Meet the Staff
The Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative has an outstanding team of dedicated Special Education Teachers, Speech Pathologists, School Psychologists, Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists all of whom are determined to help students succeed. Out team members offer support and guidance, uniquely tailored to each student.
SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Kim Wegner-McCauley, School Psychologist / Special Education Coordinator
kmccauley@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Kim has worked as a dedicated school psychologist in Montana for the past 16 years, bringing a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to supporting students, families, and school teams. She earned her Master’s degree in School Psychology and School Counseling from the University of Idaho in 2009 and began her career as a school counselor at Gallatin Gateway School. After five years in that role, Kim transitioned to Manhattan Public Schools, where she served for seven years as the K–12 School Psychologist, 504 Coordinator, and Special Education Coordinator.
For the past three years, Kim has been a valued member of the Gallatin Madison Special Education Cooperative. This year, she stepped into the role of Director of Special Education, where she oversees special education services across the cooperative while continuing to provide school psychologist support and leadership.
Kim is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Montana Association of School Psychologists (MASP), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Montana Council of Administrators for Special Education (MCASE).
Outside of work, Kim and her husband enjoy fishing, camping, and traveling during the summer months. They also love spending quality time with family and friends.
OFFICE STAFF
Riley Russell, Executive Assistant
administrator@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Riley Russell has been an Executive Assistant with the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative since 2016. Riley grew up in Billings, MT and graduated from Billings Senior High. After graduating Riley spent two years at Carroll College in Helena, MT before transferring to Montana State University and graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Community Health in 2015. Being a Montana native, she enjoys camping, snowboarding, hiking, as well as spending time with her husband, children and dogs.
Joyce Schmidt, Clerk/Business Manager
administrator@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Originally from Wyoming, Joyce has been a resident of Montana since 1963 when her family moved to Bozeman so she and her siblings could attend school. A graduate of the Bozeman Senior High School bi-centennial class, she later went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University, College of Business in Accounting in 1988. The following year she accepted a cost accounting position with a fortune 500 corporation–Hercules Inc. Joyce worked in their aerospace division in Clearfield Utah and was assigned to Air Force contracts. Although Hercules offered a secure career path with many opportunities for growth Joyce and her husband chose to return to Bozeman to raise their young son close to family. Joyce entered public service as an elected county official in 1994. Joyce served two terms as County Auditor and during her second term ran for the position of State Auditor in 2000. Since leaving public service Joyce was employed as the General Manager and Accountant for two local family owned QSRs for a decade, until they were sold to outside concerns. This past summer Joyce was hired as the part-time Business Manager/Clerk for the Co-op and finds this new experience a blessing that is both challenging and rewarding.
Joyce met her husband Jerry, a gifted artist and inventor, in a high school art class. They have been married since 1977 and have one child. Their son Robyn is also an artist who is presently working in his chosen field of advertising photography in New York City. Joyce enjoys taking walks with her husband, hiking, target shooting, gardening, reading, fishing with her Dad, time with family and friends, and working towards her goal of a balanced life filled with simple pleasures.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Jennifer Lewis, Occupational Therapist
jlewis@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Jennifer Lewis has been an occupational therapist for the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative since 2010. A native of Iowa, she graduated from South Dakota State University with her B.S. in Psychology in 1999 and graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis with a Graduate Degree in Occupational Therapy in 2001. Prior to moving to Montana in 2010, Jennifer worked in hospitals, nursing homes, and a California School District for 9 years. Her professional development has focused on, but was not limited to, sensory integration, handwriting, reflex integration, executive function, oral motor, wheelchair seating/positioning, and assistive technology. Jennifer pursued Assistive Technology through California State University – Northridge and received a Certification in Assistive Technology in 2014.
Jennifer lives in Bozeman with her two children. She enjoys participating in sports and outdoor activities, such as, camping, fishing and hiking. Most of her free time is spent shuttling and watching her children participate in taekwondo, basketball, baseball, and gymnastics, or enjoying the Montana outdoors.
Megan Kemp DPT, ATC, Physical Therapist
mkemp@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Megan Kemp has been a physical therapist with the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative since 2022. Megan is a Gallatin Valley native and graduate of Manhattan Christian High School. She received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Montana in 2013. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California and is a board-certified athletic trainer through the National Athletic Trainer’s Association. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Point Loma Nazarene University in their Masters of Kinesiology program. Prior to obtaining her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, Megan worked as an athletic trainer at Point Loma Nazarene University. Megan is passionate about helping children reach their full potential and strives to use the most current evidence-based practice medicine coupled with her knowledge of biomechanics to help her patients reach their goals.
