Enrichment Team
Brandi holds Montessori credentials for Secondary I&II from Houston Montessori Center as well as a Master of Arts Education K-12 Certificate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has over twenty years of teaching experience, a total of eight at Phoenix Montessori Academy. Currently, she is the Art teacher for first through twelfth grades.
Her son, Phoenix’s first toddler, is attending her alma mater UNCC, where he is studying computer science and robotics. Brandi’s free time is spent playing with her two shih tzus, planning family travel adventures, and endlessly painting flowers.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
Ms. Ady (Adriana McCormack) was born in Mexico City, where she got a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and completed postgraduate studies in National Security and History of Mexico. While residing in Mexico, she worked for institutions like the Mexican Secretary of State, the Treasury Secretary, and the Mexican Mail Service. In Atlanta, she worked as the Director Assistant to the Mexican American Business Chamber and collaborated with the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta and the Cultural Mexican Center. In Charlotte, she worked for the Family Outreach and Counseling Center and diverse companies translating documents. She also worked as a pre-K teacher at the Presbyterian bilingual school La Escuelita San Marcos in Huntersville, and for the last 24 years, she has taught different levels of Spanish, either in a private or public space like the North Mecklenburg Library.
Today, she teaches Spanish at PMA, where she enjoys LE, UE, MS, and HS. Ms. Ady likes to interact with people, create art, play piano, and enjoy learning new languages and reading the Bible, history, and science. She lives in Huntersville with her husband, Bruce, her two young adult daughters, and Charly, her dog.
Hi, my name is Ms. Rachel. However, I also have the honor to be called Ms. Cosmic by my amazing students. I have been an educator for over 25 years, the last 10 years here at PMA. While I began my career as a college art history and humanities instructor, I have always sought to make learning an interdisciplinary and project-based process that honors the curious child in each of us.
I received my Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Art History from Washington University in St. Louis in 1993. I continued my graduate work with an emphasis in Anthropology, Archaeology, and Non-Western Art at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and earned an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certification in Museum Education. I traveled on a Latin American Studies grant to study Ancient Mayan sites as well as spent a Summer abroad in Rome, Italy. Exploring the world and learning something new every day is one of my greatest passions. I began teaching at the college level in 1997, but always had a special interest in childhood education and Montessori Philosophy.
I joined the staff at Phoenix Montessori in 2014 as a co-teacher in Upper Elementary. In 2018 I worked in Lower Elementary as I pursued an El and EII Montessori Certification from CMTE/NC. Full of inspiration, I was thrilled to begin a new journey in 2019 as a Cosmic Education teacher. Following the Great Lessons and cultural works of Dr. Montessori, I conceptualized and continue to construct a classroom that fosters a scientific sense of adventure and curiosity. I believe the world around us is one of the best teachers. Every moment of life presents a wondrous opportunity to discover and learn!
In the words of Dr. Maria Montessori- The Child is endowed with unknown powers which can guide us to a radiant future. If what we want is a new world, then education must take as its aim the development of those hidden possibilities.