Meet our teachers

Owner/Administrator Susan Young

Susan is the Owner/Administrator of Montessori School of Novato.  She bought the school in 1985 after teaching at Montessori de Terra Linda for 5 years. Susan was born and raised in Marin County.  She lives in Novato with her husband.  They have three adult children, two girls and a boy all of whom attended Montessori School of Novato, and one grandchild.  Susan has a B.A. in Child Psychology from San Francisco State University and an Association Montessori International Diploma. In her spare time she likes to read, walk her dog, play golf and tennis.

Primary Teachers

Malin  has been with Montessori School of Novato since 1997. She holds a B.A. in History and Geography, an AMS Primary Montessori Teaching Credential and California Directors Permit. Malin is also our school Director. She has one daughter who attended MSON. When not teaching, she enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, spending time with her daughter and animals, and just enjoying nature.

Amanda attended Montessori School of Novato as a child and has been teaching here since 2019, first with Malin and now with her own class. She has a B.A. in English and a IMC Primary Montessori Teaching credential. When she’s not teaching, Amanda loves playing soccer, rock climbing, backpacking, and spending time with her dog, Alpine.

Pre-Primary Teacher

Cindy has been with Montessori School of Novato since 2019. Cindy holds a B.A. in Psychology of Education. Cindy has worked in the education field as a teacher, nanny and consultant to teachers helping them create strategies to work with behavioral problems in the classroom. Cindy uses a holistic approach when working with children, taking into consideration their physical, cognitive and emotional development. In her spare time, Cindy enjoys traveling, being outdoors and playing sports.

Assistants

Heidi grew up in Novato and has lived in Petaluma for the past 35 years. She is a wife, a mom and an Oma (grandmother). Heidi has a wealth of experience in childcare from running her own in-home daycare, nannying and subbing at various local preschools. In her spare time when not spending time with her daughters or grandkids, she loves to hike, cook and bake.

Poorva is new to Montessori and very excited to be a part of the Montessori School of Novato teaching team. After receiving her BS in psychology from Dominican University she took some time off to travel and work which is where her love for early childhood education developed. After directing summer camps and nannying, Poorva taught PreK for 13 years.She took 4 years off to care for her two young children and is looking forward to being back in classroom. Poorva is a Novato native and loves spending  time outdoors with her family. 

Lorena has been an assitant at our school since 2019. Born in El Salvador, she lived in Costa Rica before moving to California with her husband 17 years ago. Lorena has 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Her favorite color is purple and her hobbies are traveling, reading and hiking. Lorena loves her job!

After Care

Jessica is a new addition to Montessori of Novato and is happy to join the team. She has extensive experience working in child education. She started working with kids at YMCA at age 17 and attended College of Marin/SRJC. While taking courses on early childhood development she grew her passion for guiding and teaching kids of all ages. She has worked for San Rafael City Schools district with students ages Pre-K through 8th grade. She also has over 3 years experience in Montessori teaching and loves the curriculum. She has a 5 month old daughter named Violet , and when Jessica is not at work she’s spending her quality time with her baby girl witnessing her reach new milestones everyday. 

Annika is an MSON alumni and has worked at the school since 2018, first as an after care teacher and then as a Primary Assistant. Annika is attending college and is pursuing her degree in Elementary Education. In her spare time she likes to play guitar, paint and draw, hike, look for shells at the beach and spend time with her kitten and bearded dragon.

Daphne

**All staff at Montessori School of Novato are CPR and First Aid certified. Lead primary teachers have Montessori credentials, assistants and aftercare staff have a minimum of 12 ECE units**