Montessori Children’s House Staff

Shubha Kinny – Director

Shubha has more than 20 years of experience working with children in various capacities. She began with founding a family childcare facility in her home, which allowed her to spend time with her own children as well as create an atmosphere that was stimulating and encouraging. Most recently, she has been a Lead Teacher at a Montessori preschool in Eagan, MN. She holds Early Childhood and Administrator credentials from the United Kingdom and a Child Development Associate from the United States.

Shubha is passionate about inspiring children to love learning and enhancing their learning experiences. She is dedicated to supporting each child’s developmental growth and it has been her dream to own a school that truly follows the Montessori method.

Shubha lives with her husband and two children in Eagan, MN.  Shubha absolutely loves watching children grow and learn different skills, and hugs from the children are her favorite things.

Carolyn Regan – Lead Teacher

We couldn’t be more pleased to announce that Carolyn Regan will be taking over the Extended Day program at Montessori Children’s House this year. A longtime resident of Lakeville, Carolyn received her AMI Primary Training from the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota and Lower Elementary Diploma from NAMC. Carolyn spent twelve years as a Montessori guide and school director in Lakeville and in Prior Lake and has been in early childhood education for almost thirty years.

She joined us in the summer of 2017 and has never looked back. Her commitment to Montessori and dedication to the child are inspiring. Our school is enriched and strengthened by her presence. Some interesting things about Carolyn—she has two children and is wed to a former race car driver. She loves mini coopers, just like her daughter, Nicole, who preceded her as a beloved staff member at MCH from 2013-2015.

Carolyn feels that her joining MCH was really meant to be, and we couldn’t agree more.

Jani May – Teacher

Ms. Jani has been in the child care field for over 35 years. She holds a Child Development Certificate from Rochester Area Vo-tech and an Associates form Arts Degree in Child care from Fairmont State College in West Virginia.

Ms. Jani has been a lead teacher and an assistant teacher in several preschool programs over the years, including Montessori schools where she gained hands on experience and training with Montessori Method and materials. She owned and operated her own small preschool program out of her home in Faribault for seven years. She lives with her Husband. She has two grown up children and three grandchildren. Hobbies include reading and spending time with her grandchildren. She also helps out elderly.

Two of her favorite quotes from Maria Montessori are:

” Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society” and ” One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”

Ms. Jani will also be doing Music with children once a week to start off. She will also be our teacher for After School Program.

Lindsey Boser – Administrator

We are so pleased to have Lindsey Gillis Boser on our staff at MCH. She is the glue that holds us all together! Lindsey, her husband Brad, and son Miles live in Northfield and we are fortunate have them in our community.

Lindsey has a degree in Elementary Education from Gustavus Adolphus and over ten years of experience in early childhood settings, from Montessori classrooms to Assistant Director at Como Early Learning Center, and as a teacher in the MCH summer program. We fell in love with Lindsey immediately at Montessori Children’s House and so appreciate her gentle nature and nurturing ways with all things furry, scaled or feathered at our school.

Megan Durkin – Founder

With great joy, Megan opened Montessori Children’s House of Northfield in the fall of 2007—one hundred years after the first Casa dei Bambini was opened in Rome by Dr. Maria Montessori. She entered this new venture from a career of varied teaching experiences: working in her mother’s Montessori classroom as a girl, teaching kindergarten and first grade at the Taipei American School, teaching at a bilingual preschool in Taiwan, training teachers at Montessori schools in Hong Kong, and opening her own Montessori preschool in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her AMS Montessori Teaching Degree from New York University and Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Course in Chicago.

After moving from Asia back to the US in 1998, Megan and her husband Tom, raised their three children in Northfield. Locally, she taught for seven years at Prairie Creek Community School beginning with a pre-K classroom. In 2000 she also started teaching K-5 Spanish. The World Languages Program at Prairie Creek developed under her guidance to include Spanish, French, and Chinese with a strong emphasis on world cultures and peace education.

With the creation of the school on a beautiful two-acre site at the southern end of Northfield, came an opportunity to create a special place for children in nature. Megan grew this aspect of the school property to include students from nearby schools and the MCH children in an “Edible Schoolyard” program.

Apart from making the world a better and friendlier place, Megan’s goal has always been to bring a love of learning to her role as a teacher and to develop that lifelong passion through her writing for teachers, parents and, of course, children.

When she is not in the garden she loves to write and to dream about all the places left to visit on earth.