The Teachers
Adam Ladd fell in love with the Creo Farm campus when he first visited for consultation in December. He is very excited for his new role as director of Creo’s adolescent program. Adam currently serves as adolescent director at a Montessori school near Cleveland, Ohio (name of school edited out until that school announces his departure to their community). Along with a M.A. in Art History, Adam earned his AMI certification in Adolescent Studies in 2015. Preceding his work in adolescent education, he was an assistant lecturer of Art History at Kent State University, a touring musician, and a freelance graphic designer. He joined the team in Hudson in 2014, and now enjoys collaborating with his wife Kelly on interdisciplinary Humanities-based projects. In addition to his work in the middle school, Adam consults for other adolescent programs, leads workshops at the AMI adolescent training in Ohio, and is a senior bureau member for the Montessori Model United Nations in New York City. Recently, he and Kelly have developed workshops together for the annual AMI conference and the Y2 Foundation for Future Education in Taipei, Taiwan.
Kelly Ladd graduated from Kent State University in 2004 with her Bachelors and licensure in Integrated Social Studies. Three years later, she earned a second licensure in Integrated Language Arts from the University of Akron. From there, Kelly spent the next 12 years teaching a multitude of subjects from theater and public speaking to AP US History and Contemporary Issues at Louisville High School in Stark County, Ohio. Kelly was the Speech & Debate coach for 10 years with multiple state champions at the OHSSL Tournament and a national finalist who placed 5th in the nation at the National Forensic League Tournament. She was also the advisor of the high school student-run newspaper known as Spotlight. In 2016, she accepted a position teaching history at Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights and earned her AMI/NAMTA certification in Montessori Adolescent Studies in 2017. At Ruffing she helped create a successful student-run coffee business and started a Montessori Model United Nations team. She joined her husband Adam at a Montessori school near Cleveland, Ohio (name of school edited out until that school announces her departure to their community) in 2018 as a Humanities and Language Arts teacher. There, she also enhanced the micro-economy program by offering her coffee-making expertise and coached the Model UN team. Kelly is thrilled to bring her passion for history and literature to the middle school at Creo Montessori!