Faculty and Advisors

Central to creating a sense of belonging our qualified and experienced teachers primarily take on the role of an affectionate caregiver. They promote and encourage active learning by creating a vibrant classroom atmosphere by meticulously planning an energetic and enriching schedule every day.

Our excellent student-teacher ratio guarantees individual attention, allowing your child to blossom at his/her own pace. With equal emphasis on academics and extracurricular activities, we firmly believe that every child is special and unique in their own way. Our passionate teachers will adequately prepare your child for future school years as they truly understand and pay close attention to every child’s needs and concerns. Going the extra mile, they concentrate on bonding with children to win their hearts and earn their trust.

In addition to their teaching skills they have been selected for possessing exemplary qualities like empathy, patience and creativity that qualify them firstly as role models and then teachers, enabling your child to develop self-esteem, skills, knowledge and positive attitude towards life.

Faculty & Staff

Savitha

Hello! I am an IB trained teacher with a Master’s degree in Mathematics. I hold a keen interest in learning psychology. By drawing parallels with Math, I have published and co-authored a few research papers during my teacher training course.

With three years of teaching experience I believe that I am the jack of all syllabuses and master of Math!

Coming from a family of teachers, I was easily inspired to be one. Being a part of ILM has cushioned an ocean of opportunities to explore and experiment teaching techniques. Being trained by Montessori, the kids have an exploratory mind-set. Nurturing this idea makes my journey fun and rewarding!

Swetha

Swetha did her MA in Education in the hope of understanding the education system better. After seven years in the field she is assured that the journey of understanding is a life-long one.

Among the various roles she was fortunate to experience, being a teacher has been the most rewarding. She likes to explore the potential of art and writing to bring peace — within oneself and hence the world outside.

She is also just as miserable and vulnerable as all humans are. She is always wondering what the right thing to do is, and finds herself torn between ideals and realities. She finds strength to carry on through her relationships with people and the larger living world.

Pritesh

Hi! I’m Pritesh. I am a Ph. D. in Materials Chemistry from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with 3.5 years of post-doctoral experience in Biomaterials and Solar Cell research from Belgium & Sweden. After finishing my Post-Doc stint, I was looking for a change and I worked as an Art researcher at Art’zire, an Art studio I founded in 2013. Once I realized I had given my studio all I had, I decided to switch to teaching Science to the Upper Elementary students at ILM. I’ve been with ILM for over 1.5 years now.

Although I am a Chemist by training, my true passion is teaching because I am a firm believer of “Laying a strong foundation of knowledge is crucial to creating responsible adults”. Having worked in fields of Genetics (at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics and Centre for Biomedical Research, Delhi University), Chemistry and Electronics, I have come to realize that what is most important for children is not to memorize information, but to stay eternally curious and view the larger picture through the lens of interdisciplinary collaboration. Coupled with hands-on work, I try to make Science accessible, fun and informative for children of various age groups. It’s my dream to see these children grow up and become change-makers this country and the world need.

Aparna

I am a computer science graduate with eleven years of work experience as a media professional. A chance encounter with the Montessori method as a parent is the reason I am here. The more I practice this method, the more I am convinced that this method has all the answers for the benefit of the child.

I am also one of the few teachers who began their career in the online mode. The Montessori method had been perfected by Dr. Maria Montessori after 22 years of observation and has remained unchanged for the last 150 years. To adapt this method to the online mode was a challenge that was thrown at me right in the beginning of my role as a teacher. Making myself worthy of the child and staying true to the philosophy of the method was my priority. Even though it was extremely challenging, thanks to my training and the cooperation from my children, it has been an extremely rewarding journey so far. I hope to pursue this passion for working with the children for as long as possible.

Suma R Yadav

I am Suma R. Yadav. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and a Diploma in Montessori Elementary from IMTC. I have been on this journey for three years now. Previously, I worked with the Earth School and now I am glad to be a part of ILM Montessori.

