The Applegarden Montessori School

Naome Dragstedt, Ph.D., , is the founder and director of the school. She holds a B.A. in English from Mills College, an M.A. in Teaching from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Wright Institute; California Secondary and Early Childhood Teaching Credentials; and an American Montessori Society Certificate. She is a licensed California psychologist (CA PSY 17808) and works in private practice with children, adolescents and adults. She has been academic director and instructor in the Montessori Pre-primary Teacher Training Program at St. Mary's College, where she taught the Montessori language, practical life and philosophy curriculums and founded a Montessori Infant-Toddler Teacher Training Program. She has a particular interest in child language development. In her spare time she plays classical piano.

Amy Earl, an American Montessori Society certified directress, holds a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of California. She has taken graduate work in Montessori education, child development and school administration and participates regularly in professional workshops. She directs our summer and school year morning programs as well as the kindergroup program. The mother of a son just beginning high school, she has taught with our school since 1985. In 2008-9 Amy will be co-directing the morning preschool class with Svetlana Torgashova.

Dennis Burke came to Applegarden in the fall of 2005 after spending over 20 years as a sales and marketing executive in the software field. He holds an American Montessori Society teaching credential and is the director of our afternoon preschool program, our noontime science and gardening programs, and our school and kindergroup science programs. He grew up in Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota. While living in the suburb of Minnetonka, Dennis started a family and was elected to their city council. While attending Contra Costa College, Dennis worked as an English tutor in the West Contra Costa School District and as a reading instructor for Sylvan Learning Systems. Dennis's wife is a financial consultant and his daughter begins her junior year this fall at the University of Arizona.

Svetlana Torgashova holds American Montessori Society Early Childhood and Administrative credentials from the San Francisco Bay Area Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Leandro. She also has a B.A. degree in management from Russia. She has worked as a teacher of English in a Russian high school and also studied to become an ESL teacher in California. She arrived at our school in September 2001 as a 2-year participant in the A.M.S. sponsored foreign language assistantship program to learn about Montessori early childhood education and to share her culture with our school community. In September 2004 she returned to us as an assistant administrator for the school. Currently Svetlana is co-directing the morning class with Amy Earl and teaches kindergroup. Last year she studied yoga at the Berkeley Yoga Room.

An accomplished vocalist with her own performing band, Alexis Fennimore eagerly joins Applegarden as one of its interns/teaching assistants this Fall 2009. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently a student at St. Mary's College, pursuing a Master's Degree in Montessori Early Childhood Education. Alexis was convinced that her calling in life was to work with children after serving as a volunteer tutor at the Richmond Public Library "Literacy for Every Adult" program and conducting private tutoring sessions at her home for a number of years. In recent months she has served as a substitute teacher assistant for Applegarden and has also volunteered at a pre-school in El Cerrito. She aspires to become a conscientious and nurturing directress, and dreams of one day opening her own Montessori child development center for underprivileged children. Alexis became a first-time mother this June and has been enjoying her daughter immensely. She looks forward to introducing her little one to the wonders of Montessori education.

Alana Chandler graduated from NYU in 2007 with a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance, and a minor in Creative Writing. She also attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Northern Michigan. She is currently taking classes at the San Francisco Bay Area Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Leandro and joined the Applegarden School as an afternoon assistant Teacher in the fall of 2009. Alana also does hand painted finishes for her father’s decorative arts business. She is a poet and plays tenor saxophone. Alana loves the outdoors and gardening and is learning about beekeeping. She is a member of the San Francisco Beekeepers Association in hopes of having hives. Alana’s interest in children was sparked when she was working as a substitute preschool teacher in Brooklyn, NY. She is excited about the Montessori method and is dedicated to its practice.

Barbara Stevens Strauss joins Applegarden School in September 2008 as assistant director and kindergroup art specialist. Barbara is a graduate in medieval history from the University of Chicago. While at Chicago, Barbara had introductory studio training with abstract expressionist Vera Klement. While raising a family in Naples, Florida, she was a preschool teacher for over five years and specialized in making art with children. Her family, including a husband and two sons, migrated to the Bay Area in 2003, where she is now undertaking Montessori training. Her current affiliations include memberships with the Association of Clay and Glass Artists and the PacRim Sculptors Group. Recently her work was featured in the SOMA area; it can be viewed at www.straku.com. Barbara has a strong interest in Asian ceramics, Japanese flower arranging (Sogetsu school) and tea ceremony, all of which she studies formally. She hopes to combine her love of teaching and appreciation for the aesthetics of many cultures through the universal and accessible language of art.

Zara Mandilova holds a B.A. degree in nursing from Medical College in Sofia, Bulgaria. She performed most of her clinical practice in a pediatric center with toddlers. She also did extensive study in early childhood education in Bulgaria at the University of Sofia, subsequent to which she taught preschool for 5 years. Before arriving in the United States, she lived in Belgium for a year, where she studied French. She came to the United States in 2004 and has worked here as a babysitter with many families from different cultural backgrounds. She is currently studying "Business Office Technologies" at Contra Costa College as well as Montessori education. She is very interested in learning languages. She loves working with children and hopes to return one day to her nursing practice.