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Firstep Montessori School

Montessori schools, North zone, Panchkula
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Firstep Montessori School was conceptualised in 1983 by two Montessorians with a vision ‘to make formative education contemporarily relevant and accountable in every aspect of a child’s life’. Over years, Firstep has developed a strong repute of being a progressive pre-primary education institute in the tri-city region of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. At Firstep, relevant education is defined as a process where a child is given certain degree of freedom to self-construct, not only in the sphere of formal education, but also when it comes to building life-long character. Integrated curriculum at Firstep is primarily based on Montessori Method and Activity based learning keeping in view the learning cycle which moves from Observations to Application to Evaluation.

Postal Address: School Plot 2, Opposite House 76, Sector 7, Panchkula – 134109
E-mail Address: administration@thefirstepschool.com
Contact Number: +911724624791
Contact Person: Karan Trehan
Website: www.thefirstepschool.com

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Hemalatha Rangarajan

Hemalatha Rangarajan, an AMI trainer, is a key member of the training team and the Co-Director of Training at Navadisha Montessori Foundation, Chennai. She holds an AMI Montessori diploma at two age levels. She trained at the 3-6 level under Zarin Malva in Chennai in 1995 and then trained under Ann Dunne to receive her 6-12 diploma in 2017. She worked with children for ten years in Patasala Montessori School, where she eventually served as Vice Principal. Hemalatha holds a Masters in Psychology. She is interested in helping teachers and has been involved in mentoring schools. She is committed to widening the scope of Montessori education through research. rangarajanhema@yahoo.com

Rukmini Ramachandran

Rukmini Ramachandran, leads the training team at the Navadisha Montessori Foundation. Rukmini
holds an AMI Montessori diploma at all the three age levels, 3-6, 6-12 and 0-3 years. She entered the
field of Montessori education in 1991 when she trained under Zarin Malva in Mumbai.

She has a Masters in English. She came into Montessori education with a background in journalism,
having started her career as Assistant Editor of a children's monthly. She edited the 1939 Montessori
lectures in Chennai into a book titled Creative Development in the Child in two volumes. Her most
particular interest lies in publishing for children. She currently serves as the Managing Trustee of the
Indian Montessori Foundation.

Ms. Madhavi Gaddam

Ms. Madhavi Gaddam is an AMI trainer at Elementary level. She has a bachelor’s degree in commerce and in education. She holds Association Montessori International (AMI) 3 to 6 and 6 to 12 diplomas’ and has done her Orientation for 12 to 18. Madhavi initiated Medha Montessori School in Hyderabad, India, which has primary, elementary and adolescent environments with a farm setup. She has a vast experience working with children at elementary level. She has conducted many Elementary orientation programs in India as well as outside India. Currently she is working as the director of training at Medha Montessori Training Institute. madhavireddyhyd@gmail.com

Neelima Mhaskar

Neelima Mhaskar is an AMI Trainer at the Primary Level. She completed her AMI Montessori Diploma in 1989 under Ms. Zarin Malva at Mumbai. She went on to work closely with children in Montessori schools in Mumbai and Pune. She has vast experience of over 19 years of working with Children. --- She joined the AMI Training of Trainers Programme and became a certified Trainer in 2016. Additionally, she has done Certificate Courses at 0 – 3 and 6 – 12 Levels. She has served on the Training Team at the RTI Montessori Course - Mumbai, at Hangzhou, China and was a faculty of the Navdisha Montessori Foundation team at Thrissur, Kerala.

She has successfully conducted several AMI Certificate Courses at different centers in India, China, Taiwan and Vietnam; and has served in the capacity of National Examiner and AMI Examiner at the AMI Primary Exams. She is currently Co-directing the AMI Primary Training Course at the AMI Montessori Chinese Taipei Center and is a faculty member for the Training Courses at Shenzhen and Chongqing, China. She loves to travel, is an ardent nature lover; likes to watch and eager to acquire knowledge about birds and butterflies. neelimamhaskar@gmail.com

Pavithra Rajagopalan

Pavithra Rajagopalan has worked with children since 2000 in formal, non-formal and informal settings. She is an AMI Primary Trainer. After gaining her AMI Primary diploma In 2005, she worked in Montessori schools in India, the US and New Zealand. Pavithra is faculty at the Sir Ratan Tata Institute, Bombay, India. She is also part of the faculty for the Diploma course in Taiwan. She has conducted Assistant/ Orientation courses in India, Singapore, China and Israel. In addition, Pavithra works closely with the Gandhian Institution, Shanti Ashram, India, where she is involved in strengthening pioneering projects related to Early Childhood Education in vulnerable communities. She has also co-led Ethics Education training in India and Sri Lanka for children, young people and educators. pavithra.rajagopalan@gmail.com

