Walnut Creek 2016-2017 Springboard

Springfield Montessori School

WALNUT CREEK CAMPUS 2780 Mitchell Drive CA 94598 P: 925-944-0626 F: 925-944-0678

administration@springfieldmontessori.com

DUBLIN CAMPUS 5100 Brannigan Street CA 94568 P: 925-828-5102 F: 925-828-5108

dublinadmin@springfieldmontessori.com

www.springfieldmontessori.com

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HISTORY SCHOOL ORGANIZATION HEALTH POLICIES ADMIN PROFILES FACULTY PROFILES

September 2016

2016-2017

Welcome Walnut Creek Families!

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our families for the 2016–2017 academic school year.

Over the past twenty-six years, Springfield Montessori School has enrolled over 4,000 students in its Toddler, Pre-K and Kindergarten programs.

Our time and history in the Bay Area has been very rewarding and a great personal journey. I believe that we, as Montessorians, have contributed towards guiding children to become self-confident, independent, well prepared, and wellrounded individuals. Children that will face and overcome the many challenges ahead and look back on their formative years at Springfield with a smile and great reverence. Our School, Parents and Faculty, have grown into a vibrant community known for academic excellence and a welcoming and inclusive culture.

I extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all of our Parents, dedicated staff members and most importantly our children. Thank you for twenty-six wonderful years! We look forward to partnering with you in the upcoming academic school year.

Warmest Regards - Shashi Lal Head of Schools

MONTESSORI AT SPRINGFIELD Following in Dr. Montessori’s footsteps, our mission at Springfield is to provide an educational model that develops children intellectually, physically, and socially. Our Faculty has been very busy planning a challenging and exciting program for the 2016-2017 academic school year.

Should you have any questions regarding our curriculum program, please meet with your child’s Teachers to discuss in greater detail.

HISTORY In 1990, Springfield Montessori School was founded by Shashi Lal in Burton Village - Walnut Creek, with an enrollment of five children. Her vision was to offer children and families in the Bay Area an education that leveraged the best of her experience in both the Montessori environment and Early Childhood Education.

In 1995, after outgrowing its prior location, the school moved in to its current award-winning campus on Mitchell Drive in Walnut Creek.

This facility was specifically designed and built to provide a superior learning environment to the children of Springfield Montessori School.

In May of 2010, Springfield opened its second campus in the city of Dublin, CA. This campus provides the same educational principles and philosophy as the founding school in Walnut Creek. Again, a huge thanks to the City of Dublin and the community for welcoming us with open arms and for all the continued support!

Over the past twenty-six years, Springfield Montessori School has grown and flourished. This is a result of its’ educational programs, excellent faculty, wonderful students, and the tremendous support of our valued parents and surrounding communities. We continually strive to create an environment for the children that promotes a love for learning, fosters each student’s intellectual growth, emotional wellbeing and social development.

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HEAD OF SCHOOLS Shashi Lal COO Melody Lal DIRECTOR Irene Raducanu ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Natalya Venezia TODDLER FACULTY Katrina Gomez Shohreh Haghighi Jamie Lamme Ann Lloyd PRE-K FACULTY Melissa Arsedo Norma Barajas Christine Chung Marie Deslate Leah Dizon Karen Herceg Monika Mendoza Carmen Polifrone Lori Sanderson Amrita Sengupta KINDERGARTEN FACULTY Gaby George Belinda Thompson

THE MONTESSORI METHOD The Montessori approach to education requires that children are placed in a well planned and structured environment which will meet their individual educational and cultural needs. The children are free to follow their own interests within this planned environment, rather than being forced to learn something that is inappropriate to their developmental stage.

This method is designed to take advantage of a child’s sensitive Maria Montessori periods - these are specific times when an individual child is more receptive to certain areas of learning.

The result is that children develop in a natural way and are highly motivated. They develop good discipline and master basic skills.

In many cases, this occurs earlier than in a more traditional system of education. To bring about these results, each teacher is trained in specific skills, the curriculum is carefully planned to reflect the children’s own culture and educational needs, the support materials for the curriculum are specifically Montessori and the outcomes for the children are unique.

PM / ANCILLARY FACULTY Gabriela Alfaro Nafisa Haider Farideh Soudagar Jane Taylor Sheila Wahab

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HEALTH POLICIES In order for all of us to remain healthy, minimize disruption of day to day learning activities, and to help decrease the spread of the flu among students and staff. Springfield Montessori School strictly follows the health guidelines below. These are designed to decrease exposure to regular seasonal flu.

ACTIVE SCREENING Staff members check students for fever and other symptoms of flu when children arrive at school. Throughout the day staff members are vigilant in identifying students who appear to be ill.

STAY HOME WHEN SICK Children with flu-like symptoms should stay at home for at least 24-hours after they no longer have a fever, without the use of feverreducing medicines.

SEPARATING ILL STUDENTS Children who appear to have flu-like symptoms will be separated from others and will remain with a staff member until they are picked up.

HAND HYGIENE & RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE Strong hand washing practices are implemented at Springfield Montessori School. Children are taught to sneeze into their elbow and to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Additionally, we teach them to avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth.

ROUTINE CLEANING All areas of the classroom are routinely cleaned. The use of Clorox wipes on door knobs etc. is implemented in every classroom.

PLEASE NOTE: For us to be successful in our endeavors, and to ensure good health throughout the flu season, please work with us. By implementing the above-mentioned guidelines, we can help prevent our children from getting the flu virus. Your collaboration is essential.

