Meet the Staff

Anna - Lead Guide

(She/Her)

Anna is originally from Ohio, she graduated from Ohio University in 2019 with a B.S. in Public Health. She has worked at AECMS since it began as a Montessori school in 2020. Starting first a support staff member, aftercare lead, classroom assistant, and culminating in leading the Hollywood Toddler class. Anna has completed her 0-3 AMI Assistants coursework and will starting her AMI diploma course work in Summer of 2024. When not at work Anna enjoys reading, spending time with her family and her dog.

Julia - Montessori Consultant

(She/Her)

Andrea- Assistant

(She/Her)

Andrea is the newest addition to our Toddler team and is a dual-language English-Spanish speaker. Andrea attended Grambling State University in Louisiana. .

She has worked as an assistant in Portland Montessori schools as a Toddler assistant for 20 years and has strong ties to the Montessori community in Portland and has worked with Montessorians for Anti-bias/Anti Racist education and social justice! She also operates and runs Portland Montessori House. Portland Montessori House provides housing for students all over the world which provides housing for adults taking the Montessori training. Guides and assistants who teach in area schools also live there. Andrea also loves to bake for friends and staff along with creating in her art studio. 

Claudine - Assistant

(She/Her)

Claudine is Congolese from DRC. She is married and has 4 children, two boys, and two girls. She discovered her love for kids when she was in college. During that time she was living with hersister and helping her take care of her children. Once she had children of her own, herlove and compassion for children grew even bigger than she could have imagined. In March 2022, she moved from Zambia to Portland with her husband and children. She discovered Arc-en-Ciel through the Congolese community here in Portland and and began working here in August of 2022.

Eleni - Assistant

(She/Her)

Eleni joined the Hollywood team after work at the Morris location and is also Anna's sister. She went to college at Boise State University where she studied French and Global Studies. She has lived in France twice as an exchange student; during high school and college, she took language classes and was in classes with French students. After graduation she taught English as a second language for two years, working with elementary students first and high school students in her second year. She hopes to return to living in France one day, but in the meantime, is very excited to be working at AECMS and continuing to use her French with the students here!