Management Team
Elizabeth Newman, Executive Director
Elizabeth embodies the spirit of our Children’s Academies. Her unique experience as a student, teacher, manager, director and now parent of multiple children at the academies! Elizabeth’s face even served as the logo of the Academies for most of Maryville Children’s Academy’s formative years! Beginning in 1993 as a Pre-K I student, Elizabeth and her siblings spent countless hours making memories at Maryville Children’s Academy, both during and after work hours. Since graduating MCA, Elizabeth has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management concentrating in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee, and garnered experience in almost every role at Westland, Ebenezer, and Maryville Children’s Academy before ascending to the role of Executive Director in 2014. As the Executive Director, Elizabeth oversees all three centers while working together with our incredible teachers and Founder to provide the best childcare East Tennessee has to offer. Her mission is simple: enhance the lives of every student, parent, and teacher she encounters by creating an atmosphere of love, confidence, and capability.
Molly Anderson, Director
Molly Anderson, was born and raised in Maryville, TN. She has a degree in Child and Family Studies from Carson Newman University. She has prior experience as a social worker before starting her career at MCA in 2019 and loving it! Ms. Molly has always worked in the nursery at church growing up and eventually started babysitting. She then was a nanny when she was able to start driving. After nannying, she worked at an after-school program in the summers and throughout college. She has always had a passion for kids and all of her previous jobs have been working with children. Outside of work she loves spending time with her fiancé, friends, family, taking her dog for walks and doing anything creative.
Before becoming the Director for MCA, she was the Pre-K Two teacher for 3 years. Ms. Molly has an extensive background in caring for young children and helping them learn and explore their environments. She can thrive in any age group setting and is great asset to our management team.
Kaitlyn Bogard, Assistant Director
Kaitlyn, known affectionately as Ms. Kait to her students, was born and raised in Claremont, California before relocating to East Tennessee in 2021.
From a young age, Ms. Kait knew she wanted to work with children. She began her childcare journey at 16 as a babysitter for family and friends for whom she transitioned into a full-time nanny role while attending high school and college. Ms. Kait then began her formal early childhood career as the Preschool Coordinator for Hillside Community Church in Rancho Cucamonga, California where she was in charge of the preschool curriculum and making sure rooms were properly staffed while assisting teachers and volunteers with anything they needed. Ms. Kait’s extensive experience working with children in both private and professional settings has been instrumental in her understanding of early childhood education and childcare program management and has made her an outstanding member of the WCA family.
Since Ms. Kait joined WCA in 2021, she has displayed dedication, creativity, and leadership while garnering experience as a Toddler 1, Toddler 2, Twos, and Pre- K I teacher. Evidencing her commitment to early childhood education and her drive to better herself each day, Ms. Kait is continuing her early childhood education by pursuing her Child Development Associate (CDA) credential to further strengthen her knowledge and understanding of the young minds she will help mold.
Outside of the classroom, Ms. Kait enjoys reading, cooking, and spending quality time with her husband and three children . As Assistant Director at MCA, she looks forward to inspiring students and staff to learn and grow daily and to otherwise shepherding the vibrant, creative learning environment our families have come to expect from the Center.
Ashley Raby, Curriculum Director
Ms. Ashley is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She moved to Tennessee her senior year of high school, where she met her husband Archie, whom she married in 2010. They have two beautiful girls, with their oldest in elementary school and youngest attending WCA. Ms. Ashley has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Tennessee Tech University and has worked in education since 2009. Her experience has taught her that curriculum is essential for the growing of young minds and this inspires her to continue her early education work daily. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, taking hikes and spending time with her family.
Ashley has been with the Children’s Academy since 2016, where she started teaching in the Pre-K I classroom but quickly became the Director of Curriculum for all three of the centers. Curriculum is the backbone of early childhood education. We make continuous changes to our lessons, adapting to new ways of teaching and learning in our centers!
Maryville Children’s Academy - 1205 Middlesettlements Road, Maryville, TN 37801