Our Team
Twin Parks Montessori Schools
Dr. Kathy Roemer, Executive Director
Riverside Montessori Faculty
Infant and Toddler Classrooms
Yellow Room
Green Room
Brown Room
Orange Room
Purple Room
Blue Room
Early Childhood Classrooms
Red Room
Rainbow Room
Aqua Room
Coral Room
Gold Room
Riverside Montessori School Staff
Candace La Douceur, Admissions Director, Educational Director
Duna Alkhudhair, Educational AdministratorKaryn Ficalora, Administrative Coordinator
Katie Braswell, Receptionist
Riverside Montessori School
Riverside Montessori is located at 93rd Street and Riverside Drive, a stone’s throw from Riverside Park. The school is accredited by both the American Montessori Society (AMS) and the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools (MSCES) and is an affiliate school of Columbia University. All our lead teachers are Montessori certified and have training in early childhood education.
Infant And Toddler Teaching Teams
Yellow Room
Melissa was a substitute teacher here for two years prior to joining the Yellow Room in September 2007. She has worked with children 3 months to 5 years of age. Prior to joining us at Riverside she was a childcare provider for a family in New York and Texas. She has a 3 year old daughter which she enjoys spending all her free time with.
Myriam has worked with toddlers in Montessori environments since 1997, and worked in the public school system for four years. She received her infant/toddler Montessori certification at CMTE/NY. Myriam received her Child Development Associate credential from Touro College.
Reina is a graduate of the Borough of Manhattan Community College early childhood provider program and has been at Riverside Montessori School since 2000. She is a certified AMS infant and toddler teacher. Before becoming the Yellow Room’s lead teacher, Reina worked with children ranging from 3 months to two years. Although Reina previously taught three- to five-year olds at a Head Start program, her primary child-based experience was raising her own four children. Reina is originally from the Dominican Republic, and has been living in the United States since 1990.
Green Room
Annie Mai is originally from Ireland; she came to the United States in 1988. Before joining Riverside Montessori in 1999, Annie Mai taught children ranging from toddlers to preschoolers. She brings a quiet and caring demeanor to the Yellow classroom.
Jeannie attended Virginia Union University and is in the process of completing her Child Development Associate Program through American League for Children and Families. She has 7 years experience with children 12 mths to 5 years of age.
Joanna is a Montessori certified teacher in Infant and Toddler from CMTE Center for Montessori Teacher Education/NY. She has 4 years experience teaching children 18 mths to 6 years of age.
Tracey has been in the educational field since 1988, and has worked with children ranging in age from infancy to two years old. After completing her Associate’s degree at Sullivan County Community College, she received her Bachelor’s in psychology from the State University of New York at Old Westbury. In August 2007 she became a certified AMS infant and toddler teacher.
Brown Room
Carolina has been at Riverside as a substitute teacher in all age groups since 2006. She is in the process of completing her Associate Degree through BMCC in the Early Childhood program. Besides having many years of experience working with children, she had her own beautiful baby boy, Jayden, in October 2009.
Lisa has worked with children for the past 14 years before joining Riverside Montessori in 2003 where she has worked in our infant and toddler classrooms. Lisa attended Bronx Community College in the early childhood program. In June 2007 she became a certified AMS infant and toddler teacher. She has two grown sons and two granddaughters.
Veronica is an LPN and a Montessori Certified Infant/ Toddler Teacher. Her husband is an officer in the army, and Veronica and he have five children. Our toddlers are very grateful for her ability to nurture and teach a group of young learners so effortlessly.
Orange Room
Jenny has completed three years at Grodno State University at Belarus. During a summer internship at a preschool in Belarus she found it very rewarding. She also taught English as a second language. She completed her AMS training at CMTE Center for Montessori Teacher Education/NY in the Infant/Toddler program.
Kimberly is a certified Montessori teacher for children ages birth-3. She has 6 years experience working in a Montessori School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Masters in Early Childhood Education. She is working on completing her New York State certification.
Michelle joined Riverside in 2010. She has over 3 yrs experience working with children from 18 months to 6 years old. She is looking forward to teaching toddlers this year.
Purple Room
Fran has worked with infants and preschool children prior to joining Riverside in 2006. Her first year at Riverside, she joined the infant teaching team and last year a toddler team. Fran is in the process of completing her CDA Degree from Touro College.
Jenna has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Psychology from Rutgers University. Her M.S. is from Bank Street College and is in Early Childhood Education birth to second grade. Jenna completed her AMS training at CMTE Center for Montessori Teacher Education/NY in the Infant/Toddler program. She is an avid camper, hiker, and loves all sports.
Vicki started working at Riverside Montessori in 2000. Throughout her career as an assistant teacher, she has worked with children ranging in age from three months to 24 months. She is in the process of continuing her education at Medgar Evers College.
Blue Room
Cornelia is a Montessori Certified Teacher and has completed her CDA (Child Development Associate) Degree from Touro College. She is currently enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at BMCC and has been a teacher at Riverside Montessori since the school opened in 1997.
