a  an undergraduate fine arts degree from University of Oregon and a masters in Expressive Therapies and Counseling from the University of Louisville. She recently completed her Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from the University of Maine, Orono. Before joining The Community School in 2004, Martha was Director of Residential Services for Kent County Rhode Island, Design Program Specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC, Apprenticeship Coordinator for the Swain School of Design, Director of Grants and Contracts at UMass Dartmouth and a Title 1 Ed Tech for Camden/Rockport Elementary School.  Martha loves family, good books, laughter and seeing new places.

Andrea Itkin has been a teacher/counselor in the Passages program since 2003. She loves the privilege of working one-on-one with young parents, learning everything about them and their children, encouraging them to nurture their own curiosity, and watching them grow as students, as parents, and as citizens. Before landing at the Community School, Andrea wore a variety of hats: in the late ’70’s she started a community day care center in rural Iowa; she worked in a natural food market in Maryland; and after moving to Maine she worked in restaurants, in newspaper production, as a residential counselor in a home for mentally challenged adults, and in several capacities in a domestic violence agency. Andrea earned her writing and teaching degree from Vermont College. She has acted in many plays, written a few, recorded books and conducted playwriting workshops in an after-school program. She loves writing (her own and others), hiking, gardening, boating and spending time with her far-flung family.

Janet Larkin is a teacher/counselor in the Passages program. She joined the team in 2002. Raised in Utah, she received her BA in History from Weber State University and then moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, where she obtained a MA in Cultural Anthropology. After moving to Maine, Janet pursued fieldwork among the Romany (Gypsies) in the Boston area, where she studied their taboo system in relation to social structure, gender and meaning. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts in 1998.  Janet then worked as a research consultant on a documentary film about Gypsy fortunetellers in the UK and US. She has worked in distance education at University of Maine at Orono, and in the mental health field at Midcoast Mental Health.  In her down-time, Janet enjoys gardening, writing, and traveling.

Charley Martin-Berry is the lead teacher and program coordinator for Passages at the Cobscook Community Learning Center in Washington County. She holds a degree in Women’s Studies and Anthropology from the University of Maine at Orono. At UMaine, Charley spent three years coordinating a weekly support and activist group for adolescent girls in the greater Bangor area. Later, she worked in non-profit educational organizations in fundraising and administrative positions before returning to Washington County with her family. In addition to her many program coordinator duties, Charley currently teaches five young parents in their homes using the Passages curriculum of the Community School. Charley loves her newfie, Ursa, and wants to learn as much as she can about sailing. You might find Charley quoting Margaret Mead, Ani DiFranco or her mom.

Cora Townsend, is a Passages teacher at the Cobscook Community Learning Center in Trescott, Maine. She graduated from the University of Maine at Machias in 1993 with a major in Education and minor in History. She travels Washington County meeting her students weekly. She is totally into stones, they are beautiful, natural, inexpensive, and most of hers are free. She collects them wherever she chances to see an interesting specimen. Knitting, crocheting, and stone jewelry-making are her favorite hobbies. “Life is a highway and each of our roads leads in different directions. If I know you, we have met at an intersection. If we are friends we have lingered at more than one stoplight.”

Residential Staff

Joseph Hufnagel joined The Community School in 2008 as Director of the Residential Program.  Before moving to Maine, Joseph worked as a teacher and after-school director at The Middle School Academy in Boston, as a teacher and administrator at The Nantucket New School, and as a teacher, coach, and community organizer with Teach for America, where he worked along the Texas/Mexican border.  He has also worked as an assistant dean with Exploration Summer Programs, as an outdoor adventure guide with various adventure-based organizations, including Outward Bound, as a teacher in an alternative school in Costa Rica, and as an intern in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.  Joseph holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Boston College and a master’s degree in Environmental Education from Lesley University.  Joseph also earned his certification in Special Education from University of Texas Pan America and his Massachusetts state certification to teach history and social studies.  Joseph loves being part of a team, working with exceptional people, playing sports and music, exploring the world, and sharing life with his family and friends, most especially his beautiful wife, Amy.

Carrie Braman joined The Community School in 2009 as Lead Teacher for the Residential Program.  Before moving to Maine, Carrie completed her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana, where she taught Freshman Writing Composition.  She has also taught at the Centerpoint School in Winooski, Vermont, which served as a strengths-based educational alternative for at-risk high school students. Carrie began her teaching career in a third-grade classroom at the New Mexico School for the Deaf, where she taught both deaf and hearing students in an integrated classroom.  Carrie earned her BA in English from Bennington College in 2003.  She has had a life-long interest in alternative education and has attended alternative college, high school, and semester programs.   Carrie is obsessed with pie.  She has been to Pietown, NM on several different pilgrimages and wants to write a book of essays about her search for the best slice out there.  From this, it should be obvious that Carrie likes to cook, eat, and write.  She also love making maple syrup and aspires to own her own sugarbush one day.  She occasionally plays the accordion.

