Our Staff and Faculty
Christy
(Assistant Teacher in the Toddler Class)
Christy was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. After marrying in 2001, she joined her husband in Madison, which she proudly calls home. Christy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Services. She went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree that enabled her to serve as an inter-faith hospital chaplain. Christy also owns a photography business that combines her love of people and art and is an important creative outlet. Her husband, a former Montessori student, introduced her to the Montessori philosophy. Christy’s love of children and her ability to connect with them is one of her strong suits. She feels fortunate to be a part of the staff after watching her son blossom at MCH.
Derek
(Lead Preschool Teacher)
Derek was born and raised in Madison. He grew up on West Lawn Ave. and attended Blessed Sacrament School from first to eighth grades. He graduated from Madison West High School in 1990 and then left for a while to attend school and play ice hockey at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Homesick, Derek decided to return to Madison to be closer to family and friends. He graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology. With a child on the way, he decided to take classes which focused on child psychology. Upon graduation, he followed his daughter, Indigo, to a Montessori school, and became an assistant in a preschool classroom. After two years of being an assistant, Derek came to MCH to lead the afterschool program. He received his Montessori teacher training while leading the afterschool program. He then became lead teacher in one of the preschool classrooms. Derek is clearly very happy to be teaching at MCH.
Elena
(Assistant Teacher for the Afternoon Program)
Elena grew up in Massachusetts and Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor with majors in English and Spanish. She is proud to be a third generation teacher and the first in her family to work at a Montessori school. Elena loves to see the children’s creativity abound in the afternoon program, and does what she can to support their creative endeavors. She particularly enjoys having lunch with the children. Outside of MCH, Elena likes to run, read, and cook. She joined MCH in Fall of 2010.
Hana
(Assistant Teacher for Kerri's class and for the Afternoon Program)
Hana comes from the Rep. of Kosova and was born and raised in Mitrovica. She is married and has a daughter. She has a law degree from the University of Prishtina in Kosovo and has also taken numerous courses on communication, peace building, conflict management and diversity. Hana has been employed at MCH since July 2009 and is so happy to be working with the children, especially helping them with cooking and art projects. She is so inspired by the Montessori philosophy and is proud to be part of the Montessori family.
Havva
(Lead Teacher
for the Afternoon Program)
Originally from Bulgaria, Haava has a degree in architecture. Like so many Montessorians, she started working here after sending her child here. Having a great understanding of how the program runs, she has become the perfect Lead Teacher of the Afternoon Program. She has been teaching at MCH since 2000 and she enjoys working with her students on art and cooking projects.
Jentri
(Assistant Teacher for the Toddler Program)
Jentri came to MCH in the fall of 2009 after having been a full-time nanny for a family in the area. Born in Las Vegas, it took several years for her to make her way to Wisconsin but she calls it home after having spent so much time here including her college years at UW-Madison. She tries to incorporate her education (a Bachelor of Science in Art and an Environmental Studies Certificate from the Gaylord Nelson Institute) into her everyday work with the children at MCH. In her free time, she enjoys playing music, driving piles of friends out to the WI river in her veggie-Mercedes, and running in the country with her red heeler, Birdie.
Jim
(MCH Administrative Director)
Jim is one of the few native Madisonians that hasn’t been displaced. He, like so many other Montessorians, stumbled across the philosophy/curriculum and fell in love with it. Jim received his training after working as an assistant for many years at MCH, where he has taught for many years. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Edgewood College and is currently the Administrative Director. In his free time, you might catch Jim up on stage playing his guitar or out on the lakes in his canoe.
Kerri
(Lead Teacher for Preschool and for the Extended Day classes)
Kerri attended middle school and high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but spent 4 years in Minnesota at St. Olaf college, where she studied music education and enjoyed soloing and touring with the choir. Now she pursues her interest in singing by participating in the Madison Opera Company. As a member of the chorus she has learned a lot over the years about how to approach music with young children and the many benefits of a rich music program. In addition to music, Kerri enjoys creating and maintaining gardens. She began her Montessori career in Chicago where she was an assistant for 2 years while taking her teacher training. She started at MCH as an assistant in 1980. The next year she was hired as a directress and has been at MCH ever since.
Kylie
(Assistant Teacher for the Afternoon Program)
Kylie moved to Madison in 2002 to attend school at UW-Madison. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Psychology. Kylie started at Montessori children's house in May 2010 and is enjoying her time with the children and learning about Montessori teaching. She is currently working towards her Masters degree in counseling.
Laura
(MCH Program Director and Lead Teacher for the Toddler class)
Laura has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison. She came to MCH as an assistant teacher in 1990, new to the Montessori Method. She was inspired by the philosophy and pursued Montessori teacher training at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. She received her AMS Infant/Toddler credential in 1994. Laura has been the toddler lead teacher since 1994 and in 2005 also became the MCH Program Director. During the past twenty years, Laura has also taught Kindermusik ®, private piano lessons, and served as a church musician. She and her husband Jim (MCH Administrative Director) have three children and in their spare time love to canoe camp, bike, garden and play music.
Luz
(Assistant Teacher for Derek's Preschool class, Spanish Teacher for the Extended Day Program)
Luz is from Mexico City and assists in Derek's bilingual preschool classroom. Luz studied graphic design in college. She has many years of experience teaching Spanish to children, and she has worked at MCH since 1994.
Nurtene
(Assistant Teacher for Phyllis' Preschool class)
Nurtene is from Kosova (former Yugoslavia) and received her Science of Teaching degree from College-Prishtina-Kosova. She taught for 3 years at Prishtina-Elena Giika and has been teaching at MCH since 2000. Nurtene loves working with kids, and she especially enjoys working with students on art projects.
Phyllis
(Preschool Lead Teacher)
Phyllis grew up in North Dakota and graduated from Jamestown College with a BS Degree in Elementary Education. She taught first grade for six years in West Bend, WI. When her first child was born she assisted in starting a new Montessori School and worked as assistant, parent, and board member. She got her Montessori training from MATTC in Chicago in 1982 and took over as teacher and Director. She moved to Sheboygan and owned a Montessori School for eight years before moving to Madison. She has been teaching pre-school and elementary Montessori ever since (mostly at MCH). She had all four of her children in her classes as well as her two grandchildren. Her daughter is also a Montessori teacher, so it runs in the family.