Megan lives in Churchill with her husband and three children. She loves flowers and enjoys spending time in her yard. She also loves to be outside hiking and camping with her family, serving at her local church and attending MSU football games. Go Cats!!
Caroline Rehder, Physical Therapist
crehder@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Caroline Rehder has been a physical therapist for the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative since 2023. She was originally from Colorado and completed both her undergraduate, a BS in Exercise Science in 1989, and Master of Physical Therapy degree in 1991 at The University of Iowa. She and her family have lived in Livingston, MT for 21 years. Her professional experience includes acute hospital, geriatric, and orthopedic care of adults and outpatient and school-based services for children. Of the 32 years she has been practicing as a physical therapist, 12 years have been in rural schools in Montana. Her professional development has included courses in pediatric kinesiotaping, pediatric wheelchair seating and positioning, sensory-motor impairments, and primitive reflex integration. In her free time, she loves hiking, swimming, camping, cross country skiing, watching her son play soccer and downhill ski, and generally being outside with her family.
Angela Holmes, Occupational Therapist
aholmes@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Angie Holmes has been an occupational therapist for the Gallatin Madison Special Education Cooperative since the Fall of 2024. She attended Colorado State University and has been an occupational therapist for the past 30 years. Angie has experience working in a variety of medical and school settings in many different states. She has provided services to students in the rural schools in Montana for the past 14 years and also recently worked in the outpatient setting at Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena for 5 years. Her professional development has focused on Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, social/emotional/behavioral disorders, sensory processing, handwriting, and executive function,
Angie currently resides in Livingston and has 2 children. In her free time, Angie loves to take walks, travel, read, follow her children in all of their sporting activities and spend time with family and friends.
PSYCHOLOGISTS
Nicole Bottsford-Miller, School Psychologist
nbottsford@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Nicole graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000. She attended graduate school in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota, where she earned both Master’s and Doctoral Degrees, completing the latter in 2008. After her internship with Area Education Agency 11 in Iowa, she decided to join her husband on his professional training adventures, working with Alamance-Burlington School System in North Carolina for four years and then Humble ISD in Texas for another four years. After taking a one-year hiatus to study culinary arts, she joined her husband again in Billings, Montana, working for Billings Public Schools for nine years. She joined the Gallatin-Madison Cooperative in 2024.
Nicole was born in Moscow, Idaho, while living in Palouse, Washington. Soon thereafter, her family moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, relocating to Chadron, Nebraska two years later. For all of her early formative education, she alternated years between Chadron and Minneapolis. Following years of travel, she is so very happy to call Montana home, embracing so much of what is offered. In her down time, Nicole enjoys hiking, camping, meals with friends and family, concerts, music festivals, snowboarding, and spending time with her husband, Justin, and two pups, Cody and Cocoa Puff.
Professionally, Nicole has extensive experience working with diverse populations, in K-12 settings, and providing support and training to improve the educational outcomes for all children. These experiences have included data-based decision-making, psychoeducational and curriculum-based evaluation, functional behavioral assessment, and behavioral consultation. She has also been actively involved in system-level change by supporting district initiatives as they transition toward practices that more systematically promote academic and behavioral success.
SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS
Kaitlin Sonderer, Speech Language Pathologist
ksonderer@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Kaitlin Sonderer is thrilled to rejoin the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative staff after taking some time off to raise her young children.
Originally from upstate NY, she relocated to MT in 2006 and earned her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Montana in 2013. Kaitlin has experience working as an SLP in schools, skilled nursing facilities, private practice and hospitals. Kaitlin is passionate about early intervention and loves working with school-aged children. She has completed continuing education courses in PROMPT, Oral Placement Therapy, Beckman Oral Motor, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), the TEACCH Autism Program, Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and CPI non-violent crisis intervention. She is a member of ASHA and MSHA.
Kaitlin lives in Ennis with her husband, two daughters, dogs and horses. She enjoys the outdoors, yoga and traveling.
Aubrey McAtee, M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist
amcatee@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Aubrey is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) who graduated from the University of Montana and is from Three Forks, MT. She got her bachelor’s degree from Montana State University making her a Montana woman to her roots.
