15650 95th Ave N Maple Grove, MN 55369
763-420-2323
info@radiant-montessori.com
Center Hours : Mon-Fri 7:00 am – 6:00 pm 
Qualified and Dedicated Staff Make All the Difference
Qualified and dedicated staff make all the difference. Our staff is qualified, experienced, friendly and responsible. All teachers receive on the job guidance from experienced Montessori qualified teachers to constantly improve the Montessori lessons and also receive on-going training on CPR and other safety procedures from certified personnel. You are free to speak with any teacher, ask questions about your child’s day, or other questions relating your child’s care. We encourage parents to have strong relationships with our teachers and work hand in hand so that your child gets the best that he or she deserves.
Owners
Carmelita
As a co-owner, Carmelita oversees all Radiant operations. She works directly with the Curriculum Manager to maintain the Center’s Montessori standards. She worked for a leading Montessori School in Minnesota for 7 years and started her own school – Radiant Montessori – in 2008. She qualified as an attorney in Sri Lanka but instead of pursuing a career in law, she obtained Montessori training and she founded a non-profit organization called School for Enhancing Learning Potential (SELP) to help special needs children. She migrated to the US in 2000 with the family. Carmelita likes walking, cycling, reading, dancing and traveling.
Nandana
Nandana provides legal counsel and online marketing to Radiant. A graduate of Mitchell - Hamline Law School, he worked as an Associate Legal Counsel for the State of Minnesota for 11 years from 2005 – 2016. He holds a master’s degree in law from St. Louis University School of Law. Before coming to the United States in 2000, Nandana worked for the government of Sri Lanka as a revenue investigator and a prosecutor of white-collar crimes. Nandana likes writing, reading non-fiction, hiking, dancing, yoga, meditation and international travel. He is a co-owner of Radiant. Nandana, together with Carmelita, oversees all Radiant operations.
Managers
Annie
Center Supervisor
Annie joined the Radiant in 2014. She started working in childcare in 1999 and worked with toddlers for 8 years. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education Leadership and Management from Rasmussen College. Currently, she is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day operations such as tours for prospective families, staff supervision, communicating with parents, Radiant’s monthly newsletter and Facebook page, field trips and other Radiant events. She leads the team of teachers and ensure smooth functioning of Radiant. She spends time in different classrooms – making an opportunity to understand and address the individual classroom needs.
Bawani
Curriculum Instructor/Children's House 2
Bawani joined Radiant in 2017 as the Montessori Guide in Children’s House 2 and took over developing and maintaining the Montessori curriculum and training teachers in 2022. She earned her B.Ed. from Sri Lanka and a graduate of Montessori Training Center of Minnesota where she obtained her diploma in Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). She has been a Montessori guide since 2007 and worked as a director at a Montessori Center in California for one year. She firmly believes that a Montessori Guide's job is to help children achieve their full potential and fall in love with learning.
Educators
Sasheeka (Dishni)
Children’s House 1
Dishni is our Montessori Guide in CH1 and works with Johanna. She joined Radiant in 2023 and has over 10 years of Montessori teaching experience. She holds a diploma in Montessori from the Association of Montessori Internationale (AMI).
Anna
Children’s House 2
Anna joined Radiant in November 2023 after having worked in preschool settings for over 5 years. She has also worked in primary schools and in special education. She has both an Associate of Science in Child Development and Associate of Arts degrees from North Hennepin Community College. She currently works in CH2.
Josie
Children’s House 2
Josie joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works in CH2. She has 3+ years of prior preschool experience. Her favorite hobby is puzzles. She loves reading and coloring.
Emilee
Children’s House 3
Emilee joined Radiant in 2022 after having worked at another licensed center for a brief period.
Sam
Toddler Room
Sam joined Radiant in 2022 and has worked at a licensed center over 2 years. She currently works in the Toddler Room with Sofie.
Sofie
Toddler Room
Sofie joined the Radiant team when she was still in high school in 2019. And today, she is a Lead Teacher in the Toddler Room! Sofie's dream when she joined Radiant in 2019 was to become a preschool teacher and she is technically there now - lead in a different age group. She loves working with kids and believes there is a lot that adults can learn from children. Before joining Radiant, she volunteered in an after-school kindergarten classroom. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends and watching Netflix.
Marie
Transition Room
Marie joined Radiant in 2022 and currently works in the Transition Room with Abby, Zada, and Skylar.
Joey
Transition Room
Joey joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works in the Transition Room and fills in other classrooms as needed.
Skylar
Transition Room
Skylar joined Radiant in 2022 after having worked in a Preschool classroom at another center for a brief period. She works in the Transition Room with Abby, Zada and Marie.
Laurice
Infant Room
She joined Radiant in August 2022 and comes to with over 5 years of prior experience at a Childcare Center as a Lead Teacher with Infants.
Michelle
Infant Room
Michelle joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works in the Infant Room.
Johanna
Children’s House 1
Johanna Joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works in CH1 with Ms. Dishni. She has 1 ½ years of prior childcare experience, mostly with toddlers. She attended Anoka Ramsey Community college but took a break while doing her generals. She likes to work on cars and go fishing.
Amy
Children’s House 2
Amy joined Radiant in November 2023 to replace Bawani who became our first Curriculum Manager. Bawani has trained Amy to make Montessori presentations and follow a Montessori curriculum in CH2. Amy has over 14 years of preschool experience and worked at another Montessori School in Minnesota for 9 years before joining Radiant. She currently works in CH2.
Ivon
Children’s House 3
Ivon joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works as the lead teacher in CH3.
Christina
Children’s House 3
Christina joined Radiant in 2022 and she oversees our kitchen operations. She also works in different classrooms where she is needed but mostly in CH3.
Lola Sinjem
Toddler Room
Lola joined Radiant in 2023 and currently works in the Toddler Room. She also works in other classrooms as needed.
Abby
Transition Room
Abby joined Radiant in 2015. She is the Lead Teacher in our Transition Room. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Before starting at Radiant in 2015, I worked as an Assistant Teacher at another Montessori school for over two years and worked at a library for over three years while she attended the University of Minnesota. She loves working in the Transition Room with a wonderful age group that she describes as "sponges" - absorbing so much from the environment through their senses. She takes pleasure watching them develop their gross motor skills and begining to work on their fine motor as well. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with my husband, reading, and playing softball. She is a big fan of Minnesota Twins and enjoys watching the games at Target Field no matter how great or poor their season is going. Truly loyal to her team! Abby is an avid reader and she reads about 75-100 books a year! So if you need a book recommendation, you know who you should talk to!
Zada
Transition Room
Zada joined Radiant in 2022 after having worked at another licensed center for one year. She works with Abby, Skylar and Marie in the Transition Room.
Tasha
Infant Room
Tasha joined Radiant in August 2022 and works as a Lead Teacher in the Infant Room. Before she joined Radiant, she worked for over 2 years at another licensed center.
Brea
Infant Room
Brea first joined Radiant in 2019 and left Radiant during COVID for a short period. She rejoined in November 2021 and she works in the Infant Room assisting Laurice and Tasha.
Sofia Lara
Infant Room
Sofia joined Radiant in 2022 and currently works in the Infant Room with Laurice, Tasha and Brea.