Faculty
- Anmol Nijhawan (Ms. Anmol) – Infant (Nido) classes
- Alessandra Barreto
- Ana Maria Mejia
- Divya Nulisetty
- Gayathri Bellapu
- Jansi Rani
- Jasmine Priya (Ms Priya)
- Lavanya Kondapally
- Maria Dimitrova
- Nithya Venkatesan
- Prasanna Lakshmi Bheemisetty
- Sailaja Sappa
- Seema Chandak
- Shweta Sharma
- Sonia Kumawat
- Swetha Ramakrishna
- Veronica Vazquez
Anmol Nijhawan (MS ANMOL) is a Teacher at CDBM Aurora Campus in the Nido Infant Class. She grew up in Calcutta, India where she completed her Bachelor’s in Commerce from the University Of Calcutta in 1997. She has been in the USA since 1997 and she received her Early Childhood Education and Care certificate from the College of Dupage in 2003. She has worked in various preschool teaching roles since 2001. Her family includes her husband, her daughter, and a son. In addition, she has an adorable Cavapoo dog named Quincy who really is the master of the house. Ms Anmol is a very outgoing person who enjoys meeting new people and traveling around the world with family. She is most passionate about helping children learn and grow. She gets very excited when children are able to achieve goals of her curriculum. Ms. Anmol has been working in the Nido Class since October 2019.
Alessandra Barreto
Alessandra Barreto grew up in Brazil, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1994.She worked as a Science Teacher in 4th and 5th grade from 1995 until she moved to
Chicago in 1999. She’s been working with younger children, in the U.S., since 2000. She received her Paraprofessional Certificate from Seton Montessori Institute in 2011. For the past ten years her teaching experience was working with toddlers in a Montessori environment. She is a proud mother of two girls and her passion is her family, friendships, and taking care of students at Casa. She also speaks Spanish and
Portuguese fluently. She joined the CDBM family in January 2018 and she enjoys watching students discover and learn new things every day.
Ana Maria Mejia
Ana Maria Mejia grew up in Panama. She earned her first Montessori Certification from the Pan American Montessori Society (PAMS) in 2001 and a second teacher certification from American Montessori Society (AMS) in 2008. Ana Maria had the opportunity to work in Montessori schools in Texas, New Jersey, Brazil and Utah throughout her career. With about twenty years of active teaching, She has been a
guide to her Students, Colleagues, and School Administrators.
Ana Maria now lives in Naperville with her husband and two teenage daughters. She has many hobbies, most of which include spending time in our gorgeous surroundings with her two dogs Bow & Ozzie. Ana Maria also loves to bake, ride her bike, read and watch Korean movies translated into Portuguese. One interesting fact about her family is that they also lived in Brazil for almost three years; they speak Spanish and have conversations in Portuguese, too. Ana María is excited to share the opportunity to support the children in their learning journey and to guide them to become a citizen with moral and civil values worthy of making a significant difference in our world. Ms Ana Maria joined CDBM in April 2021.
Divya Nulisetty
Divya Nulisetty was born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh, India. She has completed her Post Graduate in Master of Business Administration. She currently lives in Aurora with her husband and two lovely children – a daughter and a son. She loves her students and she is passionate about teaching. She moved to Chicago in 2013 from India. Ms. Divya joined CDBM in March 2023.
Gayathri Bellapu is from India and completed her post graduation in Masters of Computer Applications. She is currently living in Aurora with her family including her husband and two children. They moved to the USA in 2012 from India. Miss Gayathri is very passionate about teaching. Family is her core and strength. Her hobbies include cooking, volunteering, and learning new technologies. Her stress relief is in the joy of her children. She joined the CDBM school family in May of 2023.
Jansi Rani
Jasmine Priya (Ms. Priya)
Lavanya Kondapally
Lavanya Kondapally grew up in India. During her childhood, she used to hear a lot from her father, uncles, aunts about “Montessori” as they got their primary education from Montessori schooling in India!! She truly admires the philosophy and the holistic approach of Montessori curriculum has even groomed her own daughter during her early childhood education. Lavanya observed that her daughter works independently and with peers showing focus and creativity, with all-around capabilities. Lavanya completed her Masters degree in Material Science. She even taught Physics to high school students in India! Her husband is an IT professional and she has one daughter in undergrad and one son in middle school. Her hobbies include listening to songs, container gardening and cooking. She always wanted to work in Montessori school and now she is completing her paraprofessional training. She joined CDBM in June 2022!
