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Our Staff
Our highly trained teachers and support staff come from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe. Together, they provide an enriching academic and cultural learning environment.
Maria Montessori
School staff are among the best and brightest in Saskatoon.
Casa Directresses
Tracy Baudais - Casa 1 Directress
Tracy obtained her Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Manitoba in October 1999. After obtaining her degree she moved to Calgary where she taught in a private Kindergarten program for three years. During this time, she was also the Special Needs Program Coordinator. This involved working with children at the school as well as at a daycare in a different area of Calgary.
Tracy then went on to teach at Renfrew Educational Services in Calgary, which focuses on helping children with special needs. Tracy special needs experience includes working with children with autism, downs syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as speech and global delays.
After working for two and a half years at Renfrew, Tracy moved back to Saskatchewan where she started her own tutoring company and has been writing curriculum for a local church’s Sunday School program.
Tracy strongly believes that young students learn through their senses and through fun interactive, hand-on learning experiences. She also believes that children need to feel emotionally safe and cared for in their learning environment before they can reach their potential academically.
Tracy has a passion for teaching and is excited and looking forward to a great year at Maria Montessori School. She is currently working to obtain her North American Montessori Certificate by early Spring. Her future goals also include obtaining her Special Education Teaching Certificate and perhaps pursuing Speech and Language Pathology.
Regina Wood - Casa 2 Directress
Regina was
born in Heusweiler, near Saarbrücken/Germany at the border to Alsace-
Lorraine/France.
After graduating
from high school,
At the age of
21,
In 1996
Maria Danylczuk - Casa 3 Directress
This is Maria’s first year teaching at Maria Montessori School. Having grown up in Saskatoon, Maria gained her bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2003. She has had a wide variety of teaching experiences with elementary and preschool aged children. In 2006 Maria combined her love of travel and teaching by moving to Seoul, South Korea. In Seoul she taught both Preschool and Kindergarten-levelled children and also had the opportunity to be involved in developing and overseeing school curriculum.
Maria is very excited to be teaching Casa this year. She is pleased to be back in Saskatoon and to be joining the MMS family.
Maria recognizes the importance that early educational experiences have for setting the tone of a child’s future education. She is looking forward to nurturing the natural inclination and curiosity in each of her Casa children.
Lower Elementary Directress
Janis Danino
Janis Danino was born in Elrose, Saskatchewan. She moved to Saskatoon and obtained her degree in Elementary Education in 1998.
After obtaining her degree, Janis taught at the preschool level through Grade 6 in La Loche, Biggar, Elrose and Saskatoon. She completed her training with the North American Montessori Center at the Preschool Kindergarten level.
Over the years Janis has attended numerous conferences including the Saskatchewan Reading Council Conference, Preschool Registry and Information Services Annual Conference, Early Childhood Conference, the Safe Schools Conference and the Literacy for Life Conference. Janis holds her OHS Standard First Aid and CPR Level C with AED.
Janis is very excited to take on the role as Lower Elementary Directress this year. Her combination of two years teaching the Montessori Casa program and five years teaching the Saskatchewan Elementary Curriculum will ensure that all students in Lower Elementary will have the best education possible.
This is Janis’s third year with Maria Montessori School. She is happy that her children are able to benefit from the wonderful learning environment provided at Maria Montessori. Emma is in Grade 3 and Joshua is entering the full day Casa preschool program. They are happy to be a part of the MMS family!
Upper
Elementary DirectressesJane Wollenberg
Jane is delighted to be returning to Maria Montessori School. She is married to Peter Wollenberg and has two sons Andrew and Jan. Andrew is married and living in Australia and Jan is studying at McGill University in Montreal.
Teaching is one of Jane’s passions in life and she has had the opportunity to teach in many different settings, both in Saskatchewan and in other parts of Canada and the world. She knew immediately, while studying history at Brock University it was what she wanted to do, but it was a few years later that she retuned to university and received her Bachelor of Education at the University of Saskatchewan.
She has taught preschool in Toronto and elementary education in Australia where she was also privileged to work on innovative literacy projects and special programs with Aboriginal children. This experience combined with the past two years as a substitute teacher in the Saskatoon Public School Board has given Jane diversified experience and a keen appreciation of the opportunities and challenges that families and educators face in providing meaningful and appropriate education to children.
