Advisory Council

Tina Blythe is former board member and occasional guest block teacher at the school. Her daughter, Elizabeth, attended the school from age two until eighth grade (class of 2012). Tina began her career as a middle and high school teacher in urban public schools, then joined a research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where, for sixteen years, she carried out research on curriculum, assessment, and teacher professional development. She continues to teach at the Harvard Ed School while also serving as a consultant to schools and organizations in the U.S. and internationally. She is the co-author of a number of books, including Facilitating for Learning (in press), Looking Together at Student Work, Teaching as Inquiry, and The Teaching for Understanding Guide.

Anita Brewer-Siljeholm began as a parent at Cape Ann Waldorf School, which would later become, Waldorf School at Moraine Farm, in the fall of 1999. Her daughter, Marian, graduated in 2008 and her son, David, was a member of the class of 2005. Anita graduated from Brandeis University in 1980 with a B.A. in literature and received an M.A. from Tufts University in environmental policy. She lives in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA.

Michael Higgins and his wife, Julia Elliott, have had three children attend this Waldorf School from 1998 through 2013. Michael served as a member of the Board, initially as the Development Chair and later as Treasurer.  He founded Galatea Associates, LLC in 1996, a technology consulting firm engaged in the development of software applications for large broker/dealers on Wall Street. Previously, he spent ten years with Morgan Stanley and three years with Accenture working in their technology departments. Michael is a graduate of M.I.T. in the class of 1983.

Doug McGarrah is a partner at the law firm of Foley Hoag LLP in Boston. As Co-Chair of their Real Estate and Development Practice and past Chair of the firm’s Administrative Law Department, Doug provides expert services to clients navigating at the intersection of business and government. For over 25 years, his clients have relied on his strategic advice, helping them manage government regulations and complete major development and infrastructure projects. Doug is a trained mediator and has mediated a variety of real estate, environmental and construction disputes, and represented clients on large scale projects in multi-party mediations. In addition to his law practice, Doug has served on several boards, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Boston Harbor Island Alliance, A Better City and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Carrie Schuchardt came to the School in 1990, enrolling her daughter, Ethna Riley, in First Grade. Prior to her arrival she was for many years a parent at the Kimberton Waldorf School in Pennsylvania, where she lived as a co-worker in a Camphill Village. With her husband, John, Carrie founded the House of Peace in Ipswich, Ma,. An intentional therapeutic community welcoming refugees and victims of war. Several children from the House of Peace have attended Waldorf School at Moraine Farm over the past 23 years.