Kym Elder - Project Director

    Executive Director of Island Village Montessori Charter and Early Childhood Programs, was founder and first President of the IVMS Founding Board. Kym has Montessori teacher certification from the American Montessori Society in both early childhood and elementary levels.

    Kym holds a Master’s Degree in Charter School Educational Leadership from Nova University and is completing her Ed.D with a concentration in Internet Technology and Distance Education. She currently holds Florida professional certifications in educational leadership, elementary K-6, middle school integrated 5-9, and ESE K-12.

Kathryn DeNinno - Customer Support and Sales Director

    Kathryn DeNinno grew up in a small town in Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska- Lincoln to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Journalism. She later went back to school to receive A+, Network+ and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certifications. She has over 10 years experience in Information Technology, including computer support, software training, and systems administration.p

Jenifer Baehr - Registrar

    Jenifer Baehr joined Montessori Live as the registrar in 2009. She received her Certificate of Paralegal from the Institute of Legal Studies, worked as a paralegal for 10+ years in Fairfax, VA, and managed a privately owned title insurance company.

    Jenifer established Best Weddings On The Beach, Venice, in 2005, providing full service weddings and notary public services. Jenifer brings her many years of business management experience to Montessori Live. Her memberships include the National Notary Association, Venice Chamber of Commerce and Cambridge Who’s Who.

Dr. Paul Czaja - Instructor
Foundations of Montessori Philosophy
Classroom Management and Observations

    Dr. Czaja has been involved in the Montessori movement for over 45 years. He received his masters degree in philosophy and his doctorate in education from Fordham University. Dr. Czaja was on the founding faculty and, eventually, headmaster at the famous Whitby School the American Montessori Center, in Greenwich, Connecticut, from 1960 until 1978. He has been involved in Montessori teacher training for many years, and has worked with Montessori public schools as well as private schools.

Kym Elder - Instructor
Language (English) - Correct Expression, Handwriting, and Whole Language
Language (English) - Phonics, Spelling, and Punctuation

Language (English) - Grammar Materials, Sentence Analysis, Older Students
Practical Applications for Administrators
Educator Practicum

    Executive Director of Island Village Montessori Charter and Early Childhood Programs, was founder and first President of the IVMS Founding Board. Kym has Montessori teacher certification from the American Montessori Society in both early childhood and elementary levels.

    Kym holds a Master's Degree in Charter School Educational Leadership from Nova University and Florida certification in educational leadership, K-6 elementary education, and middle school integrated curriculum grades 5-9. She is currently finishing her Doctorate in Education Program with a concentration in Internet Technology and Distance Education.

Mary Beth Sullivan - Instructor
Mathematics - Numeration and the Decimal System
Mathematics - Operations with Whole Numbers
Mathematics - Advanced Operations with Whole Numbers
Mathematics - Geometry, Perimeter, Area and Volume
Mathematics - Fractions and Decimals
Mathematics - Decimal Fractions and Algebra
Educator Practicum

• American Montessori Society Elementary II Certification
• Elementary K-6 Certification Florida
• MS in Elementary Education
• BA in Music
• Teacher - New Gate School
• Teacher - Island Village Montessori
• Teacher Trainer - Island Village Montessori.

Jennifer Ocana - Instructor
Residencies

    Jennifer has been a Montessori educator for nearly twenty years. She started out at Oak Meadow Montessori in Littleton, Massachusetts, and was very happy there for ten years until the call of the warm Florida sunshine finally became too strong to resist.

    Jennifer grew up in the Boston area and attended Emerson College. She visited her first Montessori school when her oldest child was still a baby and was completely enamored with the philosophy. She got her elementary certificate from the Seacoast Center and has never even considered working in any other environment. Jennifer has her Florida professional certificate for K-6 elementary and her exceptional student education (ESE) certificate for grades K-12. She has been an educator at Island Village since 2003 and is now the program principal for the kindergarten through fourth grades.

Mini Abeysekera - Instructor
Residencies

    Mini Abeysekera was a CPA for four years in the United Kingdom, gaining a professional qualification equivalent to a UK masters degree. Mini received her Montessori International Diploma in 1997 (from birth to six years) from Montessori Center International in London, England. Mini joined Island Village Montessori School (IVMS) in 2009, with 12 years of experience: eight years teaching and managing in Montessori schools in England and four years teaching at New Gate School.

    Mini was a lecturer for the Montessori Center International teacher training program in London. Mini has taught at Island Village for 2 years. She has Florida Pre-K to 3rd grade certification. Other interests include the theater and karate.

Dr. Paul Czaja

    Dr. Czaja has been involved in the Montessori movement for over 45 years. He received his masters degree in philosophy and his doctorate in education from Fordham University. Dr. Czaja was on the founding faculty and, eventually, headmaster at the famous Whitby School the American Montessori Center, in Greenwich, Connecticut, from 1960 until 1978. He has been involved in Montessori teacher training for many years, and has worked with Montessori public schools as well as private schools.

