Cedar Tree Montessori has been serving our community with a high quality Montessori education for over 20 years. Throughout that time, the Board of Directors has provided leadership to our non-profit organization. The Board of Directors at Cedar Tree Montessori is a group of committed community members who are enthusiastic about the mission of Cedar Tree and actively work to support our future.

Suveena Bhutani - President

Suveena is an MD with a focus on integrative health and wellness, incorporating social and emotional learning and mindfulness into her practice. She applies her expertise with a diversity, equity and inclusion community development lens.

Brian Flowers - Vice President

Brian is an alumni parent and longtime Whatcom County resident. He brings his expertise with interpersonal skills, supporting families during crisis and his master storytelling to our annual Celebration of Reading.

Donna Gawron - Treasurer

Donna first experienced Montessori math when her son attended a Montessori preschool in Waikanae New Zealand. It was love at first sight. She is a local small business owner who strives to present financial information in ways that are meaningful.

Cindy Johanson - Secretary

Cindy is an alumni parent and founder of a Montessori preschool. She is a long-time instructor at Whatcom Community College, where she helps mentor and train students going into the field of education. She has a blackbelt and loves hiking our local trails with her dogs.

Dan Coffey - Building Manager

Dan is an alumni parent and local business owner. His daughter was a student in the inaugural class of Cedar Tree and he has been a fixture of the school community for over 20 years.

Lauren Buglione - Fundraising Chair

Lauren is the Shared Services Director for a global physical security company and a former elementary school teacher. Curiosity, collaboration, and thoughtfulness are her leadership tenants. She is a current Cedar Tree parent.

Kim Feerer - Founder

Kim Feerer was an award-winning public elementary school teacher in California, who despite her professional successes, found herself deeply unsatisfied with the quality of her relationships with her students. In the course of exploring various educational philosophies and methods, she discovered Maria Montessori’s theories of education – and was drawn at once to the close bond between teachers and students, the happy industry of the children and the academic rigor of the program. In 1998 Kim became certified as a primary teacher (ages 3 to 6), and in 2001, as a lower elementary teacher (ages 6 to 9), through the American Montessori Society.

In 1999, Kim founded Cedar Tree Montessori Elementary School, in Bellingham, Washington. The 501 (c) (3) non-profit started with a four-member board, including Kim. The entering class of the 1999 – 2000 school year was composed of eight children, kindergarten through first grade. Cedar Tree was a one-room school: a lone 30 foot by 30 foot portable set in the gravel parking lot of a local church.