Meet our Staff

The staff at Learning Tree hold degrees in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. They Are EEC  Lead Teacher and Director 1 certified.

***Both First Aid and CPR are requirements for all of our teachers as well. 

*** All of our teachers are are licenced by the Office of Early Eduaction and Care.

Kelli Webster-Director- Lead Teacher

 Kelli is the owner and director of the Learning Tree Preschool. She lives in Newburyport with her husband and two children. Kelli is a graduate of Salem State College with degrees is Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education, including two minor degrees in Special Education and Psychology. After graduating in 1994,  she was employed as a teacher at the Higgins Middle School in Peabody and the Sokolowski Elementary School in Chelsea. Kelli worked as a special needs teacher in the elementary K-3 level.  Kelli has also spent multiple years as a Lead teacher in a preschool/daycare setting in Salem. After moving to Newburyport in 2001, Kelli worked as a Lead Preschool Teacher in West Newbury before opening the Learning Tree Preschool in 2005. 

 

Kelly Knight- Lead Teacher 

Kelly graduated from Northern Essex Community College with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Kelly has enjoyed working as a Lead Teacher at the Learning Tree Preschool since 2006. Kelly lives in Newburyport with her husband and three children.

 

Meara Keegan Zaheer - Lead Teacher

Meara graduated from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD in 1995 with a degree in International Relations and European Studies. She worked at Harvard's Kennedy School of Goverment in Cambridge, Ma until 2001 when she completed her M.Ed from Lesley University and became a 5th grade teacher. She then spent the next years as a stay at home mom. She volunteered at the Learning Tree Preschool where she then became a teacher in 2009. In addition to teaching at the preschool, Meara volunteers in her daughters' classrooms at the Page School and is also a substitute teacher. Meara lives in West Newbury with her husband, Asim, and her two daughters, Hannah 8 and Leah 5. She enjoys cooking, reading, running, swimming and traveling.

 

Lisa Kumph -Teacher 

Lisa lives in Georgetown with her husband and three children. Lisa graduated from Salem State College with a degree in Marketing.Lisa has enjoyed working at the Beverly and Danvers Montessori Schools and the Head Start Program in Fitchburg. Lisa has also enjoyed substituting at the Georgetown public school system for many years. 

Lisa has been working at the Learning Tree Preschool since 2009.