Maria Dimitrova
MARIA DIMITROVA grew up in Bulgaria, where she attended Sofia University and received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education with a qualification in Music. In 2011 she received her Diploma in Medical Billing and Coding from Everest College.She has more than 15 years experience in Early Childhood education and more than 20 years experience in Montessori education. She attended Seton Montessori Institute and received her Montessori 3-6 Credential with American Montessori Society. Maria is also Director Qualified.Miss Maria is married with two children. Her daughter is the Head optician at Eye care clinic and her son is a Real Estate Agent. In her spare time, Maria enjoys hiking, traveling, gardening and spending time with her family and friends. She also has a passion for cooking and crafting. Maria joined the CDBM school family in May 2022.
Nithya Venkatesan
Nithya Venkatesan has a breadth of personal Montessori experience. She has seen the Montessori philosophy work in her own children (a son who is in medical school, and a daughter who goes to Benet Academy). She completed her MBA in Hospital Administration and Health Sciences after her MD from India. Before pursuing her Montessori career, she worked as a billing and coding specialist, medical assistant, and home health care and marketing as a community liaison.
Nithya’s mother was the director at Montessori Pebbles and was dedicated to this field for 50 years! Ms. Nithya worked under her mother’s guidance for 15 years and completed her Montessori training at Seton Montessori. She has worked at several local Montessori schools in both the toddler and early childhood environments.
Montessori’s philosophy is the highlight of her deep understanding of the various educational methods. As a guide in the classroom, she enjoys preparing materials that meet children’s developmental needs and her commitment is to foster a supportive and individualized learning environment. She is passionate about welcoming each child, observing their interests in the materials, and learning from the prepared environment. She is excited to join Casa de Bambini in October 2024, and she is looking forward to taking care of our most precious children!
Sailaja Sappa
Sailaja Sappa has a Master’s in International Montessori education from India. Teaching in Montessori education is her passion. She worked with children, between ages from 2 to 6 using Montessori methodology. She has Montessori teaching experience in both India and the USA. She worked in Greenwood Montessori, Bangalore India for 4 years. She has also worked at Arlington Montessori, Arlington Heights, IL as a teacher for 3 years.
She also does voluntary work to teach Indian language (Telugu) for small children on Saturdays at a local church in the Aurora area. She is a proud mother of Surya, a Biology major at Loyola University…and Chandra, a Finance major at the University of Illinois (UIC) at Chicago. Sailaja joined CDBM in January 2019 and she is both Teacher Qualified (TQ) and Director Qualified (DQ).
Seema Chandak
Seema Chandak was born in Maharashtra, India and she has extensive credentials in Engineering and Technology. Seema has over 7 years of experience teaching Engineering students and other technology graduating classes. She is passionate about teaching all ages. Seema moved to Chicago in 2015 and is a mother to a 5 year old charming kindergartener. She joined CDBM in March 2022 as a teacher assistant and enjoys her time with her new school family.
Sonia Kumawat
Sonia Kumawat has her Master’s degree in Commerce. She grew up in India and moved to the U.S. in 2008. Teaching is her passion, and she has prior experience as private tutor, assistant, and substitute teacher. She has completed her Early Childhood Credential from Seton Montessori Institute and completed her internship in P6 with Ms Ana Maria at CDBM. She enjoys working with students helping them to learn new skills every day. She and her son began at CDBM in March 2022. Her hobbies are cooking and listening to music. She also loves to spend time with her family and travel.
Anila Ali
Anila Ali is thrilled to rejoin the Casa Dei Bambini family, in May 2024, after a 2.5-year hiatus to assist her family’s growing business. With over 11 years of teaching experience and a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, she has dedicated her career to fostering young minds. In 2017, she earned her Montessori 3-6 credential with the American Montessori Society (AMS), further deepening her passion and expertise in Early Childhood Education.
She and her husband have been happily married for 17 years and she is a proud mother of two children: a 15-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter (a previous student of Casa). Her family has always been her cornerstone, supporting her through her professional journey and personal endeavors. Having been a part of Casa since its inception, her commitment to the school’s mission and values runs deep. She is more excited than ever and fortunate to contribute to this incredible community. Her goal is to follow each child’s unique needs and interests, preparing them across various developmental domains while ensuring a strong focus on their academic growth. Together, we will create an enriching and supportive learning environment.