Deserae Bright

Ms. Bright was born and raised in Oakland. She loves her hometown and appreciates all of the diversity of people living within it. She has a twin brother and was raised in a diverse family with a host of cousins, aunties and uncles. Her interest in working with children began when she was in high school and was involved in a program called the Future Teachers Academy, as well as through time spent taking care of her younger cousins, nieces and nephews. She began working at Grand Lake Montessori in 2001. During her time at GLM she has earned her AMI Montessori Primary teaching credential. She strongly believes that children should have fun while learning. Her goal is to help them develop a love of learning, so that they continue to pursue their passions and interests throughout life. Her own passions include music, dance and a new-found love for theatrical arts.

Faye Owens

Ms. Owens was born and raised in Columbia, Mississippi. She grew up with five brothers and one sister. After graduating high school, she moved to California where she then attended Heald College to study business. Her first place of employment was a part-time teaching position in a toddler classroom at Grand Lake Montessori. It is here that she developed a love and passion for working with children. She very much enjoyed supporting the development of the toddlers and noticed that they could do many things on their own. Teaching at Grand Lake has inspired Ms. Owens to take many child development courses, including some in Montessori. She has also received an Administrative Director’s certificate and a Home Child Care certificate. Ms. Owens has been a teacher in many classrooms at Grand Lake Montessori for over thirty years. Ms.Owens believes strongly in bringing creativity to all aspects of education and also strives to uphold the school’s mission in her everyday work, which is to “Help make childhood a journey, not a race.” She loves to travel throughout the U.S., spending as much time as possible with her family in Mississippi. In her spare time she enjoys doing yoga, listening to music, and loves eating different varieties of food.

Nancy Haskins

Ms. Haskins is a Bay Area native, born in Richmond, California. She was raised in a very loving Italian family and was lucky to have most of her immediate family members close by. She graduated from Richmond High and then from Contra Costa Jr. College with an A.S. in Computer Sciences and began working immediately for the Diablo Valley School District. She was hired by GLM in 1984 as the Office Manager after enrolling her daughter in the school. Nancy loves the outdoors, hiking, gardening, going to A’s games (Go A’s!) reading, cooking, and spending as much time as possible with her family and close friends. Although she is not a Montessori teacher, she has a great respect for the Montessori approach to education and for the GLM teachers and staff.

Ashley Vanderford

Ms. Vanderford was born and raised in the Bay Area, predominantly spending her childhood in San Lorenzo. After University she decided that she wanted to work with children and came to be an Assistant Teacher in the Brown Cottage. She fell in love with the Montessori principles and wanted to learn more. She then had an opportunity to travel and live in London for an extended time, so said goodbye to her beloved Camellia class. As luck would have it, her new job in London offered Ashley a chance to study at the Maria Montessori Training Institute (A.M.I.) and become a Montessori teacher, specialising in working with children ages 0-3 years. After 5 lovely years in the UK she has returned back to the Bay Area and her Brown Cottage team. She strives to encourage independence and a love of learning in the children that come through her classroom. During her free time she enjoys singing with friends, swing dancing and attending aerial circus classes.

Grace Mollel

Ms. Mollel was born and raised in Arusha Tanzania, East Africa, as were both of her parents. After finishing college she worked at the the NGO-Tanzanian Norwegian Aids Project in Arusha and the Kilimanjaro region as an account assistant for five years. She traveled to the United States and Oakland, California where she worked as a nanny for several years before joining GLM. She has worked as a support teacher in one of our toddler classrooms for more than 10 years. Her philosophy in her work with both children and adults is for all to be acknowledged, respected and treated with love. Her passions includes cleaning, organizing, music and spending time with family and friends.

Djamila Guendoud

Djamila was born and raised in Algeria, North Africa. She grew up in a large family with many siblings. After receiving her BS degree from the University of Law and Administration in Algeria 2005, she moved to the States along with her husband. Right after moving to California she started attending college where she changed programs many times until she found out about child development and she never looked back. She graduated with an AA degree in child development from Merritt College. The thought of getting this degree came right after giving birth to her two children, who are pre-teens now. She worked as an interpreter at schools and children’s clinics to help Arabic and French parents who spoke little to no English. She joined GLM through an agency where she worked as a substitute teacher. She enjoys working with children as this offers her an opportunity to connect with them, help them reach their potential, and guide them towards meaningful growth. Cooking is her passion as it brings back her childhood memories and connects her with her country of origin and its traditional dishes. But the most important thing for her is spending time with her husband and kids.

Lulani Lampkin

Ms. Lampkin was born and raised in the SF East Bay where she explored her love for music, drama and athletics. She loves to cook, read, and is a self proclaimed craft Queen. She is the daughter of two Early childhood educators and the middle child of six! Ms. Lampkin Studied at the University of Santa Cruz California where she received her B.A.s in both Education and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. Ms. Lampkin looks forward to her first year with Grand Lake Montessori where she will learn how to teach students self-reliance and compassion for their peers.She is passionate about providing playful, engaging and equitable education to the next generation and hopes to instill confidence in all of her students.

Paul Contreras

Mr. Contreras is from the San Fernando Valley, where he first started working with students with developmental delays while in the 6th grade. His passion for empowering and advocating for youth blossomed from that experience. Paul quickly fell in love with the multiculturalism of the Bay Area while studying Sociology at UC Berkeley. After operating his own business in Berkeley, with a brief stint in the corporate world and an after-school program in Oakland, he decided to return to school to attain a degree from the Peralta Colleges in Child Development so that he could work with younger age groups and their families. He worked with the City of Oakland’s Early Head Start program for a year before making the transition to the GLM community in June of 2013. Paul spends his free time at dog parks with his two Pugs, jogging Lake Merritt, playing softball & basketball, attending concerts, and enjoying the numerous festivals and events the Bay has to offer.

Mariana Bissonnette

Mariana was born and raised in the SF Bay Area and is grateful to have family close by! She has had various roles in education – from health education to teacher recruitment, after school programming to classroom instruction. She could see that the current educational model didn’t seem to meet the needs of children, teachers or even parents and started looking for something that might just do all three – and she found it! Mariana found Montessori Education through Grand Lake Montessori in 2010 when she came for an observation for an opening in the Camellia class. She was instantly hooked! Here was an educational framework flexible enough to meet the needs of all students and structured enough to allow the child to maximize their potential! Mariana earned her AMI 3-6 credential in 2012, her AMI 0-3 credential in 2016 and self-published a Montessori parenting book, Babies Build Toddlers, in 2020. At Grand Lake Montessori, she spent 8 years in the classroom as both a support and lead teacher and is excited to be working with the greater school community of staff, parents and children as Director of Instruction. Mariana also runs the parent support program, The PEACE Program, at Grand Lake Montessori that offers free and sliding-scale parenting support for the broader community. Mariana has two children – two GLM alums! – and in her “free” time, she loves being outdoors with her husband, kids and dog, Sequoia.

Tina Huang

Tina Huang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to the Bay Area when she was 3 years old. She holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from Hawaii Pacific University and a Master’s in Forensic Science from UC Davis. After working in different areas of education, Ms. Huang realized that early childhood education is very important. She made the decision to go back to school and received her AMI Primary certification this past June from Montessori Northwest in Portland, Oregon. Tina is very excited to be back in the Bay Area and to join the GLM community this summer. She believes in a hands-on-approach to learning, supporting children in using their hands to build their intelligence and personality. In her spare time, Tina enjoys knitting, hiking, reading, playing board games, and traveling.