Jane balances her teaching career with a very busy volunteer schedule. She is the Vice-President of the Saskatoon Symphony and plays the cello in the Saskatoon Fiddle Orchestra. She is also a member at large on the Advisory Board for the Breaking the Silence Conference held each year at the University of Saskatchewan.
Marie Prevost
Marie was born and grew up in Saskatoon, working with children at home through a family daycare her mother ran, and later on taking on full time daycare position throughout high school. During these years, Marie developed a special interest in the education of middle or upper years students, and so went on to attain her Middle Years Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
Marie is extremely excited to be joining the team at Maria Montessori School. Marie spent some time working in the school before the close of last year and had the opportunity to meet many of the students and staff. During her time at the school, she fell in love with the Montessori philosophy of education and was drawn to explore it further.
Marie has an excitement and energy-filled approach to learning that she hopes her students will find infectious! She loves to learn about the students’ lives and interests and integrate this into the classroom learning. She is looking forward to a great year at MMS.
Enrichment Programs
Linda Holmes - Core French
Linda is in her ninth year teaching Core French at Maria Montessori School. She previously taught French at a secondary level.
Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education, both with a major in French. In addition, she holds a Master of Education degree for which her research project was a reading paper on parental involvement in education. Linda is also a member of the Saskatchewan Association of Teachers of French.
Linda very much enjoys her work and is looking forward to the upcoming year.
Education Assistants
Lisa Dobrowolski
Lisa was born and raised in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, and has called Saskatoon home for the last 9 years.
Lisa obtained her Bachelor of Education degree with Honours from the University of Saskatchewan in the spring of 2009.
During the past 10 years, Lisa has worked with children as a child safety instructor, child care provider, and tutor. During this time, Lisa has gained a great deal of experience working with children that require additional support, including children with O.D.D., A.D.H.D., speech impairments, and cerebral palsy.
Lisa also enjoys playing the piano and cooking, and recently obtained her Food Safety Certificate.
She is very excited to join the staff at Maria Montessori and is looking forward to a great year.
Lori Healy
Lori is entering her ninth year as an Educational Assistant at Maria Montessori School where she works side by side with the Casa Program Directress.
Lori has worked and volunteered in various schools and community groups throughout the city. Her involvement includes areas pertaining to Adlerian philosophy, mediation methods, environmental and peace issues and children's and youth organizations.
Lori received her Preschool/Kindergarten Diploma with the North American Montessori Centre in September of 2006. She also holds her Certification as a Yoga Teacher.
"Free the child's potential and you will transform him into the world."
Maria Montessori
Jewel Kelly
Jewel was born and raised in Saskatchewan. She holds a Personal Development Worker certificate specializing in Early Childhood Development, as well as a certificate in English as a Second Language. Jewel has also taken numerous other courses pertaining to autism, violence in children, ADHD and FAS.
Jewel came to Maria Montessori in Jan. 2008 as an Educational Assistant. Previously, Jewel worked as an Educational Assistant for two years in Alberta and 10½ years with the Prairie Spirit School Division, has operated her own Day Care in Ontario and worked in a Day Care in Alberta. Most of her work experience has been with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Jewel has a passion for working with special needs children and her goal is to enable them to reach their full potential.
Marsha Matheson
Originally from Calgary, Marsha and her family moved to Saskatoon in the Fall of 2008.
After graduating from the Cinema Television Radio and Stage program at SAIT in Calgary, Marsha went to work for the CBC where she stayed for 14 years.
Marsha went on to a career as a graphic artist and this talent lead her to The Calgary Waldorf School where she worked for seven years as an Art Teacher and Educational Assistant.
During the 2008-2009 school year, Marsha substituted as an Educational Assistant in our classrooms. Her interest in the Montessori method of education and her gift for connecting with the children lead her to join the school on a fulltime basis.
Marsha is also extremely pleased to be able to use her many artistic gifts and talents to create an Art Enrichment Program for our students.
Marsha is loving her new home in Saskatoon and is looking forward to working with the students and enlivening the school with her creative and artistic talents.
Emily McIvor
Bio to Come ...
Tanya Norman
Tanya grew up on a farm west of Battleford. She moved to Saskatoon in 1997 to start work as a summer student with a crown corporation.
Tanya was a stay-at-home parent for three years after her son was born. She then chose to enroll in the Educational Assistant program to help make a difference in students' education and to encourage their enquiring minds. Tanya obtained her Educational Assistant Certificate through SIAST in the fall of 2008, and then spent the following year working with the Public School system.