Ramya Sridhar

Ramya Sridhar is an AMI trainer at Navadisha Montessori Foundation. An alumna of the first course of the institute, Ramya now holds an AMI diploma for two age levels. She received the AMI 3-6 diploma in 2005 and the AMI 6-12 diploma in 2017. She has assisted on the courses at Navadisha since 2012. She has served as an examiner and presented talks and workshops. Ramya entered Montessori work as a teacher at Navadisha Montessori School where she began her work in this field. She holds a Masters in Psychology. She takes a keen interest in current research trends in the field of developmental psychology. She has also been closely involved with the editing and publishing of the IMF Montessori books. ramyasridhar4@yahoo.com

Teenaz Reporter

Teenaz Reporter is an AMI Primary Trainer at the 3-6-age level. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from the Osmania University, Hyderabad and an AMI Primary Diploma, from the Montessori Training and Research Trust, Hyderabad. After completing her primary diploma, she worked as a teacher in India and the United States. Teenaz completed her Trainers Training under the mentorship of Mrs. Lakshmi Krishna Kumar and Ms. Rukmini Ramachandran. As an AMI trainer, she has served on the faculty of the AMI courses in India and China. Teenaz is currently the Director of Training for the AMI Primary Diploma Course run under the auspices of the Montessori Training and Research Trust. She is also on the faculty of the AMI courses in Shenzhen and Chongqing, China. She has served as an AMI External Examiner in India and as a National Examiner in India and abroad. Teenaz is interested in creating awareness and reaching a wide demographic with regard to supporting the needs and protecting the rights of children everywhere. She is passionate about the role of Education in creating Peaceful humanities. teenazreporter@yahoo.com

Vibhuti Jain

Originally an MBA graduate, Vibhuti Jain became interested in Montessori Education while volunteering at her son’s Montessori School. She earned her AMI diploma at the 0-3 level in 2009. Subsequently, she set up an Infant Community in Mumbai, India where she worked for 8 years. She joined the Training of Trainers program in 2017 where she was attached to TMI Denver, USA for 2 courses and then to Chongqing, China for the third course. She is also attached to the 0-3 Seminars at Vic, Spain. She earned her Trainer status in February 2022. She is passionate about working in the area of 0-3 Montessori Education and strongly believes that this is the foundation for a better world. She currently lives with her family in Bangalore, India. vibhuti.a.jain@gmail.com

Zarin Malva

Zarin Malva obtained her AMI 3-6 Diploma and taught for many years in India, Canada and the US. After many years of work with children behind her she then became an AMI 3-6 trainer and returned to Mumbai, her native city, as an AMI trainer in 1987.

In 1988 the JMS Montessori Training Course was established in Mumbai and then in 1995, Ms. Zarin Malva was invited to run the AMI training course at the prestigious location of Sir Ratan Tata Institute. Ms. Malva had worked abroad under senior AMI trainers – Ms. Estela Palmieri and Ms. Hilla Patell. She also worked for a year under Mr. S. R. Swamy, then AMI Trainer of the Indian Montessori Training Course. Ms. Malva brings to her work her rich and varied experience with children. Besides her excellent work in the field of teacher education, she also guides and supports the staff of the Montessori schools in the city. zarinmalva@gmail.com

Sumana Sharma

Team : Montessori Matters
Role : Research Assistant

Holds AMI diplomas at 3-6 and 0-3 age levels. She received the AMI 3-6 diploma in 2011 from the Navadisha Montessori foundation Chennai and 0-3 diploma in 2021 from Montessori Institute of Bangalore. She has worked in Navadisha Montessori School at the primary age level for seven years. She is volunteering for IMF and is currently working with the Montessori matters team. She holds a Masters degree in biotechnology and has worked in the research and development in Food and Pharma sectors before choosing the Montessori path. She enjoys reading research articles related to Montessori philosophy and education. Her other interests are bird watching and going on nature trials. She currently resides in Mysore.