Gail has been at Riverside Montessori since 1998. She completed her MA in education from Hunter College in 2004. She is a NYS certified teacher with experience in all age groups at Riverside Montessori.
Early Childhood Teaching Teams
Red Room
Jeffrey is currently completing his AMS Montessori training in the Early Childhood program at WSMS-TEP. He graduated in 2001 from the Florida School of Massage and has 10 years experience as a massage therapist and structural integration therapist. He just moved to NYC from North Carolina for a career change.
Sarah has been at Riverside since 2007. She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Theatre from New York University and completed her AMS Montessori Certification in Early Childhood in June of 2009. Her experience includes teaching theatre and creative drama classes for children ages 4- 18 years old.
Rainbow Room
Karen has a Bachelor’ s Degree in Early Childhood from NYU. She is trilingual and fluent in Korean and English. Karen loves art and is an avid traveler. During the summer months Karen was an English teacher in Cambodia, teaching children ranging in age from three to eleven years old. She will be going to Fordham University to pursue a Masters in Education.
Laura is a Certified Montessori Teacher for children ages 2 to 6. When her own children went to a Montessori school she quickly fell in love with the philosophy and was soon on her way to become a certified teacher. Laura has a Bachelor’s Degree from Plattsburgh University.
Sue-Lynn graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelors degree in Psychology. She completed her Early Childhood Montessori training at the Montessori Centre International, UK in 2005. Sue-Lynn is in the process of completing her Masters at Columbia University in the Early Childhood Education program.
Aqua Room
Andrea has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Hunter College. Andrea speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English fluently and completed her ESL training at the Spanish American Institute to teach English as a second language.
Karen is a certified Montessori teacher for children ages 2-6. She has over ten years experience teaching in Montessori schools as a lead teacher, program director and teacher educator. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology.
Sandy she has her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. She has 4 years of lead teaching experience with children that are three and four years of age. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree at St. John’s University.
Coral Room
Catherine is a certified Montessori teacher for Early Childhood. She completed her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education at Chaminade University of Honolulu in December 2007. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting from Dongbei University in China. She has over three years experience working with children in Montessori schools before joining Riverside in December 2008.
Jillian received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education at SUNY. She is in the process of completing her Masters in Early Childhood Literacy at Hunter College. She has experience working with children 2 yrs and above.
Zena has been at Riverside Montessori for 8 years. She has experience with children ranging from 3 mths to 6 years of age. She completed her CDA (Child Development Associate) Degree from Touro College and is now enrolled in the Early Childhood program.
Gold Room
Asa relocated from Sweden to NYC in 2002. She has 15 years experience teaching in Montessori Schools and is a calm and happy presence in the classroom. She also studied fine arts and enjoys watercolor and acrylic paintings.
Denise is originally from the Island of Jamaica and came to NYC in 1987. She attended the College of Staten Island where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 2004. She also completed the Teacher Assistant/Childcare Provider in 2007. She has five years experience teaching children in early childhood classrooms. Denise is currently enrolled in the AMS Montessori training at WSMS-TEP for the Early Childhood program.
Dini completed her Masters Degree at City College in Early Childhood Education in May of 2009. Prior to joining us she has seven years experience working in Montessori schools both in Texas and New York City.
Lee graduated from Bard College in 2006 with a degree in The History of Science. He has been leading science and nature programs for elementary school since 2002. He speaks French, Russian, Sign Language and some Mandarin Chinese. He is currently completing his Montessori certification in Early Childhood.
Administrative Team
Candace joined us in 2006 as Educational Director. She received her BS in Early Childhood Education from SUNY New Paltz and MS from St. John’s University and holds NYS N-6 Permanent Certification. Candace also holds her Early Childhood Montessori Certification. She is currently an instructor teaching the language component at Westside Montessori and NYU Montessori Teacher Education Programs. She was a teacher and part of the administrative team at West Side Montessori for over 10 years. Candace is responsible for professional development and she will conduct workshops for teachers and parents at Twin Parks Montessori Schools.
Duna joined us in 2008 as a Lead Teacher and Educational Administrator after teaching at West Side Montessori School. This year she will be working part-time as she pursues her doctoral studies in Education. She also co-teaches the literacy component at WSMS teacher-training program. She holds a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in Montessori from NYU and is NYS certified (0-6 years).
Karyn has been Riverside Montessori’s administrative coordinator since 2002. Before coming to Riverside Montessori she taught infants to pre-school-aged children for eight years, and worked as assistant director and then director at Kiddie Academy on Long Island. She received her AA from SUNY at Farmingdale University in early childhood education and attended Long Island University’s CW Post Campus, majoring in elementary education.
Katie joined Riverside in 2007 as our administrative assistant. She is from Orlando, Florida. She has worked with children, infants up to ten years of age, for the past five years. She has one year of school in elementary education and will be completing her degree at Hunter College.
