Miss Kelly – Teacher
Kelly Carney, the teacher for the 4s and 5s classes, has been teaching at ECP since 1999. A lifetime Maryland resident, Kelly graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a minor in English. She performed her student teaching in Howard County at Stevens Forest Elementary and Bryant Woods Elementary. Kelly worked in the Membership and Publications Departments of a trade association for many years, where she wrote, edited and published technical journals, newsletters, and public relations materials. Among her many volunteer positions in the community, Kelly has served as the president of East Columbia Preschool. Kelly is currently the editor of the OBServer, the newsletter of the Owen Brown Community Center. Over the past 20 years, she has served as the PTA president at Jeffers Hill Elementary, Oakland Mills Middle School, and Oakland Mills High School. Kelly and her husband, Ed, live in Columbia; they have two children. Teddy graduated from UMCP in May 2012, and received his Masters Degree in Systems Engineering while working at Northrup Grumman in Baltimore. Teddy has three children, Millie, Dexter and Quentin. Bonnie graduated from UMCP in May 2014 and received her PhD from Georgetown University in 2020; she works at Washington Hospital Center in DC and is an associate professor at Georgetown University. As she begins a new year of teaching at ECP, Kelly looks forward to developing relationships with new students and parents, and pursuing further professional training in the field of education.
Katie Lamp – Teacher/Teaching Assistant
Katie has a degree from the University of Maryland in Elementary Education and Master’s degree from Loyola University certifying her as a reading specialist for grades Pre-K-12. She worked as a sixth grade teacher for nine years and as a substitute teacher for all grade levels, and served on the board as Class Coordinator for the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 school years before joining the ECP staff as an assistant teacher in 2016. She is very excited to continue in the EC classroom at ECP as both an assistant teacher and lead teacher for the Morning 3s and Afternoon 4s classes!
Meg Ricks – Teaching Assistant
Meg Ricks grew up in Chicago and has lived in Howard County since 2004. While
earning her BA in Anthropology, Meg got to participate in a two-month archaeology field school in the Southern Utah desert at a site aptly named Rattlesnake Point. As a two-time ECP parent and former publicity chair (2016-17), Meg was very excited to return as a teachers’ assistant in 2021. Every job Meg has held has involved teaching, educating, or coaching in some aspect. Meg’s extensive volunteer work has involved working with and teaching children of all ages up through adults. She has been a Girl Scout leader for many years. She has served for over 15 years in local PTA leadership roles including five as president and also served on the board of the PTA Council of Howard County. She continues to be involved in PTA at her younger children’s schools and cheers on from afar her oldest who is in college. In 2024 Meg was elected to the Howard County Board of Education from district one. In addition to her two children still at home, Meg also lives with her husband Bob and dog Cali.
Ashley Bryant – Teaching Assistant
Ashley Bryant has a degree from Southern Virginia University in Family and Child
Development. She has lived in Columbia since she was 2 years old and attended Bryant Woods Elementary School, Wilde Lake Middle School, and Wilde Lake High School. She moved to North Carolina for a few years and is officially back to raise her five year old son in Howard County. Ashley has worked in child care for over 10 years in such positions as a nanny, after school counselor for a Virginia elementary school, camp plus director for Howard County Recreation and Parks, as well as, a year in a Montessori preschool. This is her first year with East Columbia Preschool and she is very excited to work with the 3s and 4s as an assistant teacher.
Amy Rushing – Director
Amy Rushing joined ECP in August 2014. Amy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Information and Computer Science and an M.B.A. Prior to coming to ECP, she worked 17 years as an I.T. Specialist. In 2015, Amy completed the 45-hour Child Care Administration course. In 2023, she earned the Maryland Department of Education 90-hour preschool teacher certification. She has two sons who are ECP graduates. While they were at ECP, she served on the Executive Board as a Class Coordinator, Treasurer, and Bookkeeper. Amy is excited to also be working in the Morning 3s class this year as an assistant teacher!
