Head Teachers

Miss Mona

Mona was born in Uganda and moved to Pakistan when she was 6 years old.  She and her husband are blessed with three wonderful children.  Mona received her BA in Economics and taught primary school.  She attended the University of Santa Cruz Extension where she studied Early Childhood Development and received her teaching certificate.  She completed her A.M.S. Montessori training in San Leandro.

Miss Grishma

Grishma has more than 16 years of professional work experience, including 11 years of teaching experience, with 8 of those years in a Montessori Classroom.  This is her sixth year of teaching at Mariposa Montessori School.  Grishma has really enjoyed being part of the Mariposa team.

Grishma started her career in the Product Design industry, but has always had a passion for teaching young children.  This passion drove her to get her Masters degree in Montessori Education from the Washington Montessori Institute at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland in 1999.  Grishma also has a BS in Industrial and Product Design from the National Institute of Design (NID), India.  After working for 2 years for a design firm, she founded her own design consulting firm in India and ran it for 3 years.  Grishma came to the US in 1987 and while raising two children, joined Loyola College for the Masters program in Education.   After completing her Masters degree in one year, she and her family moved to CA in 1999.

When she is not working; taking care of her children; or being their chauffeur :-), she enjoys hiking, reading, cooking, listening to music and baseball.

Miss Christilla

Christilla obtained her AMI diploma from the Montessori Training center of Northern California (Mountain View) in 1998, and worked for 4 years as a Primary Montessori teacher in Palo Alto. She served for another year as a resource specialist and program coordinator for the same school. Now for her fourth year at Mariposa Montessori, through her love of working with the children, she wishes to deepen her Montessori education/understanding and share its magic and truthfulness with the parent community. She lives in Santa Clara with her husband and two children.

Miss Nabila

Inspiring children has not only been her life goal but also a dream. After the experience of the regular school system she sought out to find a better and more effective way to educate and nurture children. She found it in the Montessori way. Now, after studying and training she is here to be an enthusiastic addition of the classroom.

Miss Munawar

Munawar received her Early Childhood Education certificate from the UCSC extension in 2003 and worked for a very short period with Childcare Careers.  She began with Mariposa Montessori in Willow Glen campus in 2003 as an assistant teacher. The Montessori environment, which respects, honors and celebrates the individuality of each child and the great Mariposa staff inspired her to pursue the Montessori training course.  Munawar obtained her AMI certification in 2005 from the Montessori Teacher Training Center of Northern California, Mountain View while she was still working as an assistant teacher in Willow Glen.  This is her seventh year at Mariposa and year after year, she enjoys all of the children, their work, their individual expression and the way they grow and change.  She is so happy and blessed to be a part of the great Mariposa community and looks forward to continue seeking the great in the child and helping it blossom.

Assistant Teachers

Miss Junko

Junko was born and raised in Japan. Almost 10 years have past since she began her new life in the U.S.  Time really flies fast!  Junko has an A.A. degree in English literature and right after college she started an administrative job in a semiconductor company.  After earning 8 years of experience, Junko left Japan for the U.S. continuing her education in De Anza College receiving Certificate of Achievement on Child Development.

Miss Jessica

This is Jessica’s first year at Mariposa Montessori School. This is also her first year working in a Montessori School environment. Jessica has past daycare and elementary education experience from the Dartmouth College Child Care Center in her hometown of Hanover New Hampshire. Jessica is a graduate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. She has worked for the past 6 years in Cardiology Care Centers, but is looking forward to her new start in Early Childhood Education.  Jessica is delighted to be a part of such a wonderful environment and looking forward to the new school year. She will be working with the 5 day extended classroom along side Munawar.

Miss Mandeep

Mandeep was born and raised in India.  Upon graduating from college in Punjab, Mandeep moved to the United States after marrying her husband of 7 years and has a 3 year old daughter.  She was a contractor for Child Care Careers and has volunteered at various schools in Santa Clara County.  This will be Mandeep’s first year at Mariposa.  She is very excited to take her past experience and bring it to a new learning environment at Mariposa.

Administration

Teresa Wertman, Director

Teresa is starting her seventh year at Mariposa Montessori. She has lived in the Bay Area for most of her life with the exception of time she spent living in both New York City and Seattle, Washington. Teresa loves Mariposa and its community and is proud to be a part of the Mariposa community and family. Every day is a new adventure to look forward to at Mariposa. It is a pleasure to work along side such a wonderful and dedicated staff and Board of Directors. The children at Mariposa are a true joy to watch every day as they grow and blossom. She has over 20 years experience in the field of Early Childhood Education working in schools in the Bay Area. Teresa graduated from the University of Santa Clara with a degree in Accounting. She also received her education in Early Childhood Education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, De Anza College, West Valley College and College of Notre Dame. Teresa has not only been an Administrator she taught in Preschool rooms for children ages two-five, directed After School Care for preschool aged and elementary aged children.

Polly Vaughn, Office Manager

Alex Potts, Bookkeeper

Board of Directors

Teresa Wertman, Executive Director

Lisa Fanslau, President

Tina Lally, Vice President

Noelle Masters, Secretary

Anne Milligan, Treasurer

Dyan Collins, Marketing/Communications

Dyan Collins & Kathleen LeClair, Room Parent Coordinators

Allison Railo, Community Relations

Gretchen Moore, Member at Large