MONTESSORI BILINGUAL SCHOOL
EDUCATIONAL TEAM
Sylvie Roten
Sylvie, Director
The school is directed by Sylvie Roten, founder of the Bilingual Montessori School "Little Seed". Sylvie is a graduate of St Nicholas Montessori Center in London for children from 2 1/2 to 7 years old and of the Centro Internationale di studi Montessoriani in Bergamo, Italy for 6-12 years old.
She has a Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Geneva.
Sylvie Roten created and directed the Bilingual Montessori School "Little Friends" in Geneva.
Sophie Cordonier
French-speaking Montessori educator 6-9 years old
Sophie worked for more than 15 years in the field of marketing before undergoing a professional retraining and obtaining her AMI diploma for 6-12 years at the Institut Supérieur Maria Montessori in Montpellier. She traveled and lived in many countries and taught in different schools in French-speaking Switzerland and German-speaking Switzerland, before feeling a call to return to her native Valais, a region she loves for its nature and its mountains. Positive and caring, she loves being around children and never ceases to be surprised by their enormous potential, their desire to learn and their creativity.
Tera Goedkoop
English-speaking Montessori educator 3-6 years old
After completing her primary school teacher training in the Netherlands, Tera began her career working with students with learning difficulties. After three years, she made a professional shift and seized the opportunity of a job as an air hostess. International flights allowed him to discover the world for seven years. Tera and her family then moved to Switzerland and in 2007 she began working as a teaching assistant in the English section of an international school in Geneva. His passion is clearly rooted in children and particularly in the opportunity given to bilingualism. Tera is now delighted to be able to join the Little Seed team as an English-speaking teacher and is in the process of Montessori NAMC training.
His greatest passion is swimming in the lake all year round.
Nicole Garsaud
Nicole, English-speaking Montessori educator 6-12 years old
A UK qualified primary school teacher (QTS), Nicole is a graduate of the University of Exeter, with a Bachelor of Education with Honors, specializing in English.
With over 20 years of teaching experience, Nicole has taught all over the world including New Zealand, USA and Japan. However, her passion for skiing and snowboarding brought her to Valais, where she thinks she has found the perfect place to settle down.
Leah Polfer
French-speaking Montessori AMI educator 3-6 years old.
Her softness and her benevolence create a climate of trust with the children she accompanies.
Her studies in speech therapy and special education have given her experience with children with special needs.
Little Seed Bilingual Montessori School's membership in the Eco-Schools program resonates with her love for nature and led her to join the team.
Emilie Tschopp
French-speaking Educator 9-12 years old
Emilie grew up in Valais. From an early age, she had a passion for teaching. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in preschool and primary education at the HEP-VS, Emilie continued her studies and deepened her training by obtaining a Master's degree in Educational Sciences at the University of Lausanne. After a few years of teaching in Valais, mainly in cycle 2, Emilie decides to follow her husband to New York and discovers the Montessori method.
After 5 years of experience in this progressive bilingual school with Montessori inspirations, Emilie returns to the country.
A passionate, dynamic and creative teacher, Emilie strongly believes in pedagogy through positive reinforcement and kindness. She is convinced that valuing each student encourages learning. Emilie is also a musician and with her guitar, she motivates and accompanies her students.
Caroline Antille
Caroline Antille, French-speaking Montessori educator for 3-6 year olds.
Caroline discovered the Montessori school in Brussels where she
lived for three years with her family. She found that
This method allowed his children to flourish.
She has had a rich professional career. Working with
children remained a wish, confirmed by some
experiences, for example as co-manager of the Garden
of the snows of Thyon-Veysonnaz.
Her stay in Belgium allowed a seed to germinate. She
so resumed, a few years later, studies to obtain
her Montessori educator diploma, convinced that this
approach helps children build self-confidence,
while gaining their independence.
Caroline enjoys spending time with her family, nature and the
animals. She even has three goats, some chickens and a
dog.
Ieva Melko
Ieva Melko, English-speaking educator for 3-6 year olds.
Ieva joined the Little Seed team in the first year of the school's creation and worked for four years until the birth of her daughter Mia. She returned to the Little Seed team in 2024 to continue working with children aged 3 to 6.
She is an AMI and NAMC certified Montessori teacher who completed her training in Zurich, Switzerland and an online training course in Canada. Ieva is also certified as a children's yoga teacher. She believes that movement and mindfulness can be practiced from a young age.
Before starting her work at the Montessori school, Ieva worked with children and teenagers for over 10 years in international camps and managing school trips around the world. She is a ski and snowboard instructor and loves outdoor activities, sports and adventures.
Basil Hequet
Basile, English-speaking educator 9-12 years old
2017 was for me the year of "discovery" of Maria Montessori through her written work. Initially a teacher in art schools in various countries, I went to perfect my knowledge at the "Montessori Internationales Ausbildungzentrum" in Germany and Switzerland. Committed to preserving the range of possibilities open to the child, seeking to support his potential in the environment, I naturally turned to the elementary cycle and its subjects. I seek to diligently support children in their evolving work dynamics so that they - to paraphrase Maria Montessori in her observations - develop and build a future that is theirs, their adult of tomorrow.