We teach by observing, questioning, guiding, and embracing children’s play.
Lincoln Nursery School has a faculty of unusual depth and experience. Our teachers embrace professional growth through a spirit of inquiry and collegiality. We are inspired by current best practices in early childhood education, as well as our collaborative community. We find that our work as teachers is enhanced by the transparency of our cooperative environment: we both support and learn from family partners.
Nancy Fincke, Director
Nancy has been passionately leading LNS since 1995.
Nancy has been in the field of early childhood education for over thirty years. She has a Masters in Human Service Administration from Lesley University. Nancy began as an occupational therapist in an inclusive preschool and was then inspired to become a director after her own family’s experience at a parent cooperative nursery school. Nancy’s education prepared her to understand child development and programming/activities that foster independence in living and expression.
She recognizes that her role as a director is to help build community among the children, parents, and teachers, with the goal that everyone experiences a sense of well-being and democracy. She believes that the highest quality of early childhood education is offered when teachers are supported in their professional development, maintain collegial dialogue, while developing relationships with parents, the deCordova staff, and the greater community. Nancy encourages everyone to listen to the children, discover their interests, offer experiences and materials, value each other and have fun.
Nancy has deep gratitude for our amazing Lincoln Nursery School community. The daily sounds of children’s voices, the commitment of her colleagues/teachers, the parents’ support, and the alumni who stay in touch are continued reasons for her appreciation.
Sisy Thomas, Assistant Director
For over two decades, Sisy has found deep joy and wonder in working with young children during their earliest years. From her own childhood, she remembers the profound experience of play and the ways it shaped her life, ultimately leading her toward the fields of science, medicine, and education. Her time in the Child Life departments at North Shore-LIJ and Boston Children’s Hospital gave her a new perspective on partnering with children and supporting their ways of experiencing and navigating the world. She was deeply struck by what she learned from listening to and learning from the children around her.
As an educator, she has witnessed the extraordinary growth and development that take place from birth through age six, and how pivotal these early years are in shaping who we become. After many years in the classroom, Sisy realized she could expand her work by collaborating with families in an administrative role, most recently as a director. Supporting children as they grow, explore, and make meaning in the world truly takes a village, and there is perhaps no better environment for this than a parent cooperative school. This is why both of her children attended cooperative schools, including LNS (a few moons ago).
Sisy feels incredibly fortunate to return as Assistant Director to a school that inspired her deeply, working alongside Nancy, the dedicated teachers, the supportive parent community, and the remarkable children who make it all possible.
Studio Blue
Wendy Klix, Co-Lead Teacher
Wendy has been in the field of early childhood education for over twenty years. She was introduced to the schools of Reggio Emilia early on in her teaching and studies. While starting her own family, Wendy took the time away to start a family daycare. She yearned to be back in the classroom, working alongside colleagues who shared her passion for teaching. So after five years at home with her children, she returned to a school setting.
Working in a cooperative preschool, she is inspired by the daily connections she makes with families while in the midst of a close-knit, supportive community. Wendy brings her love for the outdoors and all its inhabitants to the classroom. With the natural surroundings of the school, she is attentive to providing children experiences of all kinds with natural objects, turning their attention to the various calls of birds, and introducing them to the kindness of bugs. She carries with her a large treasury of wonderful memories, knowing that even the most challenging experiences make long lasting, positive, impressions on the lives of young children.
Maureen Linnane, Co-Lead Teacher
Maureen has a BA in Early Childhood Education from Lesley College and an MA in Innovation Education from the University of Colorado, Denver. She taught for 10 years at the Family Cooperative Preschool, Watertown, MA, a Reggio-inspired cooperative early childhood program grounded in relationships, inquiry, and play-based learning. Maureen participated in a Reggio Emilia Study Group (Reggio Children/U.S. Educators Program), March 2026.
Studio Yellow
Sue Flint, Co-Lead Teacher
Sue grew up in Lincoln and feels incredibly fortunate to have returned to the community to raise her family. She enjoys exploring local trails and open spaces with her husband, their two young children, and their many animals, including a dog, two cats, and the alpacas, cows, and horses that live on her family’s farm just down the road from LNS.
