Heather Davis grew up on Long Island, New York and has lived in several regions of the country. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Child Development from the University of Georgia (2001) and spent the first 15 years of her career working in public teacher education. Read more

Kristin Edwards, M.Ed, is the Director & Founder of Lifetime Montessori School and Co-Founder of La Jolla Montessori School. Her mission is to provide a quality Montessori environment for children to help prepare them to become Joyful learners and problem solvers. Kristin Founded Lifetime Montessori school in 2007. She and her team built Lifetime Montessori school from scratch into a 180 student toddler-thru-elementary school powerhouse. In addition to her duties at Lifetime Montessori, Kristin serves as a pedagogical advisor for La Jolla Montessori School.Read more

Ms. Angela Leyva earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Family Development from San Diego State University in 2015, an American Montessori Society (AMS) Certification in 2013 and an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Certification in 2018. She studied abroad in Avila, Spain for 6 months and has been teaching in Montessori environments for over 10 years. Upon her return from Spain, she attended The Montessori Institute of San Diego where she trained as an ‘assistant to infancy’ (0-3 years). Guiding young children has become a passion throughout her tenure as a guide. Read more

Ms. Hannah Welch is from Albany, NY, and recently moved to San Diego to pursue her dream of living in California by the beach. She loves helping others and making everyone’s job easier so she has always thrived in administrative work. Hannah loves being around children and knew La Jolla Montessori School would be the best fit as she truly believes it is the best way for a child to learn and grow. Read more

Ms. Carmen Gaxiola studied English at St. Louis University in St. Louis Missouri and earned a Degree in Education Administration from Anahuac University in Mexico City. She studied Montessori in 1999 at the Montessori Institute of San Diego (MISD) and has been an AMI Montessori Guide for over two decades. Read more

Ms. Kimberly Ceralde holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with coursework in Child Development and completed the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Assistants course in 2020.  She is currently in the Primary Guide training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego. Ms. Kimberly is passionate about child development and about learning more about Dr. Montessori's methods for early childhood education. Read more

Ms. Natasha Garcia earned her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on Young Families in 2010. She completed her AMI Primary Certification for ages 3-6 at the Montessori Institute of San Diego in 2020. She is thrilled to continue her teaching journey as a Primary English Guide at La Jolla Montessori School. With 13 years of experience as a teacher and former preschool Director, Ms. Natasha has always believed in the transformative nature of a Montessori education for young children. Read more

Ms. Karina Velazquez earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education in 2007 and an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Diploma to become an AMI Guide at the Fundacion Argentina Maria Montessori (FAMM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2011. She has a wealth of experience working in Montessori schools. Read more

Ms. Radhiya Mohammed is originally from Iraq and came to San Diego 13 years ago. She joined the LJMS team in 2021 as an assistant teacher for our aftercare program. As our ‘go-to’ substitute teacher, Ms. Radhiya has experience stepping into the role of English Speaking Guide in each of our primary classrooms. Working in collaboration with the Guides, she developed an aftercare program inspired by Montessori principles. Read more

Ms. Katia Ledon earned her American Montessori Society (AMS) Certification in 2012 from the Centro De Ensenanza Montessori and began her career working at Buona Terra Montessori School in Tijuana. Then in 2015, she completed her AMI Primary Certificate from the Montessori Institute of San Diego. For five years, she led a Spanish immersion classroom at Kinderhouse Montessori. Read more

Ms. Michelle earned an AMI Primary-Level Degree from the Montessori Institute of San Diego in 2017 and continued her studies in Education Sciences in Tijuana, Mexico. She implemented what she learned at MISD and in her education courses in her Montessori environments at Paolini Montessori and Scripps Montessori School. Read more

Ms. Cherie Nogueira earned a Bachelor of Science in Statistics and is an experienced AMI Montessori Guide who has worked in Montessori environments around the world. Her love of the Montessori method began the summer right after her college graduation. She was instantly drawn to this child-centered approach that strives to support the development of the whole child. She was particularly drawn to Dr. Montessori’s philosophy about following the child’s interest and has witnessed firsthand how impactful this simple strategy can be. She also found the concrete nature of the math curriculum very appealing. Read more

