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
Coral Room
Early Childhood Classrooms
Red Room
Rainbow Room
Aqua Room
Gold Room
Riverside Montessori School Staff
Candace La Douceur, Admissions Director, Educational Director
Jennifer Iannaconi, Educational AdministratorKaryn Ficalora, Administrative Coordinator
Gloria D’Onofrio, 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
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 lead teacher. Reina is originally from the Dominican Republic, and has been living in the United States since 1990.
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 AMS Montessori certification at CMTE/NY. Myriam received her Child Development Associate credential from Touro College.
Annie Mai is originally from Ireland; she came to the United States in 1988. Before joining Riverside Montessori in 1999, Annie Mai worked with children ranging from toddlers to preschoolers.
Green Room
Tracey has been in the educational field since 1988, and has worked with children ranging in age from infancy to two years old. She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the State University of New York at Old Westbury. She joined Riverside in 2004 and became a certified AMS infant and toddler lead teacher.
Jeanna joined Riverside Montessori in 2011. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from St. John’s University in Childhood Education and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Special Education at the College of Staten Island. She has experience working with children from infancy through Grade 6.
Jeannie attended Virginia Union University and completed the Child Development Associate Program through American League for Children and Families. Before joining Riverside in 2008, she worked with children 12 months to 5 years of age.
Brown Room
Veronica is an LPN and a Montessori Certified Infant/ Toddler Teacher. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2005 and has been a lead teacher for both the infant and toddler classrooms.
Vicki has been teaching at Riverside Montessori since 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.
Michelle has experience working with children from 18 months to 6 years old. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2010.
Orange Room
Carolyn joined Riverside Montessori in 2012. She holds her Montessori credential for infants and toddlers and has been a lead Montessori teacher for the past 6 years. She attended St. Joseph’s College where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She has over ten years of experience working with children from birth to 6 years and is a Youth Leader and Music Director for children 11-18 years old.
Geula attended Columbia University Teachers College and earned her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2011.
Sophie joined Riverside Montessori in 2011. She taught in a preschool for 3 years and obtained her Florida Child Care Professional Credential. She is currently enrolled in a CUNY school majoring in Education.
Purple Room
Jenna has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Psychology from Rutgers University. Her Master’s Degree is from Bank Street College and is in Early Childhood Education birth to second grade. Jenna completed her AMS training at CMTE /NY in the Infant/Toddler program.
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.
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 Master’s Degree in education from Hunter College in 2004. She is a NYS certified teacher with experience in all age groups at Riverside Montessori.
Joanna is a Montessori certified teacher in Infant and Toddler from CMTE Center for Montessori Teacher Education/NY. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2008.
Coral Room
Cristina joined Riverside in September 2012. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Arts Therapy and will obtain her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Special Education in December 2012. Cristina has been teaching for the past 6 years and has worked with children 2-4 years old. .
Lisa has taught at Riverside Montessori since 2003 and has worked in both the infant and toddler classrooms. In June 2007 she became a certified AMS infant and toddler teacher. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Yvette joined Riverside Montessori in 2011. She holds an Associates Degree from BMCC and is currently enrolled in the Early Childhood Education Program at Brooklyn College.
Early Childhood Teaching Teams
Red Room
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.
Lee attended Bard College and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 2006. He has lead nature programs for elementary school children and oversees curriculum for the after school science enrichment class. He speaks French, Russian, Sign Language and some Mandarin Chinese. After joining Riverside Montessori in 2008 he completed his Montessori certification in 2011.
Valerie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction with a Concentration in Language and Literacy. She has five years of experience teaching Grades K- 8. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2012 and is currently pursuing her Montessori certification.
Rainbow Room
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.
Jillian received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education at SUNY and her Master’s in Early Childhood Literacy at Hunter College. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2010 and has focused on science and literacy curriculum for the classroom and after school enrichment program.
Lauren joined Riverside Montessori in 2012. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from New England College. Her experience includes working as an assistant teacher in a 2nd grade classroom and assisting in both summer camps and an afterschool program in a Montessori school.
Aqua Room
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. Karen joined Riverside Montessori in 2008.
Sandy joined Riverside Montessori in 2007. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Drexel University.
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.
Gold Room
Dini completed her Master’s Degree at City College in Early Childhood Education in May of 2009 and is a certified Montessori teacher. Prior to joining us in 2007, she gained over 10 years experience teaching in Montessori schools both in Texas and New York City. She is originally from Indonesia.
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. Denise is currently enrolled in the AMS Montessori training at WSMS-TEP for the Early Childhood program. She joined Riverside Montessori in 2009.
Lida is originally from Columbia where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She gained experience working with children in schools both in Columbia and New York City before joining Riverside Montessori in 2011. She is currently pursuing her Montessori certification. Lida has focused on developing and implementing a Peace Curriculum for the classroom.
Administrative Team
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.
Candace joined Riverside Montessori in 2006 as Educational Director and oversees admissions and exmissions. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from SUNY and a Master’s Degree from St. John’s University and holds NYS N-6 Permanent Certification. Candace is also Montessori Certified and taught for over ten years in a NYC Montessori school. Her experience also includes teaching for a Montessori Teacher Education Program and various other educational administrative roles.
Jennifer joined Riverside Montessori in 2011 as Director of Education and oversees the infant and toddler program. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Pace University and a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood from NYU, including NY and NJ state certification. She is Montessori certified for birth to 6 years old and obtained her Administrators Credential from CMTE. Her experience includes 10 years of teaching in a Montessori classroom and 10 years of administrative roles including Assistant Head and Head of a school.
Gloria joined Riverside in 2011 as our administrative assistant. She previously worked as a receptionist at a law firm for several years.
