About Our School
Who We Are
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Dandelion Montessori is a collaborative community of Montessori learners, ages 2.9 through 6 years, educators and families in Somerville, MA. Established in 2015, Dandelion is a Wildflower Network School, an innovative approach to Montessori education started by the Social Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab.
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What We Believe
We believe children to be intrinsically good, intrinsically peaceful and intrinsically motivated to learn. At Dandelion, children and adults work together to create a peaceful, cooperative, loving, and joyful learning environment.
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Where We Are
Dandelion is located on the unceded land of Pawtucket and Mass-aschu-es-et peoples. We acknowledge the Pawtucket and Mass-aschu-es-et community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations.
What We Do
Dandelion provides high quality, authentic Montessori education for children during their early childhood and kindergarten years. Our school supports children and their families in an inclusive and diverse community that fosters the growth of the whole child on their journey to becoming peaceful, powerful, and purposeful human beings.
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Our Teacher Leaders
Devanshi Desai
she/her
Head of School and Primary Guide
Devanshi has her M.Ed in Montessori education. She has worked in several early childhood environments that were Montessori or Reggio classrooms for 5 years before finding Wildflower and Dandelion. She started at Dandelion Montessori as a Fellow of the Global Majority and after-care teacher in 2017 and has been on its Board since.
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Devanshi believes strongly in Wildflower and its evolutionary path which centers around equity and access for children and educators. She is deeply committed to critically examine the materials and practices in the classroom from an equity lens. She is excited to explore an intentional outdoor curriculum as well as engage in early education research.
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Devanshi is grounded by her children, Reva and Zuri, some of the Indian cultures and traditions, nature, and belief that education is a tool for lifetime and can pass to generations to come.
Our Staff
Katie Giraldi
she/her
Montessori Guide
Katie Giraldi immigrated to America from Taiwan at the age of eight. She grew up in northern New Jersey with four siblings and is fluent in Mandarin. Katie earned her degree in photography and in display and exhibit from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and her degree in art education from Kean University in New Jersey. She has worked with children in various educational settings for over twenty years. In New Jersey, she worked as a curriculum developer for Newark Museum, and as an after schoolteacher at an outreach program in Newark. In Boston, she worked at Kingsley Montessori School for over eight years as a Preschool Art and Mandarin teacher. After expanding her family, she resumed her teaching career at Cambridge Montessori School, where she worked with toddlers. Katie lives in Cambridge with her husband and three sons.
Leena Wright
she/her
Montessori Guide
Leena is dedicated to fostering growth and curiosity in children. Originally from Queens, NY, she moved to Massachusetts and wanted to align her professional pursuits with her values, transitioning from business management to early childhood education.
With a degree in early childhood development and an American Montessori Internationale diploma, Leena is passionate about changing the world one child at a time. She advocates for alternative education and is experienced in the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Her journey with the Wildflower Community began when her son attended Dandelion Montessori under Micki and Lindy's guidance.
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Beyond her professional life, Leena enjoys exploring the outdoors—whether camping, hiking, taking beach strolls, or rollerblading. Her multicultural upbringing in New York sparked a love for global cuisine, music, and art. As a mother, she cherishes spending time with her son, believing that experiencing the world is the best way to learn. In her teaching, Leena is committed to guiding children with grace and courtesy, nurturing their confidence, independence, and connection to nature.
Will McGovern
they/them
Montessori Guide
Will is over the moon to be joining the Dandelion team for the 2024-25 school year! They are passionate about Montessori and music and can't wait to share these passions with the Dandelion community.
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Jenny Gomatos
she/her
Support Teacher
From a young age, Jenny Gomatos always wanted to be a teacher, often playing "classroom" with her cousins. Now living her childhood dream, she strives to inspire and guide children in a safe, thriving environment.
Jenny earned a bachelor's degree in child, family, and community studies from Merrimack College, focusing on early childhood education. With over nine years of experience, she joined Dandelion in 2021 and developed a passion for Montessori education. She continues to enhance her skills through ongoing training.
In her free time, Jenny enjoys cooking, hiking with her husband Cam and their dog Bailey, and spending time with family and friends.
Emeritus Teacher Leader
Micki Sausen
she/her
Micki has enjoyed a 45 year journey in the world of Montessori education. It took her through a diverse world of both private and public schools throughout the US — the last five years of it spent growing Dandelion Montessori in partnership with Lindy McGrail Younis and with the support of Devanshi Desai. Throughout her work she found continual proof that Montessori works for children of all cultural, socioeconomic and developmental backgrounds. While retired from the classroom, Micki will continue to be active in Montessori education through consulting at Dandelion and other Montessori schools throughout the Wildflower Network and beyond, as well as spending many lovely hours with her husband and ever-growing number of grandchildren.