Ms. Mara Smith earned an Associate's Degree in Child Development, a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts and a CA public school Teaching Credential. Mara’s passion for early childhood started when she took her first course in child development and decided that was where she wanted to focus her future. She has worked in both traditional elementary classrooms and in Montessori classrooms. In 2017, Ms. Mara completed her AMI Primary Certification. Read More

Ms. Asa earned her AMI Montessori Diploma from the Montessori Institute of San Diego in 2018, followed by completing her Master’s Degree in Montessori Education from Loyola University, Maryland in 2019. She has worked in AMI Montessori schools since 2016. Read more

Ms. Lilia Garcia earned her Associate's Degree in Early Education from Southwestern College in 2006 and then her AMI Assistants to Infancy and Primary Diploma for children ages 0-6 years old from The Montessori Institute of San Diego (MISD). Read more

Ms. Silvia Castillo earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Preschool Education from 2003 to 2007 at the State Normal School in the city of Ensenada (Hometown). She has experience working in both public and private schools. In 2011, she enrolled in the graduate program for a Master’s Degree in Child Psychotherapy at the University of Tijuana obtaining preparation in this area. From 2017 to 2022, she decided to earn a second Bachelor’s Degree in Plastic Arts, from the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), setting the goal of mixing the experience in education with art and supporting creative processes in the little ones.Read more

Ms. Andrea moved to San Diego from Cancún, México in 2019 in order to complete the AMI training course at the Montessori Institute of San Diego (MISD). Having grown up with a really big family on her mom's side, Ms. Andrea knew she always liked being around children. She created her own daycare for her cousin’s children. Read more

Ms. Yvette Medina earned her American Montessori Society (AMS) Toddler Diploma in 2013 from the Centro de Ensenanza Montessori and is currently working on her Master's Degree in Special Education at the Universidad Humanitas. She has been guiding young children for the past 10 years - first as an assistant and then as a Head Guide. Read more

Ms. Madeleine Gau holds a Bachelor of Arts in both Public Relationships and Spanish language and is passionate about bilingual education. After working in traditional early-childhood education programs, she became interested in Dr. Montessori's methods for early childhood education. Ms. Madeleine is passionate about child development and about learning more about Dr. Montessori's methods for early childhood education.Read more

Ms. America Villa completed her training to be a Primary Spanish Assistant Teacher through the Montessori Stoppani Training Center in Tijuana in 2022. She plans on pursuing the AMI Primary certificate to be a Head Spanish Guide. Ms. America is from Los Ángeles, California but grew up in Tijuana. Five years ago, she started working in a traditional elementary school, but when she had the opportunity to work at La Jolla Montessori School, she didn't think twice about taking the job!Read more

Ms. Melissa Vazquez earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Arts and Sciences from San Diego State University in 2017. After completing her Degree, she continued her preparation in the field of Child Development while working in elementary school computer science programs as a coding teacher at ThoughtStem LLC. In early 2020, Ms. Melissa pursued an infant/toddler teacher position at KinderCare Learning Centers where she developed her instructive practices. Read more

Ms. Flor Roshnaye has over three decades of experience in childcare. She helped build childcare programs at the Mission Valley YMCA to work in the food service department for the San Diego Unified School District. She enjoys seeing the growth of all the children she has taken care of over the years. Seeing them go from children to high school and college graduates makes her very happy.Read more

Ms. Olivia Ventimiglia earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz in 2021. She most enjoyed her Child Development and Child Psychology courses and has been enthusiastic to apply what she learned in her courses to her role at La Jolla Montessori School. Read more

Ms. Emily Ridley-Zecos earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Political Science from the University of San Diego in 2022. While attending University, she enjoyed learning about Child Psychology and Development, which inspired her to find a job working with children. Ms. Emily has served as an academic tutor, child advocate, and social science researcher. Read more