During the time in her graduate program, she gained a wide variety of experiences working in Washington state in settings such as the public school system, teletherapy, and inpatient/outpatient hospitals. She has had the opportunity to work with the neurodiverse population extensively, educating and treating dysphagia, aphasia, phonological awareness, apraxia of speech, and a variety of speech and communication disorders. She has experience with animal-assisted therapy with Eagle Mount and working in a hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has collaborated with an interprofessional practice team from across the region to create a resource for young children including Utah, North Dakota, and Idaho. She is working towards becoming a certified Qualified Orofacial Myologist (QOM) working with children and adults on feeding, swallowing, and speech disorders. She is passionate about working with all ages and their families to educate, advocate, and treat speech language pathology disorders.
Kylee Seigal, M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist Aid
kseigal@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Kylee grew up in Western Washington and made the move to Bozeman in 2021. After a year at Montana State University, she transferred to Portland State University, where she is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences online. Passionate about working with young children, Kylee finds joy in getting to know their personalities and watching them grow and learn. Outside of work, she enjoys camping, hiking, and spending time with her husband, friends/family, and dog.
SPEECH THERAPISTS
Shannon Childs, Speech Therapist
schilds@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Shannon Childs has been helping individuals find their voice and improve their communication since 2000. She joined the Gallatin Madison Special Education Cooperative in 2011 and brings over two decades of diverse clinical experience to her role. Her work spans schools, skilled nursing facilities, and private practice, with a strong emphasis on school-based speech and language services.
Shannon has a particular passion for areas such as speech science, language development in educational settings, neurogenic communication disorders, fluency, childhood hearing disorders, social communication, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She is dedicated to supporting a broad range of children and remains committed to lifelong learning, regularly pursuing professional development to stay current with evidence-based practices.
Originally from Upstate New York, Shannon earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Nazareth College of Rochester. She holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and is an active member of ASHA and the Montana Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA).
Shannon now lives in Bozeman, Montana, with her husband and two children. Outside of work, she loves exploring the outdoors—whether it’s backpacking, skiing, practicing yoga, capturing nature through photography, or relaxing by a mountain stream or campfire with loved ones.
Amanda Massey, Speech Therapist
amassey@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Amanda Massey began working for the Gallatin Madison Special Education Cooperative in 2014. She received her undergraduate degree in Communication Science in 2013 and graduated in 2014 with a graduate degree in Speech Language Pathology from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Amanda grew up in a small town in West Michigan. She spent her childhood summers visiting extended family here in Montana. When her parents decided to move to Montana to become partners in the family potato farm, she knew she would end up there too. After graduation, she packed her bags and headed west to be closer to family.
Amanda now lives in Bozeman. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also enjoys reading, skiing, boating, fishing, and exploring Montana’s beautiful landscape.
Amber Fortier, Speech Language Pathologist
afortier@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Amber Fortier is a dedicated school-based Speech-Language Pathologist with the Gallatin-Madison Special Education Cooperative, where she has spent the past 6 years supporting students’ communication needs. A native of Montana, Amber earned her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Montana and holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence through ASHA.
Amber has extensive experience working with students with a variety of communication challenges, including articulation disorders, language disorders, social-language disorders, and complex communication needs. She is especially passionate about advocating for students with complex communication needs and working to remove barriers so that all students can fully participate in their educational experience.
Outside of work, Amber enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring the natural beauty of Montana. She also loves reading with her kids and creating fun, imaginative projects at home.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Julia Tucker, Special Education Teacher
jtucker@galmadspecialedcoop.org
Julia Tucker joined Gallatin Madison Special Education Cooperative in 2020. As a special education teacher, she has committed to fostering inclusive learning environments and empowering students with diverse learning needs. Her interest in special education began at nineteen when she was employed as a special education aide in a self-contained classroom. Julia developed a profound understanding of the unique challenges and incredible potential that individuals with special needs possess. This experience led her to pursue a career in teaching.
She graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2009, earning a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies. In 2010, she joined a teaching cohort at UCR, where she undertook an intensive teaching credentialing program focused on working with students with mild to moderate disabilities. In 2012, Julia’s journey led her to the charming landscapes of Montana, where she gained experience in multiple inclusive classrooms in the Pre-K-12 settings.
Outside of work hours, she spends her time with her husband and two children. They enjoy riding in their UTV and exploring the amazing natural beauty that Montana has to offer.