Our Teachers/Staff

Kelly holds a degree in business from AIB and has attended ongoing Montessori staff training. She worked for three years at a Montessori school in Texas before coming to MCH. Kelly lives in West Des Moines with her husband Kent, daughter Taylor, and son Lakota.

Connie lives in West Des Moines with her husband Bruce. She has two children, Rob and Katie, who attended MCH as preschoolers and who are now at Iowa State University.

Joan is married and has three grown children and eight grandchildren. Her daughter has three boys; she and her family live in Chicago. Joan has two sons, one in Austin, Texas who has two boys and one girl, and one in Oklahoma City who has twin boys.

She also attended the University of Iowa and received an Elementary Education Teaching Certificate with an E.S.L. endorsement. Liz has completed her Montessori certification and her International Diploma. Both of Liz’s children attended MCH.

Mrs. Cline grew up in West Des Moines and received her teaching degree from Iowa State. Mrs. Cline lives in West Des Moines with her husband, Peter, and their two daughters.

Mrs. Henning and her husband have three sons.

She attended the University of Iowa and received a BFA degree. She took Montessori training classes in 1985 and worked at Cowles Montessori School with 6-9 year old students.

Sue is currently enrolled in the Montessori Center International certification course and successfully completed the Apparatus Workshop. Sue is married and has one daughter, two sons, and a dog named Missy. Sue became a grandmother for the first time in 2006. Sue shares teaching responsibilities with Patti – Sue works five days and Patti works the opposite five days.

When her daughter began preschool and her first son was born, she accepted a position at the Walnut Creek YMCA and became the preschool Gymnastics and Fitness Coordinator. She worked there for eight years before she began working at the Academy. She was their part-time secretary for two years and then became an associate Montessori preschool teacher for another four years. Mrs. Kramer completed her Montessori certification in July 2011. Mrs. Kramer is married to Mike and they have three children: Elizabeth, a senior at Iowa State, Michael, a freshman at Iowa State, and Benjamin, a freshman at Urbandale. Their family also includes their pets, Noah, Roo, and Teddy.

Rini has a B.A. in English and Psychology. In the summer of 2004 she completed the Montessori Apparatus Workshop in Denver, CO. Rini has completed her Montessori certification and her International Diploma and is a Montessori trainer. She became Head Directress in June 2007. Rini has two children.

Donna is certified by the American Montessori Society in Early Childhood Education and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Upper Iowa University. Donna is married and has two adult children, one attending the University of Iowa and the other Grandview University.

Jodie also worked at a Montessori school in Omaha, Nebraska before joining the MCH staff. She has completed her Montessori certification and her International Diploma. Jodie has twin daughters who attended MCH.

She attended Gujarat University in India and received a B.A. in Psychology. Bharti has completed the Apparatus Workshop.

She has an MFA degree from Drake University and has taught art for many years to all ages, preschool through adult! Betty has done extensive reading in the Montessori philosophy and works to incorporate the same principals in her work with our students.

Mrs. Mendoza is the mother of five children who have all mastered Spanish and some have gone on to use their Spanish in their careers.  She has enjoyed working as a respite care provider for Family Inc. where she been extensively trained and is certified to help children with special needs.  She works with the Spanish Immersion program at the Montessori Children’s House.  Mrs. Mendoza is working toward her Montessori certification for ages birth – 6 having already completed the Apparatus Workshop.

Her experiences lie not only in the early childhood classroom, but also as a Director of a large childcare facility and a Resource and Referral counselor with Polk County. Mrs. Miller lives in Urbandale with her husband and three children.

Mrs. Mrs. Rafferty loves being back at work after staying home with her children for 12 years. Dawn grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Iowa State University with a BA in Journalism and Speech Communications. She has spent many years in her children’s school volunteering in various activities. Mrs. Rafferty lives in West Des Moines with her husband Bob, two daughters, and son.

She has her Elementary Education degree from Simpson College and her 3-6 year old Montessori certification from St. Nicholas. Sandy is married and has three children and two grandsons. Sandy works Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for Teresa and Thursday afternoon for Connie.

She started her career as an assistant teacher at a Montessori school in Mexico while studying “Intervencion Educativa” at the National Pedagogical University Campus 081. Pam completed her Montessori training at “Centro de Capacitacion Montesorri” in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Pam is married to Hem Kolli and has two children, Shreeya and Alonso.

Teresa started working at MCH in a Half Day Preschool classroom after staying home with her sons. Teresa has earned her Montessori certification course and International Teaching Diploma. Teresa’s husband is Travis and they have two sons, Jake and Josh.

Brenda is currently working on her Montessori certification. Originally from Ohio, Brenda taught second grade in Las Vegas for eight years before moving to Iowa in 2001. Brenda has two sons and a daughter who attended MCH.

She earned a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, her Montessori certification for children ages birth – 6, and her International Diploma. She currently holds an Iowa teaching license for grades K – 6. She has three grown children who attended MCH.

Mrs. Beltroy and her husband, Eduardo, moved to the US in 1998, when he got a position for his Pediatric Residency. Mrs. Beltroy was a stay-home mom until her family moved back to Peru in 2009. Then again she worked as a preschool teacher for 2 more years until July 2011 when she and her family returned to Iowa. Mrs. Beltroy started working at Montessori Children’s House in September 2012 as a Spanish teacher for specials. She and her husband have three sons, Mateo, Gonzalo and Rafael. Their son, Rafael, attended Montessori Children’s House.

Usha holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and an International Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy from Montessori Centre International in London, U.K.

Usha enjoys gardening, reading and listening to music. She also loves to cook and experiment with new ingredients and recipes.