Miss Christine
Head–Directress, Sitka
Born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Christine taught at the elementary level for several years before immigrating to Vancouver. After working as a nanny and gaining her citizenship she completed her AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) training in June 1989, with an ECE certification in the following year. Chris started at Family Montessori in 1995. She really enjoys seeing the complete family cycle with siblings registering for the program as well as the visits from ex-pupils.

Miss Cindy
Co-Directress, Sitka
Cindy is very excited to be joining Family Montessori at Sitka Square.  In July of 2008, she graduated from the Montessori Training Centre of B.C. in the AMI Primary Montessori Teacher program.  In the past year, Cindy worked with children as a substitute Montessori Guide in Richmond and Vancouver.  She has also worked in themed/play-based youth programs for ages 2 to 17 years in the cruise industry for 3 years. 

Miss Melyssa
Co–Directress, Jericho      
Melyssa has been at Family Montessori since 2008. Originally from the United States, Melyssa obtained her B.A. in History and Latin American Studies before earning her AMI Montessori Diploma here in Vancouver. She has worked in other Primary and Toddler Montessori environments, and enjoys the opportunity to be part of a school like Family Montessori which has such a strong sense of community beyond the classroom.

Melyssa enjoys the wilderness of BC; she and her Alaskan Malamute, River, backpack in summer and backcountry snowboard and snowshoe in winter. Melyssa has lived overseas in Australia and South America, and enjoys traveling to far-flung places to experience new food and discover local art and music. She always likes coming home to Vancouver, though—our city by the ocean, just a stone’s throw from the mountains.

Melyssa is passionate about the underlying mission of Montessori education—empowering children to be independent, confident and conscious members of society, and indeed, citizens of the world. Helping this come about by way of an education where children can learn through experience, with their individuality being celebrated and fostered, is just about the best job she could imagine.

In addition to her position at Family Montessori, Melyssa sits on the Board of Directors of the BC Montessori Association.

Miss Rika
Co–Directress, Jericho
Born and raised in Vancouver, Rika worked in the Hospitality Industry for many years. She worked in hotels and became a flight attendant. Rika loves to travel and being a flight attendant seemed like the perfect job. After flying for 4 years she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming an educator. Rika graduated from the Montessori Training Center of British Columbia in 2007, receiving her AMI Diploma and has been part of Family Montessori since September 2007.

Miss Brenda
Principal
Brenda, originally from the Fraser Valley, completed a Diploma in Social Work at the University College of the Fraser Valley. After briefly working as a Teacher’s Assistant, she transferred to Simon Fraser University and completed her Bachelor of Education. In her first year of teaching a Grade 2 class, she decided to complete her Elementary (6 to 9-year-olds) Montessori teacher training. Upon completion she began working as the Teacher/Principal of a multi-aged elementary school for academically advanced students, where
she worked for seven years.

When it came to finding a school for her two boys, there was no question that they would attend a Montessori preschool, and she knew FMSS was the best in town. After serving on the Board for over two years, she became the Principal in 2008. Outside of school, she enjoys reading, playing soccer and softball, fitness training, and going on nature adventures with her
family.

Miss Beverly
Music Teacher
Beverly has been teaching Kodaly music classes for Family Montessori since 1988. Beverly has a Bachelor’s of Music from UBC, and she has completed coursework in Kodaly pedagogy and theory from the University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Ms. Beverly is constantly active in the field of music – she conducts three community choirs, she is the Musical Director of the women’s musical ensemble ZEELLIA, and was hired by the Vancouver Parks Board to be the Artist in Residence at the Carnegie Centre for 2009.

Miss Monika
FMSS Secretary and Jericho Lunch Supervisor
Monika grew up in Toronto, and studied Theatre (directing) at Concordia before doing a Master’s and most (but not all) of a PhD in Theatre History at Cornell. She has worked professionally in theatre, and also as a writing instructor at several US colleges. She also worked at a Montessori School in Connecticut, as an assistant in a toddler class for three years and in a preschool class for one. Monika has lived in the US and Europe since she was 21, until moving to Vancouver in the fall of 2006. She started as FMSS secretary in February of 2008, and this is her first year with the lunch bunch. She also, in the evening and on weekends, teaches reading and writing skills to upper-level secondary ESL students. Monika lives with her two daughters, two dogs, one cat, and a physicist.