Post my diploma, when I entered the Elementary environment, I was amazed to practically see how at this stage, children love to be self assessed, reason out and have an amazing imagination filled with energy, a desire to express every thought and how the child organically chooses his own work, completes it and moves to the next work with great peace and joy.

I saw not only the development in the child but also in me personally, being wholesome mentally, emotionally and physically.

Naveen Sulthana

I’m Naveen Sulthana. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Electronics, a Diploma in Interior Designing and another Diploma from IMTC (Indian Montessori Training Center) for Elementary Montessori.

You think you have done it all; school, college, work…. but there’s always something missing. That’s how I felt. Before doing my course, I thought I was doing everything right, I thought I knew children, I was wrong. I’m glad I was wrong.

My son is studying at ILM Montessori. As a parent, there’s no greater satisfaction than to see your child love to learn without it being forced and to see that excitement and joy from learning. Whenever I walked into his classroom for observations, I saw that it’s very open, inviting, and extremely interactive. I was awestruck by the way in which the children are taught and how they are able to self-guide their learning.

This led me to venture into the world of Montessori teaching. When I got an opportunity to do the course, I took it. It was the turning point for me and I feel so blessed to have done the course.

Every day is a learning day in the classroom for me. And each day something I do in the class reminds me that I need to do it better.

Preethi S

Hi! I’m Preethi. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and a Diploma in Montessori Pre-primary.

Right after my pre-primary certification, I joined hands with ILM. I was astonished by the way ILM welcomes freshers and gives them the opportunity of experiencing working with the children in the environment.

I’m from a traditional school, where I wasn’t given a chance to showcase my talents (dancing and singing). According to me, children should be treated equally.

After my graduation, I was in a dilemma about the next steps in my life. Then, through some research I got to know about the Montessori methodology. I chose to become a pre-primary teacher and now every day I enjoy working and learning with children!

Sujatha Ramanujam

It’s always been my passion to work with children.

Be it my children or others – their curiosity and their innocence still leave me in wonderment.

So when I had to choose a method of facilitating learning, there was no doubt, I had to pick the Montessori environment. It’s the best learning methodology out there – developed to benefit both the child and the adults nurturing them.

Montessori doesn’t restrict itself to concepts but focuses on the holistic development of the child. It ensures that by the time the child moves out of pre-primary, he/she is independent and does not need a parent to supervise them with daily activities. Be it putting on clothes, buttoning the shirts or tying shoelaces. This is accomplished through activities that gently push the mental and physical boundaries of the little ones.

The reason I mention this is because my older child is dyslexic. I learned that when he was 15 years old. He was just about to write his ICSE board exams.

He struggled at every juncture while the entire class moved ahead. I could so relate to him. As I faced the same challenges growing up.

When I was told that my child’s dyslexic but he had passed every class with children his age while coping with it, I felt nothing but pride.

However, I was still stuck with a lot of questions but no answers.

How about other children out there? Would they cope reasonably well too? What are the implications? On their learning, their self-esteem?

I was determined to find some answers.

As I read and researched I found the work of Maria Montessori. Her amazing single handed feat of creating the Montessori Method.

Till date, I have never reconsidered my choice to be a Montessori Guide. Instead of a teacher in the traditional educational system. I can say with confidence and pride that I have been able to help children at an early age where and when it’s the most needed.

As Maria Montessori said, “follow the child” and you’ll watch the rest unfold.

Advisors

Munira Aktar is a senior Montessorian who’s been the Principal at Little Feat Montessori for more than 15 years. She has a diploma in Montessori education from Holland and has been a faculty member at IMTC Bangalore for 7 years.

Dr. Ambar A. Qaiyum is an educator on the board of trustees of Oasis International School, Bangalore. She has a Diploma in Teacher Training from Cambrdge (CIDTT) and is presently studying Curriculum Development in faith schools for a Post Graduate Program in Education with the University of Bath, UK.