Our Faculty

We are committed to having qualified and experienced teachers.  All of our lead teachers have Bachelors degrees and/or 3 years teaching experience, as well as having Montessori Teaching Certifications.

School Administration

Ms. Emily Aune, Director

Ms. Emily has a diverse professional background with expertise in real estate, finance, and special needs education.  She has owned and/or run businesses ranging from floral to property management and brings a wealth of knowledge to Our Journey Montessori School. Emily has a bachelor’s of Arts from Westminster College, with dual majors in Special Education and Montessori Education. One of her hardest but most rewarding positions was working with special needs children at the Carmen B. Pingree school for children with autism.

Emily has a strong love of animals. She brought her love of animals and their healing abilities and practical life properties to the school, where you will see many types of animals. She is married to Josh, they have 3 young boys, and a feisty baby girl, you will see bouncing around the school.

Early Childhood

Ms. Catie Rynearson, Lower Campus Director, Teacher

Catie completed her Early Childhood Montessori credential through NAMC in 2008 and then through Westminster College in 2018. She has worked in Montessori since 2007 and with Our Journey since 2014. Catie is also certified in child development, family science, and social work.

Catie has grown up in Utah, loves being with her husband and family, enjoys volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, and loves football and sports.

Ms. Lindsey Pepper, Teacher

Ms. Lindsey’s has been teaching at Our Journey Montessori since 2017. She has received training from Utah Montessori Council and the Institute
for Guided Studies Montessori Teacher Education, both of which served
to instill principles in the way she approaches teaching each and every
day. Lindsey has her Early Childhood Certification from Rings of Knowledge. Lindsey is a huge advocate of the Montessori method since 2012,
when her son Rhadek entered the program and demonstrated quick gains
in both his social and academic development. As he fell in love with
school and continued to succeed under the Montessori method, she knew
that they had found something special. In their spare time Lindsey’s husband,
Tyson, Rhadek and her enjoy hiking and occasional trips to visit family
and Disneyland. She also enjoys cooking and hanging out with her dogs “Bella” and “Freya”.

Toddler

Ms. Kacee Ljungberg,  Teacher

Kacee Ljungberg is our Lead Teacher for the Infant and Toddlers program. She has worked for Our Journey Montessori since June 2016 teaching in the infants and toddlers program and she worked in childcare for the two years prior to that.

Kacee’s hast training from Montessori Innovations in Montessori Foundations and is currently getting her certification from Rings of Knowledge. Kacee really loves the Montessori method. Her passion is working with infants and toddlers and she loves watching them grow and advance in the program.

She is married to Rohr, has an adorable toddler son, and they have a dog named Hazel and 2 cats.

Specialists

Mr. Josh Aune, STEM and Computer Specialist

Josh has long had a deep curiosity and need to create, driving him to learn about the world around him and create things.  He works in the computing industry where he started by designing and building several super computer systems which debuted in the top 10 in the world followed by a successful storage start up.  Josh maintains our IT systems and teaches the computer club.

Ms. Alison Atkinson, Art and Music Specialist

Ms. Alison teaches our Art and Music clubs.

Mr. Mark Atkinson, Adventure and Team Building Specialist