Teachers

Tia was born in Kenya, but spent most of her childhood in Ireland.  She came across Montessori when she was young and left school at 18 to train as a Montessori teacher, she then traveled for a couple of years, settling in Auckland when she was offered a teaching position in 1988. 

 Tia moved to Matakana in 1999 with her husband Mark, they have three adult children who all flourished with a Montessori education.

 Tia is a trust member of the Maria Montessori Education Foundation set up to bring the AMI Montessori teacher training to New Zealand.  

 She really enjoys working with parents, and has created her own parent workshop series.

 Tia traveled to the US in 2012/3 to complete the 0-3 Montessori training.

Tia has set up play group and enjoys working with under 3 year old children and their parents.

In her time off, Tia and Mark enjoy gardening their three acres and enjoying the local beaches, swimming, reading and cooking.

Marlene is the head teacher and supervisor at Totara Hill Montessori.

Marlene finished her Bachelor of Education (Early Years) in 2011 and began teaching at Totara Hill Montessori soon after.

She gained her AMI Montessori assistants training in 2012, and then completed her full AMI 3-6 Montessori teacher training from 2015- 2017. 

Prior to her study, she has worked with children, attending Playcentre for many years while her children were young.

She has travelled extensively, spending a few years living in England with her husband Darren before returning to New Zealand.

Marlene lives locally with her husband and two girls both attend Mahurangi College. She enjoys spending time with the family, gardening and playing the guitar.

Yukie started at Totara Hill Montessori in 2015.

Having spent time as a home based educator. Yukie is a wonderful asset to our school, she speaks to the children in Japanese. She reads stories, sings songs and uses language materials.

It is amazing how much they pick up and speak back to Yukie.

Any language is fantastic for children to learn at this age and we are very lucky to have Yukie on our team.

Lucie started at Totara Hill Montessori in 2016.

Lucie was born in the UK. She opened a Montessori school in Poole, Dorset.

Lucie then travelled to the southern Hemisphere before settling in New Zealand and marrying Chris. While her three children were growing up, Lucie used her Montessori training to work with preschool children from home, preparing them for school. Also working as a teacher aide with special needs children at Taupaki School and relieving at Kindergartens. Lucie and her husband  came to the beautiful Point Wells area in 2015 and enjoy the natural charm of the outdoors and local beaches. Lucie loves to spend time with family and friends as well as traveling to new places, Markets, Photography and reading.

  Lucie’s motto – ‘live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly’.

 Jane Joined  Totara Hill Montessori in 2017 to work part time specifically with the five year olds, helping to prepare them to transition to primary school.

Following a passion to be involved in Montessori Education has not only changed Jane's methodology in Education, but it has provided a wonderful opportunity to be involved in AMI Montessori with children, parents and adults.

Jane has many roles, assisting on Montessori teacher education programmes,  in New Zealand and overseas.

 Jude has been involved in Montessori education since she was introduced to it by her sister. As a result her two children have both had Montessori education from preschool till primary school. She loved the philosophy so much that over the last 10 years she has spent her time studying and attending Montessori courses recently completing her AMI 3-6 Diploma training in 2017.During this time she worked in a Montessori centre.

Prior to this she was a Primary School teacher who taught in both large Auckland schools and small rural schools. Over time she has worked in many roles in both Primary Schools and Early Childhood centres.

Jude lives locally with her husband and two boys. She loves the area and enjoys beach activities, reading and exploring new places.

 Kelly already a parent, joined Totara Hill Montessori in 2018 to help us with Te Reo Maori, Kelly speaks in Maori to the children and teaches the adults as she does, she is a wonderful resource for our center and the children are learning so much.