COVID-19 Update: Johns Creek Montessori is currently open and enrolling. Please contact us for any questions. |
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DISTINCTIVE ELEMENTS
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Johns Creek Montessori is dedicated to providing an authentic Montessori environment for our students and is staffed with teachers that are highly trained and equipped to offer the best in a Montessori education. Our staff teaches within a collaborative environment and is able to support our families and their children in every aspect of the Montessori environment, both at home and at school. Please take a moment to meet our wonderful JCMSOG staff:
AdministrationAsh Punjani, Head of School
Ash was born in Mumbai and belongs to a family of entrepreneurs. She immigrated to the US in 1989 to pursue higher education and became passionate about the field of education through voluntary service as a teacher in her house of prayer religious education program. Ash moved to Atlanta after her marriage in 2002 and continues to serve actively in the community in education and youth development. She currently resides in Johns Creek with her husband, Akbar, and her son, Kayden, a graduate of JCM who is now 10 years old and a fourth-grader at Johns Creek Elementary. Ash loves to cook and often brings our teachers delectable dishes for our monthly luncheons! “Establishing peace is the work of education.” Debra Markham, Director
She taught a 1st/2nd grade combination, a 3rd/4th grade combination and Kindergarten at the Suzuki School before becoming an Assistant Director in 1986 and then Head of Schools in 2005 for what had evolved into the three Suzuki campuses. She also worked with the Suzuki staff in the opening of the Montessori Teacher Education Institute here in Atlanta; this training center is accredited by both MACTE (Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education) and AMS (American Montessori Society). Like many JCM teachers, Debra was trained as a Montessorian by Dr. Feland Meadows, a Goizueta Endowed Chair of Early Childhood at Kennesaw State University, in 2007 and received her 2.5-6 year-old credential from the Pan American Montessori Society in 2013. She also completed one year of PAMS Infant/Toddler training at Kennesaw and received the Birth to Three credential from the American Montessori Society in the spring of 2016. She lives in Marietta with her husband; her daughter (also a Montessori teacher) and her husband live nearby with her four-year old granddaughter, who is currently enrolled in the Honesty Community. Her passions are teaching, gardening, cooking and books and she is thrilled to be able to share all of these with your children! “When a child is given a little leeway, he will at once shout, “I want to do it!” But in our schools, which have an environment adapted to the children’s needs, they say, ‘Help me to do it alone.’” Joy CommunitySilvia Torres
Silvia began working with our youngest students in the Joy community in 2016 and was instrumental in establishing the environment during the classroom’s first year. She is especially interested in helping our babies achieve their first level of independence: walking,, eating and using their words. Silvia lives in in Johns Creek with her husband Omar, her son Alan (who now 20 years old is in his third year at Cornell) and her daughter, Atenea (who is now 18 and beginning her senior year at Northview High School) “Concentration is the key that opens up the child to latent treasures within him.” Stella Ifeadike
Stella earned a BS in Politico Science at the University of Sokoto in Nigeria; she then married, immigrated to the US in 1990 and became a stay-at-home mom. She has taught as a substitute teacher in several traditional schools and also volunteers at Peachtree Corners Baptist Church each Sunday in the church nursery. Stella’s hobbies include travelling, reading, cooking and volunteering and she is very excited to have found Montessori, believing it to be the best way to show young children how to become creative, independent leaders. Respect Community
Florjana Rama-Shala
Florjana has taught at the International Montessori Academy and Meadowbrook Montessori, both as an assistant and as a teacher before joining Johns Creek Montessori in 2018. She lives in Grayson with her husband and since her passion is sharing a love for the diverse cultures of the world, she loves to travel. Florjana is looking forward to seeing how much her young students grow this year! “Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.” Vidhya SubramanianVidhya holds both a BA and a Masters in Economics from Kundarai Naachiyaar College and Annamalai University, respectively. Her oldest daughter is a former Montessori student and Vidhya volunteered at Shaker Elementary and Rivertrail Elementary Middle School before joining the Respect classroom as an assistant in 2018. “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” Peace CommunityJi You