Tanya has now joined us at Maria Montessori School and looks forward to a wonderful year with our students.
Robin Sasko
Robin was born and raised in Saskatoon.
Robin discovered her love of children when she was working for the U of S extension division presenting environmental workshops in elementary schools. Since that time, Robin has spent much time in preschools around Saskatoon working one on one with students. It was while she was working at Confederation Park Childcare Centre that she discovered she was interested in working with special needs children.
After completing her Diploma in Early Childhood Education in 2005, Robin spent a year working at Bishop Murray High School in the Infant and Toddler program, and then moved on to Maria Montessori school where she worked for 2 years one-on-one with one of our students.
For the past year, she has been at home with her son Gavin, who was born in September 2008. She has been loving her time at home with Gavin as they kept busy by traveling, instructing Mom and Baby Fitness classes at the Field House, and spending time with friends and family.
Robin is excited to be returning to Maria Montessori School and is looking forward to the upcoming year working as an Educational Assistant in one of our Casa classrooms.
Lina Sharmeen
Lina started her career in customer relations for a telecommunication company after graduating in Marketing (Business) from the Dhaka University in Bangladesh. Lina quickly realized that rather than working in a tiny office cubicle, she was destined to somewhere else where she could see the outcome of her pleasant and convincing communication skills in more effective ways.
Lina found a perfect opportunity when she started as a teaching assistant at the Montessori Children’s House in Baton Rouge (Louisiana), after joining her husband who was working at the Louisiana State University. Lina worked here for almost two years and enjoyed every moment with the kids, the teaching methods, and the shaping of young minds. Lina then accompanied her husband to Pretoria, South Africa, where she once again found herself working in a Montessori school. She continued with her passion and career at the Hatfield Montessori School for about sixteen months before she emigrated to Canada in December, 2008.
From this moment on, it was Lina’s quest to continue to working in a Montessori setting. While searching for a place to call home, Lina worked as a part-time administrative assistant at the Saskatoon Misbah School and a substitute teacher at Campus Day Care in the Education Building at the University of Saskatchewan. We are very fortunate that Lina found her way to Maria Montessori School in October of 2009, where she began subbing as an Educational Assistant while continuing to work as a part-time pre-school teaching assistant at the Misbah School.
This year, Lina has joined us as a full-time Educational Assistant. She hopes to begin working to obtain her North American Montessori Certificate in the near future.
Lina is confident that she is going to enjoy every moment of her time here at Maria Montessori school.
Kelly Ann Tuck
Kelly Ann was born and raised in Calgary and moved to Saskatoon in 2008.
Kelly Ann has worked with children of all ages in many capacities, including daycares, after school care programs and summer camps. She has also instructed children’s sports and craft classes.
While in Calgary, Kelly Ann took part in a work-based practicum where she developed and directed a before and after school care program.
Kelly Ann has a real passion for children and is looking forward to another year of learning and exploring with them. She is a great believer in life long learning, and she loves to learn new ways of teaching and working with children.
Kelly Ann holds her Montessori Certificate for Preschool/Kindergarten and is currently working on her diploma course in Early Childhood Education.
Alyson Werner
Alyson moved to Saskatoon in 2001 to attend the University of Saskatchewan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, with a major in Human Resource Management. She also holds a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language.
Alyson loves to travel and learn about other cultures. She recently spent one year in South Korea, where she taught English as a Second Language to kindergarten and elementary school students. She has spent time in Gambia, West Africa as well as Tanzania, East Africa where she was involved in various humanitarian service projects.
Teaching in South Korea strengthened Alyson’s desire to work with children, especially in an educational environment. She is looking forward to sharing her experiences and encouraging the students as they discover their own unique talents and abilities. She is excited to help students reach their goals, support them, and help their experience at Maria Montessori School to be a positive one.
Administration
Kelly Bjorndal - Office Administrator
Kelly (and family) joined the Maria Montessori School community in 2002 when her daughter started school. Since then, she has been actively involved in school activities, including the school's well known annual fundraiser.
Kelly has over 20 years of experience in office administration. She also holds a Business Administration Certificate from the University of Saskatchewan and an Honours diploma from the Legal Secretarial program at the Saskatoon Business College.
Kelly very much enjoys working with the teachers and with the children and their families.
Extended Care Services
Kelly Ann Tuck
Alyson Werner