Testimonials

"I had the pleasure of working with Natalie at San Francisco Public Montessori School as her Instructional Coach for SFUSD. Natalie is one of the best teachers I have had the privilege to work with throughout my 15 years of experience in Education. Natalie treats all her students with the utmost respect and nurtures the child's natural curiosity and social/ emotional development. Natalie guides and supports each child to express thinking and reasoning when problem-solving and exploring concepts. Natalie develops relationships with families to support engagement in school to ensure a home-school connection. I am so excited that Natalie is taking her expertise and practice to open her home school community."

-Carine A. Wynant, M.A.

Program Specialist

SFUSD EED

"Ms. Natalie was more than we could have hoped for in a preschool teacher for our 4-year-old. She implemented the Montessori method so well and also made sure that every day was fun, welcoming, and cozy for the children. My sensitive and shy boy LOVED seeing her every day. He also grew so much when he had Ms. Natalie as a teacher. She let the children lead with their interests, didn't push them past their readiness, and made learning fun. With no prior or supplemental instruction, my son was adding and subtracting two-digit numbers, counting by multiples, and reading at a First Grade level by the end of his year with Ms. Natalie - and loving every minute of it.

In addition, Ms. Natalie ran her classroom so well and is super responsive and communicative with parents. We will miss her!!"

-Lilly Shilton (Mom to Matty, 4)

"Ms. Natalie is a naturally gifted teacher. She loves what she does, and it shows. Her incredibly caring approach charms even the utmost reticent kids. She expertly diffuses challenging moments that every child goes through, reassuring parents along the way that it's all part of the process. My child adored being in her class."

-Schauleh (Mom to Pari, 5)

"My daughter had the pleasure of having Ms. Natalie as her Pre-K teacher for two years at San Francisco Public Montessori. We could not have been luckier to have started Pre-K and also have Ms. Natalie start at the same time. Her teaching style, patience, and philosophy worked so well for my daughter that Annika has excelled! She achieved more than I could ever have hoped for due to Ms. Natalie being so engaged with my daughter. She observed and taught to her level which really gave my daughter the best start she could have hoped for in her education journey.

I wish my daughter could have continued with Ms. Natalie – but it's time for other children to experience the magic of Ms. Natalie!"

-Leena (Mom to Annika, 5)

"Disclaimer: my child has yet to start at Star City Montessori. That said, I am very excited for him to begin in February 2020. I met Natalie at Brisbane Park and she is clearly a passionate, compassionate, and amazingly trained Montessori educator. Her school is beautiful. Prior to enrolling my son, I called her prior place of employment and they just raved about her - said they were very sad when she left, and that she has a special gift with children. It's a hard decision to take my kiddo out of where he's been since he was a baby, with all his sweet little friends there, but I'm very confident and excited about this choice."

-Kathleen. H

"Star City Montessori was the best thing about 2020. We are so thrilled to have found this school this year for our preschooler. Natalie is a true teacher; you can tell that she spends a lot of time thinking about how kids learn and how to support them best. She has the absolute best materials for the kids and provides them an environment in which they learn from their own curiosity and autonomy. The change in our preschooler's confidence has been amazing since we left our old preschool and joined Star City. We feel so lucky to have found such an excellent school, and especially so during the year of pandemic. Natalie did a great job of implementing policies and procedures that made us feel safe sending our preschooler there every day during the pandemic. We are looking forward to sending our younger one to Star City someday!"

-Jeff. M