Denise Conner (Director & Teacher)

As the director of the school for the last 17 years, Denise is a well-known figure in Sunland. Many of her past students still come to say hello. Denise supervises the day-to-day operations of the school from teacher schedules to curriculum planning.

Her day begins at 6:30 A.M. sharp, welcoming the early morning students. As the chief liaison with parents, many have come to know and trust Denise. They can go to work with the comfort of knowing that they have entrusted their children to someone who will do everything to protect, nurture and educate their children.

Virtually all her students achieve very high academic standards and continue to excel well after they leave our school. But her class is not all-academic work. It's full of fun, special treats, stickers, an illicit game of Bingo perhaps or a really nice homemade cake. We like to think of her class as the finishing class, where well-rounded children with a wide variety of skills from math, reading and strong social skills are given a head start to handle the rigors of elementary school and beyond.

Cecelia De Los Reyes (Infant Care Teacher)

Cecelia has been with the school for 21 years and counting. As the principal infant care teacher reports to work for the afternoon shift from 12-6:30 pm. Cecelia has perfected the art of infant care. She does have a routine, which must be followed to the letter. Cleaning has to be done at set times, Infant food needs must be met immediately and diapers changes done promptly so no rashes develop.

But when it comes to infants she caters to their every need without spoiling them. She is also receptive to parents needs, following their instructions, providing gentle advise when needed and a strong sense of empathy for the child’s needs. She enjoys her quiet times with them in the play yard, painting and making arts and crafts and reading stories to them. Year after year she manages to build little jewels of delight with her nurturing attitude.

Martha Ross

Marti as she is known, is our lead infant care teacher in the mornings. While she will be leaving us in September to pursue her nursing degree with a full scholarship, the school decided to employ her even temporarily because of her outstanding infant care experience and warm personality. This will also allow the school more time to look for a morning infant care that has that certain " je ne sais quoi " quality Marti has in spades.

She also has two teenage children of her own which adds to her wealth of first hand experience and straight " A " credentials. But mostly Marti has a special aura and gentleness about her that is compelling in an infant care setting.

Adreneh Hesmati (Teacher Aide)

As a teachers aide, Adreneh is employed on a part time basis to learn about children as she goes to school for Early Childhood Education classes. Always reliable and hardworking, Adreneh is above all, gentle with children, a quality that is highly valued by the school. She is also a great asset to the school in terms of doing the hard work such as helping with diaper changing, cleaning and vacuuming, helping with the lunch program and many other activities that can be tedious, but an essentiual part of the school program.

Hasmik Matevosian

The lead teacher in class 1, Hasmik brings a quiet touch to the school, which blends in well with the Montessori system. Because she is a young mother of two teenagers, Hasmik brings a good combination of youthful exuberance and physical stamina to the school while retaining the maturity to handle a very busy class

Although relatively new to the school, Hasmik, has worked hard to implement and learn the Montessori teaching system. She is also an accomplished musician and plays the violin and piano for the kids during our music circle time in the afternoons.

Sandra Zavala

Sandra is a well qualified teacher who has rapidly built up her practical experience in child development. As a result she was promoted, given a full time position and has overall responsibility for closing the school everyday. As one of two teachers in the 2-4 year old class, Sandra generally handles the younger group of children. She has a warm loving personality that the kids just adore.

Her responsibilities include taking turns leading our morning circle time, diaper changes, tracking in teaching progress, help with giving lunch and snacks, ensuring that children wash hands and go to sleep smoothly during nap time and supervision of children during play time. As one of the closing teachers she also has to ensure that the school is shut down for the day in an orderly manner, inspect classrooms for tidyness for the next days start and check that children are released to authorised people only. A heavy responsibility she conducts with aplomb.