Our Staff Members
Villa is well known for our warm and nurturing staff, and we are widely respected in the early childhood field. Our teachers have many years of teaching experience with young children. We are very fortunate to have teachers who speak various languages and come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The Villa staff work together as a cohesive team. They are responsible for maintaining the classroom environment, planning the curriculum, teaching, and assessing children.
Qiu Yuan (Sandy) Lin
Qiu Yuan (Sandy) Lin is the Director at Villa Montessori School. She holds an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Diploma and Certificate in Child Development, and she has taken many other early childhood education courses in past years. She also holds a BA degree in Foreign Trade English from China. She has been a Head Teacher at Villa Montessori School in the past and also taught at Villa for over 18 years.
Justine Fan
Justine Fan is AMS certified Montessori Teacher. She received a BA in Early Childhood Education from Taiwan. She came to the United States in 1996 to earn a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education. Mrs. Fan has been working in Montessori classrooms since 1998. She has taught at Children's Cottage in Alamo for two years and Apple Seed International School in Sunnyvale for thirteen years.
Shiroma De Silva
Shiroma De Silva is a certified Montessori teacher. Before immigrating to the US in 2000 to work at a Montessori school, she worked as a public school teacher in Sri Lanka. She is a certified Site Supervisor by the California Commission of Teaching Credentials and has also completed education in child development and CPR certification. Ms. De Silva has over 20 years of experience in the Montessori teaching environment and has previously worked at Appleseed Montessori for 10 years. She enjoys working with young children and hopes to be able to work together as a team with the parents to help their children grow academically, socially, emotionally, and in every way possible.
Rani Dhruva
Rani Dhruva is an IMA certified Montessori Teacher with an ECE certification earned at De Anza College. She has been working with Montessori schools since 2013. Mrs. Dhruva holds a master's degree in Commerce, earning a gold medal for Specialization in Accounting and Business Taxation. Her passion for working with young children motivated her to pursue the education field. She worked as a Montessori Teacher at the Head Start Montessori House of Children in Bangalore and as the Head Montessori Teacher at Mantra Montessori School before joining Villa. She is dedicated to helping each child reach their fullest potential.
Sunita Sahota
Sunita Sahota attained her Montessori training from the Montessori Western Teachers Training
Program in Garden Grove, California, in 1998. She holds a Masters Degree in
Educational Psychology. She has been a Montessori teacher for 25 years and is always
surprised at how kids learn amazingly well given a prepared environment, a loving and healthy
upbringing, and positive encouragement. She also strongly believes in the safety of children
during emergencies and hence attained a FEMA training certificate from the Irvine Police
Department in Southern California. She is hoping to continuously learn more about how children
think and develop by keenly observing them in the classrooms, one of the basic necessities
Maria Montessori believed in.
Nawarat Yomabut
Nawarat Yomabut is an intern teacher studying Early Childhood Montessori Education at the
Montessori Teacher Education Center (MTEC). Originally from Thailand, she holds a bachelor's
degree in Tourism Management from Thailand. Since coming to the U.S. in 2018, she has
developed a strong passion for working with children. Nawarat is particularly passionate about the
Montessori method, which emphasizes independence, hands-on learning, and respect for a
child's natural development. She is committed to creating a positive and inclusive classroom
atmosphere that encourages curiosity and creativity in every child.
Annie (Szu Yu) Liu
Annie (Szu Yu) Liu is an AMS-certified Montessori teacher with credentials in Early Childhood and Infant & Toddler education. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies from Taiwan and has gained valuable Montessori classroom experience through internships in the U.S. Passionate about bilingual education, Annie is dedicated to creating a nurturing, child-centered environment that supports each child’s growth. She believes in the power of a thoughtfully prepared environment and gentle guidance to foster independence, confidence, and a love of learning.
Lishuang Zhu
Lishuang Zhu is currently an intern in the Early Childhood Program at the Montessori Teacher
Education Center (MTEC) in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a B.S. in Chemical
Engineering. Since arriving in the U.S. in 2019, she has been dedicated to working with
children. Miss Zhu believes that children have an innate desire to learn and continuously
improve themselves. She values children's thoughts and encourages them to express
themselves freely. Her educational approach is to follow each child's natural growth pattern and
support their individual learning journey.
Karen Sahota
Karen Sahota holds a bachelors in business concentration in human resources from San Jose State University. She helps run the front and back office administration, as well as helping the teachers. Karen is passionate about creating a better link between employees and management. She wants to do this by designing a positive environment and configuring the best possible results for the front and back of Villa Montessori. Karen has a fondness for travelling (18 countries and 13 states), animals, and letting children learn hands-on.
