Sophia (Sophie) completed a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Education at Saint Olaf College in Minnesota. She studied as both a pianist and vocalist and has several years of experience as a music director in children’s theater. Outside the classroom, Sophie loves to sew, cook, and hike, especially in National Parks! Sophie joined the NewGate community in 2024.

Gillett joined NewGate in August 2021 after relocating from St. Paul, Minnesota. He has his AMI Montessori Elementary Teacher Certification from the Montessori Center of Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with a minor in French. He is a trained Montessori Model United Nations Instructor and a Montessori STEM practitioner. Among his many talents, Gillett is an entrepreneur, co-founding the Twin Cities Closet Company.

Amy has taught throughout the New Gate Secondary Program since 2002 primarily with English reading, writing and theater projects and has been teaching for 25 years. She is also an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Instructor, Librarian and CAS Advisor. She has spent many years developing the Secondary Program’s experiential learning programs and looks for every opportunity to get students off campus and into the community for learning opportunities. She also leads the annual Drama Immersion Weeks with students at each Secondary level to build memorable theatrical productions in the space of a week. One of her great joys is helping every student find gateway books that lead to a life long love of reading, and she builds every opportunity possible to share books with students from toddler through high school levels.

Amy earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology at Loyola University where she also enjoyed studying Spanish during a study abroad term in Quito, Ecuador and learning about world religions as her minor. She began her teaching career in a refugee resettlement program teaching ESL to adult students from around the world followed by teaching Spanish at the elementary level. While teaching at a Great Books Foundation high school in Arizona, she earned her Master’s Degree in Experiential Education at Prescott College with a focus on building schools and learning experiences to promote engagement, eco-literacy and stewardship.

Amy enjoys her family time, reading, and travel, all preferably at the beach!

Braeden (he/him) attended the University of Florida, where he studied environmental science and the Spanish language. Braeden studied abroad in five different countries while at UF, including an immersive Spanish semester in Barcelona. He fell in love with Spain that summer and resolved to go back. Braeden lived in central Madrid for two years, teaching English as a second language at a local high school, and counts it as one of the most valuable experiences of his life.

Braeden is also a graduate of NewGate. He enjoys fencing, which he has been doing competitively for over ten years. He was the Men’s Foil Captain of the UF Gators Fencing Club, has won tournaments in both the US and Spain, and attended USA Nationals and the North American Cup. Braeden also likes to read sci-fi and fantasy books, spend time in nature, and watch comic book movies. Braeden lives in England and is pursuing and MS degree in Global Wildlife Health and Conservation at the University of Bristol. He joined NewGate in 2024.

Pam has taught math at the upper elementary, middle school, and high school levels for many years in a variety of settings: public and private, accelerated and remedial, in small groups, in large classes, and one-on-one, most recently in a Montessori Adolescent Program. She enjoys helping students explore the connections and overlaps between algebra and geometry and, as a result, gain depth of knowledge in both of those mathematical disciplines. She loves seeing all sorts of students gain confidence in their abilities as mathematicians. Pam graduated from the University of Richmond with a B.A. in Mathematics and International Studies. She did her undergraduate honors math research in number field theory and its application in the proofs of certain cases of Fermat’s Last Theorem. In addition to her experience as a mathematician, she also taught English to students of all ages during a two-and-a-half year adventure living in China. Now Pam lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and three children. She enjoys cooking, reading, spending time with friends and family, and being outdoors.

Lydia Dumais teaches high school science and art. She is also an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Instructor. This is Lydia’s 6th year at NewGate. She graduated from New College of Florida with a double major in Biology and History and an M.S. in Biology from Clemson University. She presented academic papers at the Florida Conference of Historians and New Scholars. Part of her undergraduate research included working with wild sea turtles in Costa Rica as part of international conservation efforts.

Lydia is a Secondary Montessori Teacher. She is a lifelong learner and earned the IB Diploma in high school; she brings enthusiasm, hands-on learning, and a spirit of keen intellectual inquiry to the secondary program. She works on conservation projects in her spare time, including working with leatherback sea turtles, gopher tortoises, and wetlands water quality monitoring.

Amy has taught throughout the NewGate Secondary Program since 2002 primarily with English reading, writing and theater projects and has been teaching for 24 years. She is also an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Instructor, Librarian and CAS Advisor. She has spent many years developing the Secondary Program’s experiential learning programs and looks for every opportunity to get students off campus and into the community for learning opportunities. She also leads the annual Drama Immersion Weeks with students at each Secondary level to build memorable theatrical productions in the space of a week. One of her great joys is helping every student find gateway books that lead to a life long love of reading, and she builds every opportunity possible to share books with students from toddler through high school levels.

Amy earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology at Loyola University where she also enjoyed studying Spanish during a study abroad term in Quito, Ecuador and learning about world religions as her minor. She began her teaching career in a refugee resettlement program teaching ESL to adult students from around the world followed by teaching Spanish at the elementary level. While teaching at a Great Books Foundation high school in Arizona, she earned her Master’s Degree in Experiential Education at Prescott College with a focus on building schools and learning experiences to promote engagement, eco-literacy and stewardship.

Amy enjoys her family time, reading, and travel, all preferably at the beach!