Ji holds BA in Early Childhood Education, Birth through Kindergarten, with a concentration in Montessori Education from Kennesaw State University. She holds a MACTE-accredited Pan American Montessori Society Teaching Certificate and a GA State Teaching Certificate, both for children from Birth through Kindergarten. Ji joined our school in 2016 and has made her PrePrimary classroom an amazing place. Ji’s approach provides a balance of gentleness and firmness, giving children freedom coupled with boundaries. The Montessori Method best matches her own philosophy of teaching – children learn best through purposeful work, having large uninterrupted blocks of time to explore and discover on their own, with windows of opportunity for times of specialized learning unique to each child. Ji lives in Suwanee with her husband, and her daughter Joy, who is now a toddler in the Respect classroom. “The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self. Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow, and is working to create the adult, the person that is to be. Such experience is not just play… it is work he must do in order to grow up.” Anu Rawat
Anu left teaching when her son was born in 2013, but after moving to Johns Creek with her family, she sought an authentic Montessori school for him because she knew he would flourish in its prepared environment. Anu joined JCM in August 2016 and is a vital member of the PrePrimary team. Her knowledge of Montessori and her experience as a teacher and a mother help us provide a true Montessori environment for the development of young minds. Anu loves to garden and to cook (she makes roti occasionally for her students!) for her husband Ajit and her son Vihaan, who is leaving the Love Community to enter first grade at Chattahoochee Elementary. “The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life.” Kyndal DickeyKyndal was born in Mississippi and lives at home with her mother and father, three younger brothers and a cat and dog; Kyndal appreciates her very loving family even though she describes her siblings as “quite a handful”! She loves spending time at the beach, hiking and traveling all over the world with her family. As a child, Kyndal and her family relocated often because of her father’s career and so she loves the community feel of each of the JCM classrooms and the sense of belonging the children demonstrate as they care for their environment. Kyndal graduated from Northview High School here in Johns Creek in May of 2018 and now a student at Georgia State University where she will first attain an Associate’s degree in General studies and then a Bachelor’s in finance. Kyndal began assisting our teachers in their classrooms in January 2019 when a friend shared with her how much she enjoyed our classrooms. She has come to understand the drive of our children drive to learn and appreciates the self-discipline that they demonstrate as they work with each other. She describes being in the midst of their loving relationships with each other as being “the highlight of my week.” “One test of the correctness of the educational environment is the happiness of the child.” Love CommunityZoe Ammatuna
Zoe is completing her degree in Early Childhood education at Kennesaw State University and holds a Montessori teaching certificate from the Pan-American Montessori Society for ages 2.5 – 6 years. Zoe has taught as both an assistant and a Lead guide for the past eight years in several Montessori schools, joining Johns Creek Montessori in 2015. Zoe loves to help children see the connections between language, math and science and the world around them, believing that children learn best when concepts and skills are presented in a context that is familiar to them. She is particularly passionate about the Peace Curriculum, believing strongly in Dr. Montessori’s assertion that children are the hope and promise of mankind. In her classroom, she helps facilitate the Primary child’s growing ability to resolve conflict in a respectful, empathetic way as he learns to honor his needs and feelings while also considering those of his peers. Zoe is very proud of her children’s accomplishments in this area, and you will often see her friends offering a tissue or glass of water to a classmate who is upset! “When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength.” Honesty Community
Lauren Martin
Lauren prizes the Montessori system of education for everything it gives to our children: independence, the respectful manner in which adults and children work together and the peacefulness that is woven throughout the entire curriculum. She lives in Marietta with her husband, her five-year old daughter (who is in the Love community) and two dogs and a rabbit. When time allows, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and camping with her family – anything that allows them to be outside in nature together! “It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself and truly work at it.” Kavita Biradar
Kavita believes that a good parent partnership is crucial to the child’s success in school, understanding that communication, cooperation and collaboration between parent and teacher is vital; one of her primary goals is building this rapport with each of her families this year. She lives in Cumming with her husband and her two sons. Kavita loves music, painting and cooking. “We must help the child act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.” School OperationsGloria Jew, School Operations Lead
When her son began elementary school, his mother and his little sister would visit her grandmother mother, who taught in a preschool. Gloria enjoyed seeing how happy working with children made her so when Rose started school, Gloria began volunteering and then started classes in Early Childhood. Gloria then became an Assistant Director and when she relocated to Georgia, she taught at Discovery Point before becoming their Assistant Director. She joined the JSM family in 2012 and loves caring for our children and works continuously to keep them healthy and safe! |