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ADMINISTRATION Shashi Lal: Head of Schools Shashi, the founder of Springfield Montessori School, currently serves as Head of Schools for both campuses.

She received her pre-primary Montessori credentials from

the London Montessori Center in London, England, and

her elementary Montessori training from the Montessori Teacher Education Center in San Leandro. Shashi brings to Springfield almost 40 years of experience in the field of Education. Her personal mission is to provide the

leadership that will facilitate a school environment that meets the needs of each student.

Melody Lal: Chief Operations Officer Melody is the Chief Operations Officer (COO). Her primary

focus is on quality, internal process and the smooth operation of both the Walnut Creek and Dublin campuses.

In addition to operational responsibilities, she also manages the Springfield Business Office. Melody has more

than twenty years of corporate experience in leadership,

training, organizational development, operations and Sr. level management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in

Chemistry from the University of Washington as well as Montessori Teaching Credentials.

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ADMINISTRATION Irene Raducanu: Walnut Creek Campus Director Irene Raducanu brings valuable experience to her position of Campus Director. Prior to Springfield, Irene taught French and Spanish to middle school and high school students. Additionally, she owned and operated a licensed childcare business for three years. In 2010, Irene joined Springfield Montessori School as Administrator and was instrumental in the launch of our Dublin campus. In addition to her childcare industry experience and business acumen, Irene holds a Bachelor’s Degree in French and Spanish languages, as well as a California Site Supervisor permit. Not only does she posses the qualifications to be a licensed childcare facility Director, she has spent numerous “hands on” hours in the Montessori classroom.

Natalya Venezia: Administrative Assistant Natalya Venezia, Administrative Assistant, is one of our newest members at the Walnut Creek campus. Since joining Springfield Montessori in October 2016, she has quickly assimilated herself into the Administrative team, campus Faculty and broader community of students and their families.

Natalya brings to her role valuable experience in administration, operations, customer service and working with young children. She has been able to leverage many of these skills, resulting in a very smooth transition.

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FACULTY TODDLER Katrina Gomez

Jamie Lamme

Shohreh Haghighi

Ann Lloyd

Education: BA Psychology Years at Springfield: 14 Years in teaching: 20 katrina.gomez@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 10 Years in teaching: 15 shohreh.haghighi@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: ECE Certification Years at Springfield: 5 Years in teaching: 16 jamie.scott@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: AMS Montessori Teaching Credential Montessori Master Teaching Certificate DVC Mentor Teacher Certification Years at Springfield: 20 Years in teaching: 31 ann.lloyd@springfieldmontessori.com

PRE-K Melissa Arsedo

Christine Chung

Norma Barajas

Marie Deslate

Education: AA Liberal Arts Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 4 Years in teaching: 10 melissa.arsedo@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: AA Liberal Arts AMS Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 2 Years in teaching: 14 norma.barajas@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: BA Math & German Masters Degree Science Education Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 12 Years in teaching: 30 c.chung@springfieldmontesssori.com

Education: BA Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: First year Years in teaching: 16 years marie.deslate@springfieldmontessori.com

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FACULTY PRE-K (continued) Leah Dizon

Education: AB.....

AMI Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: NEW Years in teaching: 13 leah.dizon@springfieldmontessori.com

Carmen Polifrone Education: BA Engineering

Years at Springfield: NEW Years in teaching: 1 carmen.polifrone@springfieldmontessori.com

Karen Herceg

Lori Sanderson

Monika Mendoza

Amrita Sengupta

Education: Montessori Certification Site Supervisor Permit Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 10 Years in teaching: 17 karen.herceg@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: BA Tourism Masters Degree Marketing & Communications AMS Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 5 Years in teaching: 5 monika.mendoza@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 9 Years in teaching: 19 lori.sanderson@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: BA & AMI Montessori Certification AMI Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 19 Years in teaching: 24 amrita@springfieldmontessori.com

KINDERGARTEN Gaby George

Education: BS Business Administration Montessori Teaching Credential AS System Analysis-Design Years at Springfield: 11 Years in teaching: 20 years gaby.george@springfieldmontessori.com

Belinda Thompson

Education: BA Business Administration AMS Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 15 Years in teaching: 33 belinda@springfieldmontessori.com

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FACULTY PM PROGRAM /ANCILLARY Gabriela Alfaro

Jane Taylor

Nafisa Haider

Sheila Wahab

Education: Teachers Associate Years at Springfield: 5 Years in teaching: 10 gabriela.alfaro@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: AA Liberal Arts Years at Springfield: 13 Years in teaching: 33 nafisa.haider@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: AA & BA Liberal Arts Years at Springfield: 21 Years in teaching: 32 jane.taylor@springfieldmontessori.com

Education: RN Nursing Years at Springfield: 10 Years in teaching: 14 sheila.wahab@springfieldmontessori.com

Farideh Soudagar

Education: Montessori Teaching Credential Years at Springfield: 3 Years in teaching: 18 farideh.soudagar@springfieldmontessori.com

SPANISH

MUSIC

Gaby George

James K

Education: BS Business Administration Montessori Teaching Credential AS System Analysis-Design Years at Springfield: 11 Years in teaching: 20 gaby.george@springfieldmontessori.com

James K has been teaching music to elementary children, performing and partnering with Bay Area families for nearly two decades. We are again excited to have James K provide musical instruction to our Springfield students for the 2016-2017 school year.

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