Staff

Cate Allen

Headteacher,Teacher

BA (Nottingham), PGCE (Trent), M.Ed. (Nottingham), 2 years Doctoral Studies (East Anglia)

Cate taught ages 4 to 11 in a school in Britain before immigrating to Canada and joined Dalhousie University School in 1991.

Lee Baker

Elementary Teacher

B. Sc Dalhousie, B.Ed U of PEI

Lee worked as an Elementary and Middle School teacher in Flin Flon, Manitoba for 6 years before joining the H.I.S team. Lee is also a trained Basketball coach, and will be working with the Middle School during Friday afternoon Enrichment.

Rebecca Baker

Middle School Language Arts and Social Studies teacher

Rebecca has a Certificate of Arts from Massey University, New Zealand and a B.Ed from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Rebecca taught Middle School in Flin Flon Manitoba for 4 years before first joining HIS as a substitute teacher in 2010

Heather Beall

Elementary Teacher

B.Sc. (York), B.Ed. (Colorado)

Heather worked as a child care and caseworker at Browndale in Toronto for three years before moving to Boulder Colorado where she obtained her B.Ed. She taught there for 4 years at the Vidya School and then came home to Nova Scotia where she joined the Dalhousie University School in 1990.

Leigh-Ann Bishop

Head of Middle School and Acting Co-Deputy Headteacher

B.Sc. Chemistry (UNB), B.Ed. (Mount Saint Vincent)

Leigh-Ann did her final 3 month teaching practice here at Halifax Independent and then joined the staff in August 2006. She was Captain of the MSVU volleyball team.

Tania DesRoches

French Teacher

B.A.Hons. (King’s), B.Ed. (Saint Mary’s)

Tania taught Junior High French for five years for the Halifax Regional School Board, Elementary French for 2 years in Fredericton and ESL in Lithuania for one year. She joined Halifax Independent in January 2004.

Laura Dowling

Elementary Teacher

B.A. (Kings), B.Ed. (MSVU)

Laura spent a term as a student teacher at H.I.S. in her last year at Mount Saint Vincent, and joined the teaching staff in September 2008.

Maggie Duinker

Music Teacher

BA Music (Western Ontario), Diploma (Kodaly Institute, Hungary), B.Ed. (Dalhousie), ECE (St. Joseph’s)

Maggie taught private piano and theory lessons as well as pre-school music classes for 25 years before joining Dalhousie Co-operative School in 1998. Currently she plays in several bands, sings in choirs and plays the piano.

Christy Elliott

Head of Elementary School and Acting Co-Deputy Headteacher

B.Ed (MSVU) , M.Sc (Oregon State), B.ScK. (Dalhousie)

A recent graduate of Mount Saint Vincent, Christy joined the teaching staff in September 2008.

Molly Hurd

Elementary Teacher

BA (Queen's), B.Ed.(Acadia), M.Ed. (Ottawa)

Molly taught in Northern Canada and Nigeria for six years and worked in the School Programme at the International Education Centre (Saint Mary’s University) before joining Dalhousie University School in 1992. She served as Headteacher of Halifax Independent School from 1994-2009 after which she spent a year living and teaching in Tanzania. Upon her return to Canada, she returned to the classroom full-time.

Heather Johnson (On Educational Leave)

Deputy Headteacher, Elementary and Middle School Teacher

B.A. (Mount Allison), Certificate in Environmental Education (Algonquin), B.Ed. (Mount Saint Vincent)

Heather worked as a Natural Heritage Educator for the Ontario Parks System, and as a teacher/naturalist at the Museum of Natural History before coming to Halifax Independent in 2002. She is an active member of the Nova Scotia Children’s Literature Round Table and the Atlantic Geoscience Society Education Committee.

Sandra Keating

Elementary Teacher

B.A St Mary's, B.Ed U of Calgary

Sandy worked in Calgary, Alberta for 1 year before joining the H.I.S. team.

Liam Knox

Elementary Teacher

B.A and a B.Ed from Saint Thomas University, New Brunswick

Liam worked as a special care home worker before obtaining his B.A and taught Primary for two years before joining the H.I.S. team.

Nissa McKeen

Assistant to our Administrative Assistant

Mandai Mohan

Art Teacher

B.Sc. (Acadia), B.Ed. (Mount Saint Vincent)

Mandai worked at the Nova Scotia Museum for 3 years before obtaining her B.Ed, She joined the Halifax Independent School in 2001.

Jill Morgan (On Maternity Leave)

Elementary Teacher

B.A.A. Child and Youth Studies (Mount Saint Vincent), B.Ed. (Calgary)

Jill co-ordinated the Childcare programme at Halifax Independent in 2004-05 before joining the teaching staff as the Olds Teacher.

Dawn Sinclair

Director of Littles Programme

BAA Child and Youth Studies (Mount Saint Vincent)

After 3 years teaching at the Family Resource Centre in Dartmouth, Dawn came to H.I.S. in 2002.

Valerie Walker

Administrative Assistant

B.A. (Dalhousie)

Valerie home-schooled her three boys before they all joined Halifax Independent School in 2001.