Sophia Ginder

School Administrator Director

sophia@altavistamontessori.com

Mrs. Ginder founded Alta Vista Montessori School in 1998 and has been the school administrator since then. Ms. Sophia was born in Greece and she moved to the United States in 1973. She received her B.A. in education from Northeastern Illinois University and has been a teacher and administrator for over 30 years. She discovered Montessori when her older daughter, Samantha (now an Elementary Montessori teacher), was three years old and has devoted herself to bringing authentic, high quality Montessori education to children ever since then. Her younger daughter, Marina, is currently a student at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Champaign Illinois. Sophia lives in Libertyville with her husband, Robert.

Vicki Kolias

Secretary/Office Manager

vicki@altavistamontessori.com

Ms. Vicki joined our staff in 2012 as the Office Manager. She is an employee as well as a mom at our school. Her daughter, Areti, is in our Toddler Community. Vicki is the first person you will talk to when you call our school and the o

ne to welcome you when you come for a visit.

Shawn Viverretta

Guide

viverretta@altavistamontessori.com

Ms. Viverretta joined Alta Vista in 2000. Her passion for teaching has been a constant in her life. She received her Primary AMI Diploma from the Montessori Teachers Training Centre-Pakistan in 1992. Shawn has a B.A. in English from State University of New York at Old Westbury. In addition to guiding her primary classroom, she conducts a creative movement class as part of our Extracurricular Program. Shawn enjoys yoga, fitness, and music. She resides in Libertyville with her two sons who have both attended Montessori schools and have worked at Alta Vista after school.

Laura Houlihan

Assistant

Ms. Laura started working at our Bella Vista location in 2011 as an afternoon aide while she was completing her B.A. in education.  She has now joined our Alta Vista family as an assistant teacher in the Lavender room. Laura has a warm and gentle way of connecting with everyone and most especially the children.

Huma Salman

Guide

salman@altavitamontessori.com

Mrs. Salman joined our Alta Vista community in 2002 after working at Montessori Country Day School for 8 years. Huma received her AMI Primary Diploma in 1993 and has been a guide since then. She is a mother of two, a son and a daughter, who are both presently attending college.

Alicia Powers

Assistant

Ms. Alicia is currently working towards her education degree at the College of Lake County. She started working at Alta Vista in 2009 in the after school program and quickly she became very interested in the Montessori Method. In 2011 she enthusiastically accepted the po

sition of assistant in the Lilac room.

Kim Milazzo

Guide

milazzo@altavitamontessori.com

Mrs. Milazzo started working at Alta Vista in 1999 as an assistant. She received her Primary AMI Diploma in 2002 from the Montessori Training Center in St. Louis. Kim took an extended leave of absence from 2003 to 2007 to stay home to raise her two children. In 2007 she returned to Alta Vista with her two children as students. Her daughter is now in Elementary and her son is still an Alta Vista student. Kim is very outgoing and she enjoys spen

ding her free time with family, friends, and her bowling league.

Cheryl Jaworsky

Assistant

Mrs. Jaworsky came to Alta Vista in 2010 when she took an early retirement from her Para-Legal position to follow her dream of working with young children. She

has been married for 35 years and has two adult children; Nicholas, an architect  and Robbie who is in college. When her sons were young, she became an Assistant Scout Master, which is where she discovered how much she enjoyed working with children.

Suzanne Booth

Guide

booth@altavistamontessori.com

Mrs. Booth completed her A to I training at the Montessori Institute of Denver in 2007. She has been with us since 2006 with the exception of her maternity leave (Dec. 2010 to Aug. 2011) when she had her son, now one year old.  She holds a B.A. in music and teaches a music class as part of our Extracurricular Program.

Kayla Madsen

Support Staff

Ms. Kayla, a college student, is a new addition to our staff; she joined our community in Spring of 2012. Kayla works part time in the afternoon helping out as a support staff in all of our classrooms. She has brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to our school along with her love of working with children. 

Gisella Maniscalco

Assistant

Gisella was born and raised in Italy where she studied early childhood education. She has worked at Alta Vista since 2008. Gisella is the mother of two sons, Francesco who is now in Elementary and Nino who is a Primary student. Gisella speaks Italian and she loves to teach Italian songs to the children.

Courtney Talbot

Support Staff

Ms. Courtney, a college student, joined our staff in 2011. She works part time in the afternoon helping out as a support staff in all of our classrooms. She has become a quick favorite of the children with her big smile and enthusiasm.

Fozia Abbasi

Support Staff

Mrs. Abbasi has been with Alta Vista since 2003. She is very important to everyone at the school since she is our substitute teacher. She has been most flexible and helpful over the years, never saying no to a substitute assignment coming to her at all times of day and night. She is the mother of two beautiful daughters.