Traditional Teacher Chooses Montessori

Melissa Cantu, one of Monarch Montessori of Denver’s finest teachers came to us for a tour, wanting to learn more about Montessori for her infant son and to get him enrolled.  Who knew that only a month later she would be working in a toddler classroom?  Melissa began her teaching career as an assistant while finishing up her Master’s degree in German at Georgetown University.  She then moved to Austria to teach English for two years and when she returned to the US, she got her second Master’s degree in Special Education.  Before coming to Monarch Montessori, she taught for six years in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas Nevada.  Her husband, Lupe got a job in Denver, just after the birth of their first son, Brennan, and they are surviving their first winter here.  As a parent, having a strong background in education, Melissa originally was looking for the very best opportunity for her son and in return has fallen in love with the Montessori method and has decided to get her certification in Montessori.  She has gained knowledge and appreciation of the Montessori Method from her co-teacher Colleen Toohey in toddler room 7.  Although this is her first experience with toddlers, she is learning very quickly and will be ready for baby Brennan when he is ready for potty training and other toddler triumphs.  On her lunch breaks you will find Melissa spending quality feeding time with her son in the rocking chair just outside of his classroom in the Infant (Nido) wing.