Staff

Alessandra Macchiarella

AMI Toddler Lead Guide

Alessandra graduated from the University of Palermo, Italy, with a degree in Geology. Alessandra holds the AMI Assistants to Infancy (0-3) diploma and the Montessori Core Principles Certificate from the Montessori Institute of North Texas (MINT) in Dallas. Alessandra reads albums and offers support for AMI 0-3 teacher training courses for MINT, the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies (SIMS) in Arizona, and the Instituto Montessori Valencia in Spain. She moved to the United States with her family--her husband, her daughter, her son, and their dog Benji--in 2015. She enjoys knitting and crocheting, walking, playing piano, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Joined Waypoint Montessori in 2021.

Pilar Lourido

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Alessandra

Pilar attended the University of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where she studied two years of Law. She later studied Stained Glass for two years in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Pilar has taught Spanish, facilitated art classes, and assisted in various levels of Montessori classrooms at Waypoint for 15 years. She has two daughters and a granddaughter who currently attends the toddler class at Waypoint. Pilar enjoys working with children because she gets to be part of providing a nurturing environment to fulfill the children’s needs. 

Joined Waypoint Montessori in 2007.

Columba Cunningham

AMI Toddler Lead Guide

Columba graduated from The Universidad del Centro de Mexico with a B.A. in Communications. She received her AMI Assistants to Infancy (0-3) diploma from the Training Center of British Columbia in Vancouver, and her AMI Primary (3-6) diploma from The Texas Montessori Education Center in Austin, Texas. Columba developed one of the premier all-day toddler programs in Dallas Texas. She has been working with children for 26 years as a Primary and Toddler guide. She enjoys dancing, singing, cooking, walking and traveling.

Joined Waypoint Montessori in 2015.

Michelle Bibb

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Columba

Michelle earned her (0-3) diploma from the North American Montessori Center in Surrey, British Columbia. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Development and has 22 years of experience working in Montessori Environments. Michelle also enjoys camping with her family.

Robbin Mendoza

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Columba

Robbin has a professional background in mental health, having spent over 30 years in the field. This is her 8th year at Waypoint Montessori. Robbin was also a special olympics coach for 25 years and is very passionate about animal rescue.

Elaine Jimenez

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Columba

Biography coming soon!

Claudia Cifuentes Lopez

AMI Toddler Lead Guide

Biography coming soon!

Alina Serbanescul

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Claudia

Alina has over 5 years of experience working with children and holds an associate's degree in early childhood education.  She is a native Spanish speaker from Puerto Rico with experience teaching Spanish to children of all ages. Alina also be conducts the Spanish classes for Elementary.

Havana Govea

Toddler Assistant to Ms. Claudia

Havannah is currently in her first year of college at Tarrant County College and has an interest in teaching and child development. She enjoys art, reading and being outside.



Venkata Sowjanya Devi Dodd

Primary Assistant to Ms. Fatou 

Sowjanya obtained her Master of Science in Microbiology from Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India. She has experience as a lecturer for three years at NRI Engineering college as well as teaching for two years at the high school level. Sowjanya enjoys bonding over arts and crafts with her two children. Sowjanya was born and raised in India and lives in Trophy Club, Texas.

Rosa Alvarez-Aguirre

Lower Elementary Lead Guide

Rosa obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Education from the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in México. She also holds AMI Primary and Elementary diplomas from the Montessori Institute of North Texas (MINT). Rosa has been involved in the field of Montessori education since 1999 and has over 10 years of experience as an Elementary Guide. She has worked as course support for elementary training courses at MINT. Rosa has two daughters who attended Montessori school. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading and music.

Isbeyde Tellez

Lower Elementary Assistant to Ms. Aguirre

Isbeyde has been working with children in 2021. She began her career working with infants. When she joined the Waypoint team as a substitute, she was able to experience working with older children and discovered the joy of the elementary age group. She is currently in college pursuing her degree.

Shabana Hasam

Librarian

Shabana holds a Bachelor's degree in commerce and has over 15 years of experience teaching in the Montessori classroom. She was born in India and then moved to New York and has lived in Dallas for the past 20 years. Shabana enjoys needle work embroidery, crochet and cooking new recipes for her family.

Katlyn Oglesby

Almost Home Assistant

Katlyn has lived the past 13 years in Hong Kong, where she taught English as a second language to young children starting at 2 years and up to university level. Her passion is traveling and has visited 35+ countries bringing with her a wealth of knowledge of different cultures and languages. Has a Bachelor of Science in BusinessAdministration, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC (12/2011), and also completed her TEFL at Oglethorpe University, Brookhaven, Ga (10/2011). She has 15 years teaching experience.