Maureen El-Hajj worked for seven years at Home Counselors, Inc. before joining The Community School in 2009 as a Residential Overnight Counselor. Maureen was born in Washington D.C, as the second of eight children, and later moved to Maine, where she attended Hamden Academy and Bangor Community College.  Maureen studied liberal arts and early childhood education in college, and has run her own cleaning business for the past 18 years.  Maureen has three children; Ryan, Kristofer, and Lauren, and lives in Rockland.  In her down time, Maureen’s favorite activities are hiking, kayaking, dancing and camping.  She loves working at The Community School because she loves teenagers and wants to see them succeed in life.

Alexandra (Alix) Gillian McLean was born overlooking the St. John River in Fort Kent, Maine and grew up near Acadia National Park.  After graduating from high school, Alix took a year off to explore her inner and outer landscapes, and lived life much as she does now-curiously.  Alix has lived in the woods of northern Maine, spent time out west in New Mexico, and worked for an extended season on a lobster boat.  After graduating from UMaine Orono with a degree in Art Education, Alix worked as an art instructor, landscaper and carpenter’s apprentice. She has also worked closely with kids with behavioral and emotional challenges, including autism.  Alix thrives in environments that are supportive, honest, and full of enthusiasm and character.  When she is not at The Community School, Alix can be found substitute teaching at the Belfast Schools, working on creative projects, dancing and singing, seeking adventures, and spending time with her fiancé, Todd, and her dog, Ruger.

Scott McPherson, a former CSchool board member,  joined our staff in 2009 as a Residential Overnight Counselor (R.O.C.).  In addition to his other R.O.C. duties, Scott has been teaching classes in diversity and self-care, and believes the relational approach to education is key to helping students find their success.  Scott holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School, and a BA in Art History from the UMaine Orono.  Before joining The CSchool, Scott worked as a clinical mental health counselor with Sweetser, had his own counseling practice with Mainecoast Community Counseling, designed his own counseling Astrology practice, and co-created the Alternative Education program, Zenith, for the Camden Hills High School.  In addition to serving as board member for our very own Community School, Scott taught and served as the Director of the Zenith program, served on the Zenith School’s Advisory Board, interned at Home Counselors and was a member of the Breakwater Teen Shelter’s Advisory Council.  In his spare time, Scott practices astrology, winterizes schooners, and enjoys surfing, snowboarding, running, sailing, rock climbing, swimming, fishing, traveling, exploring, quenching his thirst for knowledge, and spending time with his partner, Caitlin, and their two dogs.

Cathy Ames , Culinary Instructor, has been working at The C School since 2000.  Cathy was born in Camden, attended Camden Rockport High school, and later, studied English and Education at The University of Maine Augusta.  Cathy has four children, and in 2009, she became a proud grandmother!  Cathy loves working at The Community School because she loves kids and believes everyone needs a chance in life.  Cathy’s mission at The C School is to help give kids the tools to be successful, and also to help make sure they are eating more than Raman Noodles when grow up! Cathy lives in West Rockport, and when she’s not at the school, she can be found cooking, baking, or camping and swimming in the outdoors

Administrative Staff

Michelle Peaco joined The Community School in the summer of 2009 as our Community Outreach and Compliance Coordinator.  Michelle holds a Bachelors Degree in Human Development from the University of Maine, and spent several years as a pre-school teacher in Vermont before returning to Maine to start a family.  For several years, Michelle ran her own home-based child care center, and later, joined the staff of Pen-Bay Medical Center, where she served as Program Coordinator for the Nurturing Families Program, and as Director of the Creative Learning and Childcare Center.  Michelle serves on the board of Pen Bay Christian Schools and as a volunteer for Rockland Public Schools and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.  She lives in Rockland with her husband, Tom, and their three sons. When she’s not at the CSchool, Michelle’s favorite thing to do is spend time with Tom and their three sons, especially cheering them on at their sporting, music and scouting events.

Laurie Pierce joined The Community School in 2009 as our Finance Manager.  Laurie is a life-long Maine resident and a long-time foster parent.  Laurie attended George’s Valley High School and has many years of bookkeeping experience, most recently for Pen-Bay Christian Schools.  She has also served as treasurer for several local non-profit organizations, and was drawn to The Community School because of its positive, community-centered approach.  Laurie is a huge fan of chocolate, and lives in Owl’s Head with her three kids and their dog, Mia.  When she’s not at the school, Laurie enjoys spending time with her kids and listening to the amazing things they have to say.

” The common sense and the uncommon compassion of the Community School has improved hundreds of young lives and enriched the surrounding neighborhoods.”
- Former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell