Meet the Team

Lori Cassidy

Lori Cassidy brings over 35 years of experience as an Early Childhood Special Educator, with a deep commitment to strengthening young children’s social and emotional development. Since 2008, she has provided training, coaching, and consultation to early childhood programs, supporting them across all stages—from initial exploration to full implementation and long-term sustainability of Pyramid Model practices.

Her experience spans a wide range of early childhood settings, including Early Intervention family coaching, infant and toddler classrooms, and preschool classrooms in both private and public programs. This breadth of experience allows Lori to tailor her support to the unique needs of diverse programs, practitioners, and families.

After retiring from classroom teaching in 2018, Lori expanded her focus to advancing high-quality practice through Pyramid Model implementation and practice-based coaching. She partners with educators, coaches, and leadership teams to translate research into meaningful, everyday practices that support children and families while building sustainable systems.

In addition to her coaching work, Lori contributes to the preparation of the early childhood workforce through her work with the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative, where she teaches courses for current and future professionals.

Lori’s work is grounded in the belief that meaningful change happens through relationships, reflection, and intentional practice—and that supporting adults is the key to supporting children.

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Elaine Chasse

For nearly 30 years, Elaine devoted herself to building and guiding a high-quality early childhood preschool and afterschool program, where her strong leadership and mentorship brought her commitment to children’s social-emotional development to life in everyday practice.She built and sustained a 5-star rating in Vermont’s STARS system for over 14 years by setting clear expectations, using data to guide decisions, and embedding relationship-based practices across her program. During this time, she mentored a stable team of five educators for more than two decades, supporting them in implementing effective teaching strategies, reflecting on their practice, and continuously improving outcomes for children and families. She also developed systems that promoted accountability, collaboration, and high-quality interactions, ensuring strong practices were not only introduced but sustained over time.

Since 2012, Elaine has supported early educators through training, mentoring, and Practice-Based Coaching, grounding her work in real, lived experience and a deep understanding of the day-to-day realities of early childhood settings. As one of five founders of Pyramid 802 Plus, she brings decades of leadership experience in building and sustaining a high-quality program, with the ability not only to lead effective teams but to guide them through reflection, growth, and continuous improvement. Her strong understanding of early childhood program operations—including staffing, systems, and implementation—enables her to help leaders strengthen both practice and infrastructure in meaningful, practical ways. Driven by curiosity and a commitment to ongoing professional learning, she actively seeks new knowledge to enhance her impact. She draws on her expertise in the Pyramid Model framework to support providers in embedding social-emotional skill development across early care, education, and home settings, grounded in the belief that these early competencies create lasting benefits for children.

Outside of her professional work, Elaine is deeply committed to continuous learning in all areas of her life. She enjoys reading both for pleasure and to expand her knowledge, and is always exploring new ways to grow, whether it's training her dog, needle felting, yoga, Pilates, or meditation. She finds joy and balance in spending time outdoors through gardening, hiking, and camping, which helps her stay connected to nature. Most importantly, she cherishes making memories with her family, including her husband and three adult sons, and values opportunities to slow down and reconnect with loved ones whenever they are together.

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Linda Darrow

Linda Darrow M.Ed. has worked in public and private programs with children from birth to age 6 in Vermont and Florida. Previously, she held endorsements as a Principal (Grades PK-12), an Early Childhood Special Educator (Birth through age 6), and Director of Special Education (Age 3-21). She was trained in the Pyramid Model and has coached practitioners in several programs throughout Vermont. She has also worked with programs to develop Leadership Teams to ensure that the Pyramid Model practices become embedded within early childhood programs. Linda worked on the PEDI-LINK project through a grant from the University of Vermont. She supported pediatricians in gaining a greater understanding of their young patients' social and emotional development. Children's emotional and social development and health are a priority for her.  She has made the difficult decision to retire so that she can spend more time with family and friends.

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Beth Peloquin

Beth is a passionate advocate for early childhood education who brings a wealth of experience from both the classroom and the consulting world. After 13 dedicated years in public preschool inclusion programs in both Williston and Fairfield, Vermont, she transitioned in 2013 to a full-time consultant and trainer role. She's a pro in critical areas of early childhood development and teaching, including the Social and Emotional Teaching Practices of The Pyramid Model, Practice-Based Coaching, Strengthening Families, and STEM in Early Childhood. She has rejoined the public education system, coaching teachers in a rural VT school district with 5 elementary schools. In her spare time, she trains across the country for Teaching Strategies, supporting Early Childhood Educators implementing Creative Curriculum and the GOLD Assessment. 

As a recognized leader, Beth’s involvement extends to significant roles in professional organizations. She is a past president of the Vermont Division for Early Childhood (VTDEC) and served on the board of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VAEYC). She currently shares her insights as a board member for Trinity Children’s Center in Burlington, VT. On the academic side, Beth also served as adjunct faculty at the University of Vermont and Champlain College, teaching courses in early education and early childhood special education. Fun fact: she holds the well-earned title of "Almost Dr." Peloquin, having come exceptionally close to completing her doctoral program in Education Leadership and Policy at UVM.

When Beth steps away from her work, she loves spending time with her husband, son, and their dogs. You can often find her relaxing in her kayak or enjoying various family activities like letterboxing, playing cards and board games, watching baseball, reading, snowshoeing, building snowmen, and sharing jokes.

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Jackie Sprague

Jackie has worked for public schools as a teacher and early childhood special educator and in private programs as director. She held the office as Vermont AEYC president and represented Vermont in Washington, DC as well as president of Vermont Division of Early Childhood. Jackie continues to hold Vermont endorsements in Early Childhood Education (Birth to grade 3) and Early Childhood Special Education (Birth to Age 6). Upon “retirement,” she continues her passion of supporting young children’s social and emotional development through training and coaching in private and public schools and programs. Jackie loves the challenge of creating trainings.

In her spare time, she is board member of the Federations of Vermont Lakes and Pond where she helps to plan events regarding protecting our precious lakes.  Jackie is also Vice President of the Lake Harvey Association where she oversees the Greeter Program.  Paid staff greet each boater entering the lake and share important information about protecting the lake.  They will also hot water pressure wash their boat to make sure that it does not carry any invasive species. Her most precious moments are spending time with her granddaughters and playing in the lake.

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