Director
Cristina LaRue, M.S., M.Ed.
Cristina is passionate about place-based ecological education and excited for the opportunity to grow SCC's nature-based early childhood and school age programs. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Case Western Reserve University, an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from John Carroll University, and an M.S. in Ecological Teaching & Learning from Lesley University.

Cristina holds NH teacher licenses in early childhood, early childhood special education, and elementary education. She was a classroom teacher for ten years and has also held positions in the environmental education field including Education Coordinator at Mass Audubon's Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Education Director on a non-profit teaching farm on Martha's Vineyard. Most recently, she taught adolescents (6th-8th grade) at a nature-based Montessori school. She has also taught 3rd/4th multi-age on Martha's Vineyard, 1st-3rd science at Greenwich Country Day School, and Kindergarten at the Hawken School in Ohio.

Cristina currently serves on the board of New Hampshire Environmental Educators and enjoys advocating for environmental literacy and place-based ecological education. In 2019-2020, she completed Forest for Every Classroom, a year-long program "to foster a deeper understanding of New England forest stewardship issues, provide tools to develop place-based, service-learning curricula that meet current educational standards and use local landscapes, resources and community to connect classroom learning to real world application."
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Cristina grew up spending summers on Squam Lake and lives in Sandwich with her family. She enjoys reading, kayaking, playing classical piano, and birding, and her favorite animal is a snail. 

                                                                               Toddlers

Sarah Love, AS Early Childhood Education
Sarah is a passionate and dedicated life-long learner who values respectful communication, collaborative problem solving, and authentic and joyful engagement. She has been an advocate for young children throughout her personal life and professional career which includes over 10 years of experience as an early childhood educator in New Hampshire and California. Sarah holds specialized certificates in Anti-Bias Curriculum, Working with Culturally Diverse Families, Curriculum Planning, and Peace Education & Children's Literature. She also holds Montessori certificates from the UCSB Extension Montessori World Institute with a focus on early childhood. Sarah loves to weave her joy of gardening, cooking, exploring, and singing with her sense of humor to create loving, engaging, and meaningful moments and environments. 

Mariah Sizemore
Bio coming soon

Suzy Kjellberg
Bio coming soon

                                                                                                            Preschool

Kasia Beznoska, BA Psychology, Early Childhood Education Certificate
At the core of Kasia's work in early childhood education is her passion for helping children discover their own true, warm-hearted nature and develop skills for social-emotional literacy and conflict resolution. After graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in psychology, she studied early childhood education at Southern Maine Community College. Kasia became a certified Children’s Yoga Instructor through ChildLight Yoga in 2010. She has also completed her Level 1 and Level 2 coursework through The Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW).

Kasia has taught yoga classes, mindfulness workshops, programming and camps for children ages 3-12 years old throughout the state of New Hampshire since 2013. In 2018, she became the founding director and lead preschool teacher at Little Swans Preschool in Sanbornton.  She has led workshops on Mindfulness in Outdoor Education through the In Bloom Nature Conferences with Antioch University, and at Abundance Farm in Northhampton, MA. Kasia enjoys exploring in nature, spending time with and playing sports with her son, chasing after their dog, practicing yoga, gardening, drinking tea, spending time with friends and family, making homemade cinnamon buns, and swimming in the lake.

                                                                              School Age 
Louise Elliot, MA Education
Louise was a Lead Preschool Teacher at Sandwich Children's Center in 2018/2019 and returned in August of this year.  Previously she taught at Community Nursery School in New York since 2013.   She feels privileged to have had the opportunity to share experiences with early learners for the past 14 years in New York, Miami and Washington, DC.  She possesses a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Steinhart School of Education and a B.S. degree in Public Relations from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications.  After spending much of her childhood exploring around mountains and woods and collecting insects and rocks, she is so happy to be part of the team at SCC and share her passion for being outdoors with the children in such a unique nature-inspired environment.  In her free time, Louise likes to garden, hike, sing, kayak, sail and be a stand-up paddleboard instructor.  She also revels in a good book and a nap under a tree.


                                                                            Support Staff

Steve Twaddle
Bookkeeper
Steve moved to Sandwich to embrace small town life.  When he's not working at Town Hall as the Deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector, he helps keep the SCC financial records in good shape.  Steve's hobbies include reading and playing in the woods with his tractor.

Please feel free to reach out to Steve with any billing, payment or financial questions at bookkeeper@sandwichchildrenscenter.org. ​

Isabella Bates
Assistant
Bio coming soon
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