MRS. K Soon Choi, MA, Founder & Head of School

Mrs. Choi (MA, English Literature) is the Founder and Principal of the School.  Trained at the St. Nicholas Montessori Teacher Training College, she has been a Montessori teacher for over 30 years in the Edison-Metuchen area, with a strong reputation for excellence.  Mrs. Choi also leads the music education program within the school with joy and grace. She is a devoted Christian with ample love that she shares with children.  Mrs. Choi continues to engage with the children through daily check-ins and weekly Bible story times in each of the classrooms.

Mary Choi-An, MPS, PhD, Director, Primary Lead

Ms. Mary completed her masters degree in Statistics at Cornell University and her doctoral studies in Biostatistics & Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, specializing her research in global infant and early childhood developmental health. Prior to joining DCM, she was a faculty member at CUNY, George Washington University, and worked as a lead researcher at the US Department of Commerce.

She changed her path towards Montessori education after having her daughter and desiring the same incredible quality of Montessori education and values that Mrs. Choi was able to share with her as a child. She trained at the Barrie School in Maryland for her Early Childhood Montessori certification. Ms. Mary has adopted the same values as Mrs. Choi that have made DCM more like a family and her mission is to ensure the health and continued growth of our school.

In her role as Director, she tends to financial/tuition planning, fundraising efforts, and administrative inquiries. She also directs DCM’s French language enrichment program.

MRs. Crisol-Iris Lantz, MEd, Assistant Director &
Lower Elementary LEad

Mrs. Lantz graduated from Kean University with a BA in Early Childhood and Fine Arts, attained her MEd in Education. She had been working in the urban public school setting for 8 years, nurturing and educating children from preschool to fifth grade, including those with special needs.  She engages and encourages for children with the same care and expectation she has for her own two young girls.  Ms. Lantz knows the importance of early childhood education and was inspired to attain Early Childhood and Lower Elementary Montessori certification after sending her daughters to a Montessori school.  Her passion is in facilitating an engaging, creative, and nurturing environment for young children. In addition to the 1st - 3rd grade classroom, Ms. Lantz also directs DCM’s Arts enrichment and Summer STEAM programs.

MRs. Emely Morris, Primary Lead

Mrs. Emely graduated from Kean University with a BA in Psychology and Spanish. She worked for the Westfield Board of Education for nearly 20 years as a Secretary and resigned to pursue her dreams of working with children. She has been serving in her church as a Sunday school and Girl Ministries teacher for early childhood. She fell in love with the Montessori way after joining our team and obtained NAMC training and her Early Childhood Montessori certification through the Princeton Center for Teacher Education. Ms. Emely also directs DCM’s Spanish language enrichment - she treasures teaching and loving the children in multiple languages!

Ms Elba Perez, Stepping Stone Lead

Ms Elba graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and owned her own childrenswear boutique before falling in love with the Montessori Philosophy and Education. She graduated from the Princeton Center for Teacher Education and worked in Early Education classrooms for 3 years before working with our toddlers at DCM. She has also lead the children’s ministry at her church at Ministerio Bethania of NJ.

Ms Elba comes to Discovery Christian Montessori with a fresh and eager heart to love, serve, and guide the children in our community. In addition to leading the Stepping Stone classroom, she also leads the Aftercare Program at DCM.

Mrs. Tonya Santi, Lead Teacher for Infant & Toddler

Ms Tonya joins Discovery Christian Montessori with a wealth of experience with infant and toddler care and early education. She has had the opportunity to care for many children in her own home-business for over 30 years as Home Childcare Provider. Ms Tonya approaches each child with an incredible gentleness and patience, and we are thrilled to have her with our staff to care for our littlest infant and toddlers.

Ms Ankita Kumari, Primary assistant teacher

Mrs. Ankita graduated from Pune University with a BTech in Computer Science. She worked in IT Industry as an Software Artichect in mobility and resigned to pursue her dreams of working with children. She started as a Montessori parent and fell in love with the philosphy of Montessori. She self trained herself for 0-6 years. Ms Ankita joined DCM as a parent volunteer and officially joined our staff first as an Assistant Teacher for Lower Elementary and now as an Assistant Teacher for our Bilingual Primary Classroom.

Ms Aparna Inumula, Primary assistant teacher

Mrs. Aparna received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education from Osmania University. She has 5 years of experience teaching Elementary Education and have a true passion for working with our youngest learners. Helping each child progress in all areas of their development is a challenge that Ms Aparna is honored to be a part of. Ms Aparna is continuing her educational training with DCM and she is excited to share her wealth of experience with the English Primary classroom as Ms Julie’s Assistant Teacher. Ms Aparna has 4 wonderful children and is joining DCM with her youngest son.

