Yvette Perreira Lewis -Infant/Toddler House (3 months to 2 years)
Yvette received her Montessori training at both the Pre-Primary and Infant/Toddler levels with a degree in psychology and early childhood education. A native of Hawaii, Yvette has taught in Montessori schools since 1979, both in Hawaii where she opened the first Toddler/Two’s Program at the Montessori Community School on Oahu and in the Bay Area, where she, her husband Patrick and their infant son relocated in 1988. Yvette joined our staff in 1994. She has since served as our Infant/Toddler Program Coordinator for the last 14 years seeing to the day-to-day functions of the I/T House and meeting with staff and parents as necessary.
Yvette has spent much of her time over the years becoming very involved in her three son’s soccer, swim team, and water polo activities. She enjoys scorekeeping at games and rarely misses a match or meet. She also loves walking, bike riding, and reading…and caring for her two little dogs!
Lisa Lesley – Infant/Young Toddlers (3 months to 1 ½ years)
Lisa graduated from UC Berkeley in 1998 with a B.A. in English and later earned a Single Subject Teaching Credential in English from Chapman University. She worked for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, first as a substitute and then as a 9th grade English teacher at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord from 2000-2006. Lisa decided to make a career change and started working as a substitute at DVMS. In August 2007, she was hired as an assistant in the half-day 2′s program, and also worked in the infant and older toddler rooms. She had her son Robert in 2008, who became a student at DVMS at 3 months old and is continuing through the Preschool/Kindergarten program. After working in the Older Toddler room for 4 years, Lisa joined the Infant room staff to complete her internship for the Infant/Toddler Montessori training. She will earn her Montessori credential through Montessori Teacher Education Center, San Francisco Bay Area, by the end of the 2011-2012 school year.
Deanna Dutra – Infant/Young Toddlers (3 months to 1 ½ years)
Deanna began working with young children right out of high school. She earned her Early Childhood Education credentials at Los Medanos College while working at a local preschool. After five years there, she started her own family and stayed home to raise her own children along with caring for other children in her home. She was hired to work at DVMS in 2007 and is currently pursuing her Infant Toddler Montessori credentials through the Montessori Teacher Education Center, San Francisco Bay Area.
Irena Shklovsky – Older Toddlers (1 ½ years to 2 years)
Irena has been teaching children of different ages for over thirty years. She started working with preschoolers after receiving her BA in Early Childhood Education in Moscow, Russia. She continued studying, received an MS degree in Language, Irena served as a school administrator and developed special programs for children with language delays.
Irena started working at DVMS and obtained her American Montessori Society Teacher Credentials for the Infant/toddler level after moving to California in 1995 with her husband and two school age sons. She is presently the Head Teacher of the Older Toddler Class and also an Instructor of Montessori Philosophy, Pedagogue and Environmental Design for the Montessori Teacher Education Center, San Francisco Bay Area.
Jennifer Cabral – Two Year Olds
A California native, Jenny began working at DVMS in 1985, when her 2 boys were in school full time. She received her Montessori certificate from the Montessori Teacher Education Center, San Francisco Bay Area. Jenny is the head teacher of the full day twos class. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, classic movies and of course all of the wonderful children and families at DVMS.
Carol Tottman – Two Year Olds
Carol is originally from England; she has been in the United States for over 20 years. She found Montessori and received her Montessori certificate from the Montessori Teacher Education Center, San Francisco Bay Area. She has loved working as a Montessori teacher at DVMS since 1994. Carol has a wonderful husband and they enjoy walking their dog and relaxing with a cup of tea at home with the cats.