Harvey Hallenberg

    Harvey Hallenberg has over 40 years of involvement in Montessori education and has worked with secondary programs using the Montessori philosophy since 1981.

    He was Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies (Elementary Level) at the Barrie School in Silver Spring, MD, beginning in 1981 and is Co-founder, with wife Dr. Nancy Hallenberg, Claremont School in Annandale, VA in 1986.

    In 1992, co-founder, with wife Dr. Nancy Hallenberg, of the Claremont Center for Advanced Montessori Studies and Claremont Montessori School in Boca Raton, Florida. The Claremont School enrolls students from 1st grade (6 years old) through high school.

Judi Dunlap

    Judi Dunlap has been a Montessori educator for 30 years. She is certified in early childhood education by the National Center for Montessori Education and by the American Montessori Society for 6 - 12 elementary. Judi completed her elementary training at the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies with Harvey Hallenberg. She also holds a Master of Arts in Gifted Education from the University of South Florida.

    Judi started both the Junior and Senior Elementary programs at Palm Harbor Montessori Academy. She was Elementary Dean at New Gate School in Sarasota for 11 years and most recently Principal of the Key West Montessori Elementary Charter School. Judi currently works as a Montessori teacher trainer and is a Montessori consultant in the Tampa Bay area.

Monique Czaja

    Monique has AMS Montessori Elementary and Early Childhood certification and has been teaching since 1978. Monique has been a teacher trainer since 1986. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Bradford College, in Massachusetts, with a concentration in Liberal Arts and Humanities.

Kym Elder

    Executive Director of Island Village Montessori Charter and Early Childhood Programs, was founder and first President of the IVMS Founding Board. Kym has Montessori teacher certification from the American Montessori Society in both early childhood and elementary levels.

    Kym holds a Master's Degree in Charter School Educational Leadership from Nova University and Florida certification in educational leadership, K-6 elementary education, and middle school integrated curriculum grades 5-9. She is currently finishing her Doctorate in Education Program with a concentration in Internet Technology and Distance Education.

Mary Beth Sullivan

• American Montessori Society Elementary II Certification
• Elementary K-6 Certification Florida
• MS in Elementary Education
• BA in Music
• Teacher - New Gate School
• Teacher - Island Village Montessori
• Teacher Trainer - Island Village Montessori.

Katie Smith

    Katie L. Smith graduated with from Edison Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in Education, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Special Education from Bowling Green State University. She has taught grades K-4 , as well as 7th and 8th, in both inclusion and self-contained settings.

     Katie has worked with students who have had a variety of health impairments, as well as cognitive, educational, emotional and behavioral disabilities. Katie served as ESE Liaison for Island Village Montessori School.

Elaine Palmore

    Elaine Palmore earned a BS degree from the University of Tennessee, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Her Montessori training for ages 3 to 6 is from MECA-Seton in Hinsdale, Ill. Elaine's elementary training is from Seacoast Training Center, Sarasota, FL.

    Ms. Palmore taught preschool children for 14 years at the Children’s House Montessori School of Nashville, TN. She was also on the staff of Island Village Montessori Charter School in Venice, FL as a teacher for 4 years and served as principal for one year. She is currently the Director of the Child Development Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

    Elaine has written articles for two nationally distributed educational publications: Montessori Life and Tomorrow's Child. She has a booklet in publication, Aftercare in a Montessori School, from her experiences designing and implementing the aftercare and summer programs at the Children's House.

Jim Dunn - Videographer

    Jim has a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science. He has over 30 years experience as a software engineer for Fortune 500 corporations. He currently owns Suncoast Video Productions and has over 10 years experience in videography and video editting.

Matt Minton - Website Manager

    Matt has nearly 5 years experience in Graphic Design. He earned Adobe Certification for Photoshop CS3 in 2008. From 2009 to 2010 Matt attended Sarasota County Technical Institute and completed the Digital Design Program, along with earning another Adobe Certification for Photoshop CS4.  Matt also started his own business, Pure and Modern Designs, in 2010. Matt has experience with most of Adobe Creative Suite 5, along with other software programs and their integration such as: aMember, moodle, wordpress, bbPress, phpBB, Google Enterprise, and others.

     Along with owning his own business, Matt is currently a student at Flagler College, in St. Augustine FL, and he is majoring in History with 3 minors; Creative Writing, Graphic Design, and Political Science.Matt is apart of the Student Government Association of Flagler College as the 1st Chair of the Publicity Committee, previously holding the position: Director of Graphic Design. Matt is also apart of the Student Ambassador Leadership Council and is very active around campus.