Mehak Hemnani

Team : Montessori Matters
Role : Editorial team

Completed her Bachelors in Psychology from St.Xaviers College, Mumbai and her Masters in Counselling Psychology from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara. Later on, she acquired a AMI Primary Diploma from Sir Ratan Tata Institute (RTI), Mumbai. She has worked in the areas of Counselling, HR Consultancy and is currently working in the area of Montessori with the IMF. Prior to joining IMF, she worked under Ms. Zarin Malva, the head of training at RTI, for a year. To pursue her passion of working with children and to put into practice what she has learnt, currently, Mehak has been taking Montessori classes at home and incorporating the principles of Montessori while teaching various subjects to students from non-Montessori schools.

Tarunya Gouthaman

Team : The Touch Board
Role : Editorial team

Born and raised in India, she has a degree in Business Management and a postgraduate degree in Public Relations. She shifted careers to pursue my passion for teaching, trained with AMI at both the primary and elementary levels and worked in Montessori schools across India and Canada for nearly a decade. She loves her job as she believes that working everyday with the children is truly rewarding and a great learning experience.

Roopa Sundar

Team : The Touch Board
Role : Editorial team

Has been part of the Editorial Team of the IMF newsletter TouchBoard since 2013. She worked in the Children’s House for 5 years after receiving her Primary (3-6 years) Diploma in 2012. She also completed the AMI Diplomas at the Elementary (6-12 years) and more recently the Assistants to Infancy (0-3 years) levels. She is an amateur birder and a composting enthusiast with a keen interest in waste management. She is currently part of the Primary faculty at Navadisha Montessori School, Chennai.

Priyanka Kumar

Team : The Touch Board
Role : Layout Designer

Various opportunities to be around people who either came from Montessori backgrounds, or had a deep sense of commitment towards their work in the field of Montessori Education inspired Priyanka to get trained and work with children at the 3 - 6 and 6 - 12 age levels. Having worked with children at both age levels in schools in Chennai and London, she currently hold the role of Pedagogical Administrator at Navadisha Montessori School, Chennai.

Vidhya Ramalingam

Team : The Touch Board
Role : City Reporter

A post graduate and a Master of Philosophy in Nutrition and started her career as a lecturer. Later, she acquired interest in early childhood education because of her children and have been working with young children since 2010. She obtained her AMI Primary Diploma from MTRT, Hyderabad in 2016 and currently, is working as a primary directress in Bhavishya Montessori House of Children, Hyderabad. She has been volunteering for the IMF since 2016 through the IMF newsletter, The Touch Board. She feels privileged to be a part of IMF as it is a great learning experience and helps her contribute whatever little possible to the wider Montessori community.

Meera Ghelani

Team : The Touch Board
Role : City Reporter

A Montessorian at Heart, Meera has been in the field of education since 20 years and worked with children of all age groups as a class teacher, music teacher, French teacher and a primary directress. She is AMI trained and has a diploma in 3 to 6 and is also a certified assistant for the toddlers and elementary children.

Aditi Ganesh

Team : The Touch Board
Role : City Reporter

Primary Montessori Directress, working at Redwood Montessori School, Chennai. She believes that nurturing young minds and watching toddlers evolve has been a great joy in itself. With an experience of 6 years in this field, Aditi finds this method of teaching holistic. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and musician. Enjoy all forms of music, love to paint and find it therapeutic and enriching for my creativity.

Rachna Gupta

Team : Events

Did BSc.Home Science ,M.A Social Work (1999 ,DU) and AMI (3-6)diploma in 2012 from Navadisha. She us currently serving schools, NGO's, communities since 2002 as a teacher, storyteller, life skills facilitator, counsellor, volunteer, community organiser. Lived in Delhi ,Mumbai ,Chennai and Japan and the professional trainings helped her in community outreach. She enjoys music and movement ,theatre, creative games /activities and wish to learn and serve more.

Rachita Romani

Team : Events

A Law graduate and has worked in the field of Corporate Laws and Arbitration for almost 7 years. Her passion for working towards creative methods of teaching made her pursue the AMI Diploma course for 3 to 6 years. After the course she worked at “Ratan Tata Montessori School” as a head Directress under the guidance of Ms. Zarin Malva. She has also pursued her Assistant Certificate course for 0 to 3 years directed by Ms. Julia Hilson. She is currently working with "Da Vinci Montesorri" as a Montessori Directress.

Pooja Giri Damerla

Team : Events

Completed AMI Elementary course from Navadisha Montessori in 2017 and have been working as an Elementary teacher since then. Apart from that, Pooja is a professional storyteller, enjoys music and travelling.