Our People

Jordan Lake Sudbury is a partnership between Lena Hurst and Sherri Bauer who bring diverse backgrounds and complimentary skills to the school. We have established a strong support network of like-minded individuals to join in this venture. Having homeschooled our children from birth, we saw first hand their capacity for perseverance and ingenuity when afforded the opportunity to forge their own way. However, as they get older, our children are anxious to be around more children on a daily basis for both social and academic interaction. The Jordan Lake Sudbury School is our effort to create a community that not only benefits our own children, but provides a place for other families in the area to participate in a diverse and cooperative environment for living and learning.

Lena

Lena is a former Montessori teacher who believes children are capable of handling even more freedom and responsibility than the Montessori model allows. She has homeschooled her son, Steven for 7 years and has learned as much from him as he has from her. Her passions include cooking, travel, environmental stewardship and all outdoor activities. She has won several jet ski championships and holds two black belts in the martial arts. Lena is focused, motivated and loves watching children interact and learn from each other. She has deep respect and trust for all children and appreciation for the uniqueness of every individual.

Sherri

Sherri is the artsy, creative type who gardens, knits, crochets, paints, and creates mosaics and jewelry. She believes there are infinite forms of self-expression and encourages self-expression in her children and friends. She believes that it is the people involved that make a school truly exceptional and is attracting some very creative individuals to the project. Sherri has homeschooled her three children for 5 years while also running her own craft business and serving on the board of our homeschooling group. She volunteers for the Cary Police Department and the Center for Volunteer Caregiving, providing help to the elderly and disabled people in the community.

Ron

Ron is a graduate of NC Central Univ with a B.S. in Biology. He has worked as an 8th grade science teacher covering such subjects as hydrology, geology, electricity, and magnetism. He has also researched his interests in chiropractic and the military. Ron has studied the martial art of Muay Thai (kickboxing) for 2 yrs. His passions include food/cooking, music, singing, reading, martial arts, and electronics. Ron believes that with the proper attitude, work ethic, and support we can create a world filled with strong, positive, and successful children. Ron looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for discovery with other interested kids at JLSS.

Cynthia

Cynthia Tate has spent over half of her adult life in education. She earned her undergraduate Art degree at Meredith College. While working on her certification in Art K - 12 she became interested in learning about educating the whole child. Since that time she has taught students in K - 8. She taught in Wake County schools before going to UNC-Chapel Hill to earn her masters in Curriculum and Instruction and while there taught pre-service teachers. Her ability to find the uniqueness in each of her students and empower them to become devoted learners became apparent to the teachers and principals. She then became the curriculum coach for several schools. From this she was asked to move to the school system's central office as a Curriculum Specialist in Literacy. Since the summer of 2006 she has worked for U. S. Department of Education in the Teacher - to Teacher Program all over the United States training teachers. What has all this taught her? That the philosophy behind a Sudbury School is sound and a wonderful experience for the student and teacher. She has recently moved to this area and is presently homeschooling her high school age son while working on a children's book she loves. Cynthia serves as an advisor and resource consultant to JLSS.