Our Staff and Faculty
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.
Havva
(Lead Teacher
of 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.
(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 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.
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 Elementary 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.
Lidia
(Afternoon Program Teacher)
Lidia is from Guatemala City, Guatemala. She graduated with a degree in teaching from Institute Technical Vocational Femenine (ITVF) in 1971, and has been working with children ever since. She began teaching at MCH in late December of 2006. Lidia enjoys cooking, sewing and spending time with her grandsons and family.
Nurtene
(Assistant Teacher for Mary's 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.
