Teacher Biographies

Deborah Doss is the Director/Owner of American River Montessori and is the Lead Teacher at the school. Debbie graduated from C.S.U. Sacramento in 1983 with a degree in Communications. After 25 years of experience and two successful businesses in the legal and Internet/IT consulting industries, Debbie opened American River Montessori in 2008. Debbie is a credentialled American Montessori Society early childhood educator with a master teacher permit with an emphasis on music from the State of California. Debbie has certificates as a YogaFit teacher and as a Music Together intructor. She is enrolled in a teaching credential program through C.S.U. Fresno,
which she expects to complete in 2011.

Nessrine Abdo is an Associate Teacher and Tutor at American River Montessori. She graduated from C.S.U. Sacramento in 2006 with a Liberal Studies degree and is working on her teaching credential. Nessrine worked for three years for a nationwide company specializing in tutoring children. She also is a Yoga Assistant at Zuda Yoga, where she has completed their training program.

Jamie Smith is an Associate Teacher at American River Montessori. Jamie graduated from C.S.U. Sacramento with a degree in Liberal Studies and has a Masters in Best Teaching Practices from National University. Jamie has 8 years of experience as a credentialled teacher in both traditional public elementary and Montessori charter elementary schools.

Maribeth Leineke is a Consultant and Associate Teacher at American River Montessori. She is a credentialled teacher and has taught for more than 10 years in public and Montessori charter elementary schools. Maribeth has also been an instructor for a Montessori teacher training program for several years.

Lissette Peralta-Heiser is an Associate Teacher and Tutor at American River Montessori. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science/International Relations and completed a Masters in City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Lissette is an Associate Teacher at American River Montessori and is our Spanish Language instructor.