Our Staff
At the heart of any classroom experience is its teachers.
Shannon Coulombe
Lead Teacher and Co-Owner
Shannon lives in Beaumont with her three children, Jace, Brett and Kayla. She is an experienced teacher and holds a Bachelor of Education degree with a focus in early childhood education, as well as her Level 3 Early Childhood Supervisor certificate.
With 8 years of elementary school teaching experience, she has taught grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 and was a vice principal for one year before she resigned from teaching to stay at home with her children.
While she was at home raising her kids, she opened a licensed day home and worked as a level 3 child care provider for 4 years. She also became a Barefoot Books Ambassador and Team Leader during this time. Children’s literature is one of Shannon’s passions, and she is very inspired by the Barefoot Books mission statement: Share Stories, Connect Families, Inspire Children. She has an incredible collection of quality children’s literature at her disposal and she has met many world renowned authors and illustrators, as well as the CEO of Barefoot Books, on a number of occasions.
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Once her youngest child reached school age, Shannon was approached by our staff to take on the position of Lead Teacher at RSG Preschool. She was excited at the prospect of working in a preschool setting, and accepted the position with much enthusiasm. Her education degree has a focus in early childhood education so, in many respects, this job has brought her back to where her teaching journey began and to where her passion for teaching resides.
Over the past few years, Shannon has developed a strong interest in both art and literacy programs for young children. She loves to create art experiences that are directly related to high quality children's literature. She is currently developing curriculum for all three programs offered by Ready, Set, Grow Preschool.
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If you visit our classroom, you will recognize that she feels most in her element with a book in her hand, reading to her students. Literacy is a cornerstone of the program we offer, and Shannon most definitely brings a richness of literacy experiences to our classroom environment.
Assistant Teacher and Co-Owner
Wendy is Mom to 2 boys, Evan and Kent. Wendy has more than 16 years experience teaching and working with young children.
Friends for over 16 years, Rachel & Wendy decided to open Ready, Set, Grow Preschool in 2007 with the hopes of enriching the lives and imaginations of the many preschool aged children in Beaumont. After their 10th year teaching together, Rachel moved to Okotoks with her family and Shannon Coulombe was welcomed as the Lead Teacher.
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Wendy's creative talents shine through in the art provocations that are set up for our students, and in the engaging, skill-based crafts that she loves to prep. Her sunny disposition and warm hugs are always a comfort to the shyer children, and there is always a spot beside her for anyone that needs it.
Wendy graduated from Lakeland College with her certificate in Early Childhood Development, is certified in First Aid/CPR and has her Level 2 Childcare Worker Certificate.
You can expect Wendy to be the one keeping attendance, collecting information papers, money etc, updating our Facebook page, posting pictures, and answering messages.
Wendy Woods
Educational Assistant
Ashley comes to us as a previous RSG parent. She and her husband Matt settled in Beaumont to raise their family. Their two children attended RSG and Ashley quickly came to love the teaching style and learning environment here. As someone who habitually nurtures people, animals, plants (and even bacteria), the world of preschool education took on a whole new meaning as she watched her two children flourish and blossom.
Ashley has a B.Sc. in Food Science from the U of A and worked for 8 years as a Food Microbiology Lab Technologist for the Government of Alberta. She resigned from this position to raise her children full time and fondly remembers her lab days (nurturing bacteria). She has since dabbled in several part-time jobs, most recently as a Teaching Assistant at the U of A in the Food Science program, presenting material for an online lab and grading students’ work. She loves to garden, take her dog Hector for walks, read, and most of all, spend time with her family and friends.
As her children are now in grade school, Ashley understands the significance of preschool education as a foundation to a life of learning. She has her Level 1 Early Childhood Educator Certificate and has joined the RSG family again, this time as an Educational Assistant. She looks forward to contributing to the wonderful learning environment at RSG and spending time with little ones. It truly is a joy to watch them grow and flourish!