MRS. K Soon Choi, MA, Founder & Head of School

Mrs. Choi (MA, English Literature) is the Founder and Principal of the School.  Trained at the St. Nicholas Montessori Teacher Training College, she has been a Montessori teacher for over 35 years in the Edison-Metuchen area, with a strong reputation for love and excellence.  Mrs. Choi also leads the music education program within the school with joy and grace. She is a devoted Christian with ample love that she shares with children.  Mrs. Choi continues to engage with the children through daily check-ins and weekly Bible story times in each of the classrooms.

Mary Choi-An, MPS, PhD, Director, Primary Lead

Ms. Mary completed her masters degree in Statistics at Cornell University and her doctoral studies in Biostatistics & Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializing her research in global infant and early childhood developmental health. Prior to joining DCM, she was a faculty member at CUNY, George Washington University, and worked as a lead researcher at the US Department of Commerce.

She changed her path towards Montessori education after having her daughter and desiring the same incredible quality of Montessori education and values that Mrs. Choi was able to share with her as a child. She trained at the Barrie School in Maryland for her Early Childhood Montessori certification. Ms. Mary has adopted the same values as Mrs. Choi that have made DCM more like a family and her mission is to ensure the health and continued growth of our school.

In her role as Director, she tends to financial/tuition planning, fundraising efforts, and administrative inquiries. She also directs DCM’s French language enrichment program.

MRs. Crisol-Iris Lantz, MEd, Assistant Director & Lower Elementary LEad

Mrs. Lantz graduated from Kean University with a BA in Early Childhood and Fine Arts, attained her MEd in Education. She had been working in the urban public school setting for 8 years, nurturing and educating children from preschool to fifth grade, including those with special needs.  She engages and encourages for children with the same care and expectation she has for her own two young girls.  Ms. Lantz knows the importance of early childhood education and was inspired to attain Early Childhood and Lower Elementary Montessori certification after sending her daughters to a Montessori school.  Her passion is in facilitating an engaging, creative, and nurturing environment for young children. In addition to the 1st - 4th grade classroom, Ms. Lantz also directs DCM’s Arts enrichment and Summer STEAM programs.

MRs. Emely Morris, Primary Lead

Mrs. Emely graduated from Kean University with a BA in Psychology and Spanish. She worked for the Westfield Board of Education for nearly 20 years as a Secretary and resigned to pursue her dreams of working with children. She has been serving in her church as a Sunday school and Girl Ministries teacher for early childhood. She fell in love with the Montessori way after joining our team and obtained NAMC training and her Early Childhood Montessori certification through the Princeton Center for Teacher Education. Ms. Emely also directs DCM’s Spanish language enrichment - she treasures teaching and loving the children in multiple languages!

Ms Esther Chung, Primary Lead

Ms Esther received her bachelors in Music (Classical Vocals) from Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, South Korea. She began her journey in Montessori as a parent and eventually receive her Early Childhood certificate from Mercer County Community Montessori Training Center. Ms Esther worked as lead teacher, after care teacher, and Co-Director at Busy Little Hands for 8 years before the global pandemic. DCM is excited to invite her back into the classroom as a seasoned and loving teacher for the Primary children. She is truly approaches the children with love and grace, she shares the joy of discovery with all of the students.

Ms Elba Perez, Stepping Stone Lead

Ms Elba graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and owned her own childrenswear boutique before falling in love with the Montessori Philosophy and Education. She graduated from the Princeton Center for Teacher Education and worked in Early Education classrooms for 3 years before working with our toddlers at DCM. She has also lead the children’s ministry at her church at Ministerio Bethania of NJ.

Ms Elba comes to Discovery Christian Montessori with a fresh and eager heart to love, serve, and guide the children in our community. In addition to leading the Stepping Stone classroom, she also leads the Aftercare Program at DCM.

Mrs. Tonya Santiago, Lead Teacher for Infant & Toddler

Ms Tonya joins Discovery Christian Montessori with a wealth of experience with infant and toddler care and early education. She has had the opportunity to care for many children in her own home-business for over 30 years as Home Childcare Provider. Ms Tonya approaches each child with an incredible gentleness and patience, and we are thrilled to have her with our staff to care for our littlest infant and toddlers.

Ms Akemi Furuyama, assistant teacher for Lower Elementary

Ms Akemi graduated from the University of California, Davis with a BS in Human Development - Education. She is also certified to teach multiple subjects and grade levels by California State University. She is an educator who is passionate about teaching and literacy coaching and has 8 years of teaching experience Kindergarten through 1st grade. Her interest in Montessori started when her older two sons attended a Montessori school under the wing of one of Mrs Choi’s protege teachers. As an educator she understands the importance and is encouraged by the individualized learning that happens in a Montessori school.

Ms Aparna Inumula, Primary assistant teacher

Mrs. Aparna received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education from Osmania University. She has 5 years of experience teaching Elementary Education and have a true passion for working with our youngest learners. Helping each child progress in all areas of their development including their faith journey is a challenge that she is honored to be a part of. Ms Aparna continues her Montessori educational training with DCM. Ms Aparna has 4 wonderful children and is joining DCM with her two youngest sons.

Ms Manasi Gadgil, Primary assistant teacher

Ms Manasi completed her bachelors in Fine Arts and worked in UX design before joining our school. She started as a Montessori parent and fell in love with the philosophy of Montessori and our school. Ms Manasi joined DCM as a parent volunteer in the Primary classrooms and officially joined our staff first as a second Assistant Teacher for Lower Elementary, and now as an Assistant Teacher for our Primary Classroom and one of our wonderful Art Program teachers.