For the past fifteen years, Sue has taught in a Reggio Emilia-inspired early childhood program, where she has nurtured children’s curiosity and creativity. She believes that play is the foundation of meaningful learning and is continually inspired by the questions, ideas, and discoveries children bring to each day. Sue enjoys incorporating art, loose parts, nature, and open-ended materials into the classroom, creating opportunities for children to investigate, collaborate, and express their thinking in many different ways. She is thrilled to join the LNS community and looks forward to learning alongside the children, families, and faculty of the school.
Charlene Foley, Co-Lead Teacher
Charlene grew up helping her mother with her in-home daycare and knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. She graduated from Bridgewater State College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Child Psychology. Her teaching journey began as a preschool teacher in a play-based childcare center.
She quickly learned that there is nothing more rewarding than helping children explore and learn about their world. Nine years later, she became the Assistant Director of the center, helping teachers plan curriculum, training teachers on positive and meaningful child-teacher interactions, and helping parents navigate their children’s learning journey. However, she realized that she missed teaching, and decided to become a full time teacher again. She is very excited to be in the classroom and part of the LNS community! Charlene also loves to read, travel, and play video games. She lives with her husband and spends lots of time with family and friends. She is an avid Dungeons and Dragons player and enjoys bringing her love of fantasy, storytelling, and imaginative play into the classroom.
Mireille Tremblay, Afternoon Teacher
Mireille comes from a small town north of Quebec City, Canada. She moved to Massachusetts with her husband in 2009, and stayed home with her children during their early years. She loved this age so much that she decided to start teaching preschool instead of returning to her previous field of study. Previous to coming to LNS, Mireille taught at The Community School in Maynard for five years, which shaped and influenced her teaching style. Mireille is passionate about the outdoors and she was able to create an outdoor program during this time to help children and families spend more time in nature.
Outside of teaching, Mireille loves spending time with her family, traveling, and gardening. She is excited to be a part of the LNS community, especially the Extended Day program, and to share her passion of nature with the children.
DJ Mitchell, Afternoon Teacher
DJ began her career in education in 1999 upon graduating from Boston College with a masters in elementary education. After teaching 3rd and 4th grade in a variety of school settings, she arrived home in Lincoln to grow her own family. Soon, her daughters were enrolled at LNS, during which DJ served as a family-helper, board member, and finally, president of the board. DJ’s passion for nature and her willingness to slow down and connect with young children and families made her feel right at home at LNS. After her girls aged out, DJ returned to LNS as a teacher. She feels incredibly lucky to call this warm, thoughtful community her home away from home!
Studio Purple
Karen Prince, Co-Lead Teacher
Karen grew up on a farm in Northern England. Not cut out to be a farmer, she earned a business degree and moved to London to work at the BBC. As exciting as life in London was, Karen had the travel bug and headed to the US for the first time to work on a summer camp, travel and see the Grand Canyon. Fast forward a few years and she decided maybe she should heed the advice people had been giving her for years – ‘you should be a teacher’ – and went back to school to do just that. After teaching in a mixed grade class in the UK (K,1& 2) Karen moved to the US permanently and taught pre-school in Brookline until the birth of her daughter Maya. Maya, Jeff and Karen spent three very happy years at LNS. After Maya moved on to Lincoln Public School Karen began her career at LNS, first working in Studio Purple at the Old Stone Church, assisting in the pilot class at deCordova, moving to Extended Day, and finally, co-teaching in Studio Purple!
Mariana Stefanini, Co-Lead Teacher
It was back in Brazil, many years ago, that Mariana first heard about the Reggio approach to education, and vividly remembers being fascinated by it. The more she learned, the more she knew that was how she wanted to approach children’s everyday experiences. She finds it is a privilege to spend her days alongside children and to be given the opportunity to wonder, find meaning, experience joy, and most of all, learn from and with them. Mariana first graduated as a psychologist at the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, but working with children in inclusive classrooms led her into changing paths and becoming a teacher.
