Teachers and Staff

Curt Chamberlain, Director
Curt earned his BA in Psychology with a focus on Early Childhood from the University of Oregon, and received his Montessori primary credential from the Maria Montessori Teacher Training Center. For over 20 years, Curt was at the Berkeley Montessori School (BMS), where he taught primary and lower elementary classes before going on to become head of school. After leaving BMS in 2000, he was named head of The Abiqua School in Oregon, followed by a stint as head of both The Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland and The Chesapeake Montessori School in Annapolis. Curt’s outside interests include Berkeley City Ballet, where he was a principal dancer for many years, as well as president of its Board of Directors. His other passions include Thai cooking, theatre, opera and film. Curt joined MCH in 2007.

Carolina Chamorro, Assistant Teacher
Carolina joined MCH in August of 2008. Carolina holds a California Associate Teacher Permit. She worked as a teacher’s assistant at Solono Community College Children’s Programs in Suisan, CA and at the Bryant Children’s Center in San Francisco. Carolina speaks fluent Spanish. She is the mother of three children Isabella 8, Jerome 6 and Elijah 5. Carolina loves dancing, gardening and creative writing.

Cheryl Butler, Enrichment Teacher
Cheryl holds a BA in Liberal Arts from San Francisco State University. She has completed several units of ECE at City College and completed the Assistant Training Program at the Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Leandro. She is a mother of Sean, an MCH graduate. Cheryl joined MCH in 1994.

Maria Fernandes, Enrichment Teacher
Originally from India, Maria took her ECE courses at City College and John Adams Community College. Maria has completed two semesters at the Maria Montessori Teacher Training Center. Maria works as a classroom teacher and Head Teacher of the Extended Day Program. Maria came to MCH in 1999 from Florence Crittenton Services of San Francisco, a nationally known non-profit dedicated to helping low-income children and families.

Giuliana Giometti Foley, Primary Teacher
A native of Italy, Giuliana received her Elementary School teaching credential in Lucca, a Bachelor of Science from Clarence University, New York, and her Montessori Teacher training from the Anne Sagendorph program in Berkeley. Giuliana qualifies as Early Childhood program site supervisor. She is a lifelong learner, fluent in three languages, a flute player, singer, yoga teacher, watercolorist, and also a Japanese Tea Ceremony practitioner. Giuliana has been with MCH for most of the years since 1980.

Jolanta Kaminski, Head Teacher
Jolanta received her BA and MA in Early Childhood Education from the University of Adam Mickiewic Poznanz in Poland. She taught for four years in Poland at the elementary level. She earned her ECE credits from City College in San Francisco and graduated from the Maria Montessori Teacher Training Center in 1998. She joined MCH in 1997 and assumed a head teacher position the following year.

Joanna Stewart, Primary Teacher
Joanna holds a BA in Biology from Colorado College and completed her Montessori training at the Maria Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Francisco. Joanna qualifies as an Early Childhood program site supervisor. Before relocating to the Bay Area, she lived in Spain, Costa Rica and Colorado, where she worked as a research scientist and as a teacher in a peace-based Montessori school. She enjoys sharing her love of Spanish and science with the MCH children. Joanna joined MCH in 2003.

Asako Shimazaki, Primary Teacher
She received her BA in Education from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, and her Montessori training from the International Montessori Teacher Training School in Tokyo. In Tokyo, she worked as a kindergarten teacher and at a children’s art studio. She qualifies as Early Childhood program site supervisor. Asako also holds a Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and is an award-winning photographer. She is a mother of Marcus, an MCH graduate. Asako joined MCH in 1998.

Kathleen Valdez, Head Teacher
Kathleen received her BA in French from UC Santa Barbara and her ECE at Canada and City Colleges. She completed her Montessori training at the Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Leandro. She is a mother of two children, a son Jessie and a daughter Georgia, both MCH graduates. Kathleen joined MCH in August of 1997 and has been a head teacher for six years.

Nina Webber, Administrator
Nina has her BA degree in Humanities from Lyceum in Stockholm, Sweden and completed her AMI Montessori training at the Montessori Seminarium. Nina began teaching Montessori in Sweden where she also helped open a Montessori School. She later became the Dean of Studies, overseeing student internships and teaching preschool pedagogy at the Montessori Seminarium in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nina continued her teaching career in San Francisco, teaching Montessori at the first grade level at two local schools. Nina also obtained a degree in Graphic Design and started a company focused on creating children’s environments. She is fluent in Swedish, English, Danish, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Nina joined MCH in 1999 as a substitute teacher, becoming Office Manager in 2002, then Administrator in 2006.