Ms Nishbel Riviera, Infant & Toddler Assistant

Ms. Nishbel is a the mother of 2 boys. Her youngest is 4 years old and her eldest son is 14. She attends a Christian church called Torre Fuerte in Elizabeth with her family where they work in the children's ministry teaching them the word and love of God. She serves the families at DCM with a beautiful heart of gold and is very happy to work together with the Montessori team!

Mrs. Soo Hwang, Assistant Teacher for Stepping Stone

Ms Soo joined as the Stepping Stone Assistant Teacher at Discovery Christian Montessori in 2014. Her education was in Fine Arts, but even after college she always enjoyed being with children. Prior to joining DCM, Ms. Soo trained at OM International Missions for 1 year and worked as a missionary in India and Pakistan for 3 years. She also worked as an HR secretary in the OM Mission office. In addition to working at DCM, she also serves as a teacher at her church Korean Culture school since 2007.

Ms Sonya Rodas, Stepping Stone Assistant

Ms Sonya worked as a wonderful nurse for several years before caring for her own family and continuing to care for her community and ministry partners. She has worked in different care-giving settings before deciding to serve families and children. Ms Sonya continues her love of learning and serving with her Montessori training and education through the NAMC curriculum. She joins DCM with a heart to serve and a special love for the children.

Ms Jennifer Sumlin, Stepping Stone Assistant

Ms Jennifer worked as a medical assistant before coming to DCM with her son. As her son attended our school, she knew that God called to the work and community of our school and first joined as a parent volunteer before joining our full-time staff as an Assistant Teacher in the Stepping Stone classroom. She continues her Montessori training and education through the NAMC curriculum and is excited to further her journey with DCM.

Ms Nisani Santiago, Lower Elementary 2nd Assistant

Ms Nisani joined DCM as a parent before joining as an Assistant Teacher in the Stepping Stone classroom. She loved the wonderful environment that was provided for the children and continues her studies to learn more about the Montessori curriculum and classroom. Ms Nisani is now the second LE Assistant Teacher and is loved by the children for her calm and cheerful presence in the classroom.

Ms Stephanie Morse-An, floating & Art teacher

Ms Stephanie joins DCM with a wealth of experience and specialty. She graduated with a BFA from The Fashion Institute of Technology for Fine Arts and Art History and Italian. She was a Teaching Artist at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop for 7 years and currently still remains connected as a Gallery Consultant. Her classes spanned from drawing to bookbinding to printmaking. An artist in her own right, her work has been selected and featured in juried art shows across the country. Ms Stephanie is always actively involved in the local arts community by freelancing and advocating for accessible art opportunities. She is proud of her ongoing relationships formed with private and public institutions as well as local emerging artists. She was most recently honored by the National Women’s History Museum as a part of the the 2025 cohort of educators participating in the “For Educators, By Educators” classroom resource development initiative.

Mr. Michael Choi, Operations Manager

Mr. Michael has studied Bible Studies at Word of Life Bible Institute and History & Philosophy at the Liberty University. He has served as Administrator for DCM since 2012 and continues to support the school while enjoying various international travels and adventures around the world, exercising his love of learning new languages - including Korean, Japanese, and more.

More Teachers

As we grow, we expect to invite more excellent teachers to join our team.  We are always on the look out for talented and motivated teachers with good faith who are trained in the Montessori method. Specific positions will be posted under Jobs, however we also review resumes on a rolling basis.

Our Partners

MS Angela Sun, Piano & music theory

Ms. Angela leads private piano and music theory lessons for our younger students from 3 years and older.

Ms. Angela has over 20 years of experience in diverse Music instruction within private/public schools, and teaching early childhood Music Together® classes for young children and families. She has created many wonderful lessons and music programs for her students and community over the years. She incorporates all elements of music when teaching and ensures a complete captivation of the experience.

Ms. Angela holds her B.M. in Music Education from The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

She has a deep appreciation and understanding of the importance of music education from the early years and is passionate to share the benefits with the children.

Ms Jenny Chien, Piano

Ms. Jenny instructs personal private piano lessons for our students from 4 years and older.

She is the founder of Early Piano Experience with Ms. Jenny and launched many creative sessions of piano group classes with ages 4-6 in several Preschools.

Ms. Jenny holds her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Arizona State University. She has been a devoted music educator in New Jersey since 2013, running her busy piano studio, and preparing students for various music events such as ABRSM, MEA auditions, competitions, Cecilian Monster Concerts, and master classes.

She has a great passion with kids. Her goal is to help them to be a best possible pianist they could be.

Many of her students started with Ms Jenny at their young ages, and became the performers in the Winner Concerts at Carnegie Hall.

Master Han, Taekwondo

Master Dae Young Han joined DCM in the summer of 2022 at the request of Mrs. Choi to provide a wonderful outlet of physical fitness for our students during the school week. He teachers 30 minute group sessions during the school day on Fridays as an extracurricular activity and we are incredibly lucky to have his instruction! His natural charisma and passion for Tae Kwon Do helps the children learn the mastery and techniques of Tae Kwon Do with great enthusiasm and excitement every week. Master Han runs his own Taekwondo Gym at Young Moo Tae Kwon Do in Highland Park, NJ.

Ms Barbara Lambiase, MA, CCC
speech/language pathologist

Ms. Barbara consults for our school supporting our students with speech and language therapy needs within the school.