She completed another bachelor’s in education, followed by a master’s degree in “Innovative Early Childhood Education” at CU Denver and the Boulder Journey School. She has decades of experience, teaching infants to 5th graders. While working in a cooperative school alongside curious, inquisitive toddlers, she grew passionate about nurturing a strong relationship between school, families, and the community. She feels very fortunate to be part of Lincoln Nursery School and to be able to share these values with this incredible community. She lives in Winchester MA, with her husband Rogerio and their two daughters: Giovanna and Rebecca (Rebecca attended LNS for two years!).
Lindsay Clemens, Afternoon Teacher
Lindsay grew up loving all things art and nature based. Migrating from the suburbs to
rural Lincoln to raise their family, the Clemens jumped into the deep pool of Lincoln and all it offered and asked. Lindsay quickly found any opportunity to combine her interests with childcare and education by volunteering and working throughout her children’s educational endeavors in Lincoln. An avid painter, illustrator, singer, knitter – baker, cook and hiker, Lindsay incorporates her talents to inspire and nurture young and curious minds. With an eye to fostering an appreciation for the flora and fauna we are so fortunate to be surrounded by, Lindsay looks forward to spending as much time outdoors with a peaceful approach to integrating children’s wonder and joy in a warm and unrushed pace. Combing these nature-based endeavors with artistic expression, we look so forward to sharing the sights of what we discover together in our afternoons with our LNS community.
Studio Red
Dolores Cuccovia, Co-Lead Teacher
Dolores Cuccovia is excited to join the LNS community as Atelierista and Co-Lead Teacher. With nearly two decades of experience working with children in schools, community programs, art studios, and private homes, she brings a relationship-centered approach grounded in the Reggio Emilia philosophy.
Dolores earned a B.F.A. in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, with a concentration in Studio for Interrelated Media. Her work with families in home settings has deepened her appreciation for children’s individual rhythms, relationships, and the importance of responsive care.
She is continually inspired by children’s ability to slow down, immerse themselves in their surroundings, and be fully present. She believes meaningful learning begins by meeting children where they are and honoring their unique ways of experiencing the world.
Her background in art education, movement, and coaching continues to inform her work. She values learning environments where curiosity, creativity, play, and meaningful relationships can flourish. A strong sense of community is central to her practice, and she looks forward to collaborating with children, families, and colleagues throughout the year.
Michelle Perreault, Co-Lead Teacher
Michelle grew up in Massachusetts, exploring the forests and ponds nearby throughout childhood with her two siblings. She continues to love exploring with family whether it be in Idaho, Maine, or along the bay at home in Dorchester. Her trusty yellow lab, Norris, is often by her side! Michelle is thrilled to be a part of the LNS community and to combine two of her personal and professional passions, nature-based learning and the arts.
Her graduate degree from Lesley University focused on integrating the creative arts daily into students’ curricular and school experiences. Michelle has been teaching and working with young children for over 20 years and seeks to empower children as learners and nurture a caring and inclusive class community.
Essential Support Faculty
Emily Silet, Art, Environment, and Pedagogy Coordinator
Emily’s role helps LNS teachers, children, and community relate to the art and natural environment at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum by helping to bring the art at deCordova to life through connections in the classroom, installing art-and-nature-inspired immersive spaces in the studios, and making the school visible to the wider public. Her extensive experience with place-based learning helps facilitate an ongoing relationship with the art, staff, and land of deCordova as LNS continues to deepen its understanding of the site. Emily comes to LNS as a Museum Educator with 20 years of experience in progressive, informal teaching and holds a Master’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies. Both of her children attended LNS and she has been working with the school since 2011 as a deCordova educator and is excited to be able to grow her relationships with the faculty, children, and caregivers of the LNS community through this innovative new position.
Lauri Bounty, Atelier & Reggio Learning Collaborator
Bio Coming Soon
Mark Weltner, Technical Support
Mark has been part of the LNS community since 2003, when he joined the school as a Music & Movement teacher. After many years as a co-teacher in Studio Blue, Mark retired from teaching but has remained an important and much-appreciated part of the LNS community.
Drawing on his years of experience at the school, Mark continues to share his knowledge and support behind the scenes, helping with technical matters, fabrication and building projects, and practical details that keep LNS running smoothly. We are especially grateful that he continues to lend his time, expertise, and institutional knowledge to the school. His longstanding connection to LNS and continued willingness to help are a wonderful reflection of his enduring commitment to the community.