Ms Akemi Furuyama, assistant teacher for Lower Elementary

Ms Akemi graduated from the University of California, Davis with a BS in Human Development - Education. She is also certified to teach multiple subjects and grade levels by California State University. She is an educator who is passionate about teaching and literacy coaching and has 8 years of teaching experience Kindergarten through 1st grade. Her interest in Montessori started when her older two sons attended a Montessori school under the wing of one of Mrs Choi’s protege teachers. As an educator she understands the importance and is encouraged by the individualized learning that happens in a Montessori school.

Mrs. Soo Hwang, Assistant Teacher for Stepping Stone

Ms Soo joined as the Stepping Stone Assistant Teacher at Discovery Christian Montessori in 2014. Her education was in Fine Arts, but even after college she always enjoyed being with children. Prior to joining DCM, Ms. Soo trained at OM International Missions for 1 year and worked as a missionary in India and Pakistan for 3 years. She also worked as an HR secretary in the OM Mission office. In addition to working at DCM, she also serves as a teacher at her church Korean Culture school since 2007.

Ms Nishbel Riviera, Stepping Stone Assistant

Ms. Nishbel is a the mother of 2 boys. Her youngest is 4 years old and her eldest son is 14. She attends a Christian church called Torre Fuerte in Elizabeth with her family where they work in the children's ministry teaching them the word and love of God. She joins DCM with her youngest son in the Primary Spanish Bilingual classroom and is very happy to work together with the Montessori team!

Mr. Michael Choi, Operations Manager

Mr. Michael has studied Bible Studies at Word of Life Bible Institute and History & Philosophy at the Liberty University. He has served as Administrator for DCM since 2012 and continues to support the school while enjoying various international travels and adventures around the world, exercising his love of learning new languages - including Korean, Japanese, and more.

More Teachers

As we grow, we expect to invite more excellent teachers to join our team.  We are always on the look out for talented and motivated teachers with good faith who are trained in the Montessori method. Specific positions will be posted under Jobs, however we also review resumes on a rolling basis.

Our Partners

Ms Lynda Davidson, Art

Ms. Lynda leads an Art program during the school day.
The Fall 2024 program features the works and styles of Impressionist Artists. Ms Lynda has taught art for early education and elementary students for many years and is joyful to share this form of expression and learning with our DCM students.

MS Angela Sun, Piano & music theory

Ms. Angela leads private piano and music theory lessons for our younger students from 3 years and older.

Ms. Angela has over 20 years of experience in diverse Music instruction within private/public schools, and teaching early childhood Music Together® classes for young children and families. She has created many wonderful lessons and music programs for her students and community over the years. She incorporates all elements of music when teaching and ensures a complete captivation of the experience.

Ms. Angela holds her B.M. in Music Education from The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

She has a deep appreciation and understanding of the importance of music education from the early years and is passionate to share the benefits with the children.

Ms Jenny Chien, Piano

Ms. Jenny instructs personal private piano lessons for our students from 4 years and older.

She is the founder of Early Piano Experience with Ms. Jenny and launched many creative sessions of piano group classes with ages 4-6 in several Preschools.

Ms. Jenny holds her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Arizona State University. She has been a devoted music educator in New Jersey since 2013, running her busy piano studio, and preparing students for various music events such as ABRSM, MEA auditions, competitions, Cecilian Monster Concerts, and master classes.

She has a great passion with kids. Her goal is to help them to be a best possible pianist they could be.

Many of her students started with Ms Jenny at their young ages, and became the performers in the Winner Concerts at Carnegie Hall.

Master Han, Taekwondo

Master Dae Young Han joined DCM in the summer of 2022 at the request of Mrs. Choi to provide a wonderful outlet of physical fitness for our students during the school week. He teachers 30 minute group sessions during the school day on Fridays as an extracurricular activity and we are incredibly lucky to have his instruction! His natural charisma and passion for Tae Kwon Do helps the children learn the mastery and techniques of Tae Kwon Do with great enthusiasm and excitement every week. Master Han runs his own Taekwondo Gym at Young Moo Tae Kwon Do in Highland Park, NJ.

Ms Barbara Lambiase, MA, CCC
speech/language pathologist

Ms. Barbara consults for our school supporting our students with speech and language therapy needs within the school.