Micki Sausen
she/her
Micki has enjoyed a 45 year journey in the world of Montessori education. It took her through a diverse world of both private and public schools throughout the US — the last five years of it spent growing Dandelion Montessori in partnership with Lindy McGrail Younis and with the support of Devanshi Desai. Throughout her work she found continual proof that Montessori works for children of all cultural, socioeconomic and developmental backgrounds. While retired from the classroom, Micki will continue to be active in Montessori education through consulting at Dandelion and other Montessori schools throughout the Wildflower Network and beyond, as well as spending many lovely hours with her husband and ever-growing number of grandchildren.
Micki Sausen
she/her
Micki has enjoyed a 45 year journey in the world of Montessori education. It took her through a diverse world of both private and public schools throughout the US — the last five years of it spent growing Dandelion Montessori in partnership with Lindy McGrail Younis and with the support of Devanshi Desai. Throughout her work she found continual proof that Montessori works for children of all cultural, socioeconomic and developmental backgrounds. While retired from the classroom, Micki will continue to be active in Montessori education through consulting at Dandelion and other Montessori schools throughout the Wildflower Network and beyond, as well as spending many lovely hours with her husband and ever-growing number of grandchildren.
Alejandra Cuadra
she/her
Support Teacher
Alejandra Cuadra is compassionate, creative, and sensitive. She sees her vulnerability as a superpower, not a weakness. Cuadra roots lie in Peru and she currently lives and creates on unceded Massachusett and Pawtucket land. She holds a BFA in sculpture with a minor in public engagement from Maine College of Art and Design. She has attended residencies at The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts, Yale Norfolk School of Art, Monson Arts, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, and Twenty Summers at Hawthorne Barn. She apprenticed for ten years at Kemp Pottery in Orleans, MA, for Steve and Matthew Kemp. She currently creates out of Mudflat Studios in Somerville.
With her background in the arts, she seeks to create a space where children can be their authentic selves. She constantly learns, relearning and even unlearning what it means to show up for others and creates a space for growth, passions, and connections. Creativity is an essential part of her life and is a tool to bring flexibility, problem-solving, and growth to fruition. As an educator, she finds joy in children’s curiosity, imagination, and connections to the world around them. Cuadra aims to present different ways of making and seeing the world while allowing children to grow and connect.
Johalin Sosa
she/her
Support Staff
"Mi nombre es Johalin Sosa Santana y trabajo como personal de apoyo en Dandelion Montessori. Me mudé a los Estados Unidos hace nueve meses y actualmente vivo en Somerville, Boston, Massachusetts. Tengo un bebé y mi sueño es ser una mejor persona cada día. Trabajo duro para dar lo mejor de mí a mi familia y a mi hijo. También tengo un bebé en Santo Domingo, que es el amor de mi vida. Todos los días me despierto con una determinación renovada para seguir adelante. Llevo trabajando en Dandelion siete meses y este trabajo me ha traído un sentido de familia, paz y felicidad con mi hijo. Aunque estoy lejos de casa, estoy profundamente comprometida a mejorar cada día, a darlo todo a nuestros hijos y a nuestra familia y a ser una mejor compañera de trabajo".
Emeritus and Founding Teacher Leaders
Lindy McGrail Younis
she/her
Lindy McGrail Younis, inspired by her Montessori experiences as a child, dedicated her career to nurturing young minds at Dandelion Montessori. Her journey began at Fairfield University, where she researched Montessori preschools in post-Soviet countries, leading to a Fulbright Scholarship in Slovakia as a guest lecturer. Upon returning to the U.S., Lindy furthered her Montessori expertise at Walnut Park Montessori School in Newton, MA, and earned her certification in 2012.
In 2015, Lindy co-founded Dandelion Montessori, where she was deeply committed to highlighting the incredible potential of children. Her mission was to use Montessori education as a catalyst for both local and global change, ensuring that every child and adult at Dandelion recognized the profound contributions children can make to the world.
Micki Sausen
she/her
Micki has enjoyed a 45 year journey in the world of Montessori education. It took her through a diverse world of both private and public schools throughout the US -- the last five years of it spent growing Dandelion Montessori in partnership with Lindy McGrail Younis and with the support of Devanshi Desai. Throughout her work she found continual proof that Montessori works for children of all cultural, socioeconomic and developmental backgrounds. While retired from the classroom, Micki will continue to be active in Montessori education through consulting at Dandelion and other Montessori schools throughout the Wildflower Network and beyond, as well as spending many lovely hours with her husband and ever-growing number of grandchildren.
Our Board
Jeremiah Hay
Treasurer
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Gabrielle Agboola
Member