Director
Team
Laurène Macé, Administrative Director since August 2019
Laurène will join the school team as Administrative Director in August 2019. She holds a Master’s degree in cultural project management from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She worked for ten years in the artistic world before becoming head of the educational department of an art centre. It is by imagining sensory exploration workshops allowing the encounter between the child and the work of art that she became interested in intuitive pedagogies. Touched by the way Maria Montessori looks at the child, she trained in Montessori pedagogy in 2013 at the Institut Supérieur Maria Montessori. She started her experience as a Montessori educator in bilingual Montessori schools in Paris and then became the coordinator of the Montessori space Koko Cabane for four years. She was also a training assistant, and then a regular collaborator, at the Institut Supérieur Maria Montessori in Nogent-sur-Marne, accompanying future AMI educators aged 3 to 6 years in their training.
The school’s four classrooms meet the international Montessorian criteria set by the International Montessori Association. The children are fortunate to have bright, spacious classrooms. Each classroom has a small garden where the children can work outside.
In accordance with Maria Montessori’s recommendations, the children work with materials developed by her between 2.30 and 3 hours each morning and afternoon.
Two educators, an assistant and an FSL assistant (French Sign Language) accompany the children every day in each class. The adults respect each child’s rhythm and offer support according to their needs.
Founder and advisor
Patricia Peterson-Fontenay, founder and former director general of the school
A psychologist by training, she moved to France after her university studies in New York. At the end of her Montessori AMI training for children aged 3 to 6 in Paris, she founded the Ecole Bilingue Montessori du Val de Marne (Joinville-le-Pont) in September 1989, which became the Ecole Montessori Internationale Trilingue de Nogent-sur-Marne in 2016. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the AMF for 18 years. With the advice and support of Brigitte Lemaine, LSF (French sign language) was introduced in 2010 as a third language in the school. This innovative project is now well underway and allows children aged 2 to 12 to be totally immersed in French, English and LSF within the school. Deaf and hearing-impaired children are fully integrated. Based on her experience, Patricia Peterson-Fontenay now devotes her time to advising existing or new Montessori structures in France and abroad within the framework of Montessori Consulting France (MCF).
1st Children’s House (children aged 3-6)
Tara
Tara has a degree in Human Biology with a specialisation in Irish culture. On her arrival in France, Tara discovered the Montessori pedagogy and started to work at the school in the Communauté Enfantine and then trained as an assistant in 3 to 6 years at the ISMM. The following year, she undertook the dual training (birth to seven) of Early Years Educator and Montessori Educator 3-6 years at the Montessori Center International (MCI) in London. She has been part of the teaching team since 2012 and has joined one of our Children’s Houses, while completing her training. Since 2018 Tara has become the English speaking coordinator of our school.
Vanessa
Vanessa has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Education and has always worked in the field of childhood. Her interest in alternative pedagogies led her to train at the ISMM in 2004. Since 2005, she has been a French-speaking AMI 3-6 educator in one of our Maisons des Enfants. She formed a partnership with Caroline (who left us to open her Montessori School in Bordeaux-Cadaujac) for more than 10 years, and now works with Tara since the beginning of the 2017 school year. They complement each other in their work with children.
Educational Director
Florence Mabilon, Educational Director since October 2022.
Early childhood educator since 2010, Florence has years of experience in the field. She has seen for herself how happy and receptive children are when we help them to make progress while giving them the autonomy to experiment on their own. Like many of us, Florence became passionate about Montessori education when her daughter was born. She completed the AMI 3-6 years course at ISMM, has been a Montessori educator at EMIT since 2017 and will become the school’s pedagogical director in October 2022.
Elementary class (children from 6 to 12 years old)
Corina
Initially a research engineer at the CNRS, Corina enriched her career with solid experience as a consultant specialising in management and organisation within a major consultancy firm. His in-depth knowledge of the business world and of conventional executive education, as well as his research into the major educational trends, led him to the Montessori world. Graduated 3-6 years from ISMM, and 6-12 years from the International Centre of Girona, Spain. Corina previously worked as an educator in our school from August 2017 to June 2019. Back with us after a provincial experience, she is taking over the direction of this class for the start of the 2020 school year.
Assistants
Under the guidance of the teacher, our assistants have followed Montessori assistant training. They support the child in their daily life, in learning hygiene and cleanliness. They support the teaching team and also offer various workshop times.
Caring/Monitoring
The children are also with the caregivers every day, outside of class work: during meals, during lunch breaks, at naptime and during after-school daycare. The caring people also support them in their daily lives.
Children’s community (2 to 3.5 years old)
Camille
Camille has a Master’s degree in Tourism Management and a degree in Applied Foreign Languages. She is training as an educator in 2020 at the ISMM from birth to 3 years old and is doing her observation and practical training in our school. Already knowing the team and the functioning of the class, Camille joins our team in September 2021 with great motivation.
2nd Children’s House (children aged 3-6)
Anaïs
Anaïs holds a degree in Private Law with a Master 1 in Private Law and Judicial Careers and a Master 2 in Bioethics and Health Law. Following her professional career as a lawyer, Anaïs discovered working with children as a school life assistant, providing support and guidance to children with disabilities from nursery school to CE1. She completed her training at the ISMM and obtained her Montessori AMI diploma for 3-6 year olds in 2017. In January 2018, she joined our school and holds the position of French-speaking educator for the 3-6 year olds.
Florence
An early childhood educator since 2010, Florence has years of experience with children. Elle a pu constater combien les enfants sont heureux et réceptifs quand on les aide à progresser tout en leur laissant l’autonomie d’expérimenter par eux-mêmes. Like many of us, Florence became passionate about Montessori education when her daughter was born. She followed the AMI 3-6 years training at the ISMM and worked in a bilingual Montessori school in Paris.