Founder and owner
Warsaw Montessori Family,
AMI Montessori Guide
Małgosia Tarnowska
I am the owner and happy founder of the Warsaw Montessori Family, which includes bilingual Montessori schools at every stage of a child’s development: from nursery, through kindergarten and primary school, high school with the IB program, to the Montessori Farm School. The Farm School, established in September 2022, is the culmination of my dreams and the first residential school of this kind in Poland for young people aged 12-18.
Montessori pedagogy is my passion, life philosophy and mission, which, combined with my passion for living close to nature, allows me not only to create extraordinary schools, but also gives me peace and a sense of security.
Montessori Farm School
House Parent
Wachira Dongpooban
I am a houseparent at the Montessori Farm School – Folwark Bialka. I am a mother, a Montessorian, and a lifelong learner. I enjoy working with children, especially adolescents. My goal is to support our adolescents through this time of changes in their bodies and emotions so that they discover their strength, and value and are proud of who they are as individuals and as valued members of their community.
As a houseparent, I provide emotional support, guidance, and supervision, and keep order in our prepared environment. I am also responsible for overseeing and working with our residents on daily routines, preparing meals, community work, and recreational activities to create a sense of community, security, and stability within our MFS community. I collaborate with other adults to ensure the well-being and growth of our adolescents, as MFS strives to create a nurturing and safe environment that promotes the physical, emotional, and psychological growth of each and every adolescent in our care.
12-18 Montessori Guide/Teacher
Rathin Gotlur Manjunath
My in-house Montessori training was conducted in a Casa (3-6) environment, and I have also received AMI diplomas in Erdkinder(12-18), and Elementary (6-12) education. Alongside this, I am also a Certified Yoga Instructor from the SVYASA Institute. Montessori’s ideas for adolescents are based on the development of an outdoor environment, with work on the land serving as a starting point for studies on culture, science, and human interaction. Here is where I will begin my work; alongside the adolescents, on the farm, with the animals in the barn, and doing woodwork in the woodshed. We will also enjoy yoga together.
Sport creates a powerful synergy that nurtures the overall development of adolescents. Along with soccer, baseball, and students’ favorite ‘capture the flag’ I will introduce the Indian game of KABADDI, a sport, in which the Polish Kabbadi team holds the European Champion title.
During the rapid physical change happening at this age, there is a need for physical work and expression that is balanced through intellectual challenges. The third plane of development is characterized by a state of expectation and a tendency towards creative work.
As a part of self-expression, Montessori turns to some of the “artistic forms of occupation” that have flowered in human society. I will be helping the adolescents with live sketching, perspective drawing, and different mediums including oil pastel and photography – In Dr.Maria Montessori’s words, it is the individual expression of aesthetic feeling which can come through the handwork and technique in the physical and graphic arts.
Here at WMF, I believe in building confidence in our adolescents and instilling a love of learning in them as a priority.
I hope to take many other people together with me on this beautiful journey of Montessori!
12-18 Montessori Guide/Teacher
Madhura.A.Minna,
I am a Montessori-trained directress with around 9 years of experience. I am trained in Casa (3-6), Elementary (6-12), and ErdKinder (12-18) Montessori.
After working in India, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Azerbaijan, it’s POLAND now! 🙂
It’s my pleasure to be here, my dream to be part of a farm school project – WMF and MFS!
As Dr.Maria Montessori mentions, education in relation to psychic development which is language, mathematics, and moral development, these are more to do with the development of the brain. Mathematics of the language, the semantics of the language etc. These help them develop the key skills required to function and communicate.
This year, I will be working with our adolescents to help them connect the interdisciplinary approach to learning. I will also would be leading the English Language and Literature program alongside Mathematics for our adolescents in our beautiful study room, our lovely kitchen and ever welcoming farm!
Here, in our Montessori Farm School, every day is a.. New Experience! New Beginning! And a New adventure! For us!
FOLLOW THE CHILD BUT FOLLOW THE CHILD AS HIS LEADER. -Maria Montessori.
I feel at WMF, my purpose is to give the learners (adolescents) the freedom to express themself in their choice of work and foster their inner drive to learn.
I am here to give my best and share all of my knowledge with the adolescents and be alongside them at all times (ensuring that they feel heard and loved) and I believe you all are with me.
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Spanish Teacher
Gustavo Gabriel Ferrari Ortiz
I am 34 years old and from Argentina. I will be the Spanish teacher for the up-coming school year. I studied philosophy in Argentina and completed the AMI Montessori Orientation Course 12-18, as well as the course “Profesor de español como lengua extranjera para niños y adolescentes” at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Adolescence is a crucial stage on the path to adulthood. That’s why, during this year, we aim to not only learn a language but also cultivate respect and curiosity for the diversity that accompanies it. We will employ dynamic, interesting, and engaging activities by using communicative and natural methods, enabling us to start speaking from day one. By the end of the school year, students will:
– Grasp sentences and frequently-used expressions related to their immediate areas of experience (e.g. basic personal and family information, shopping, places of interest, employment, etc.)
– Communicate effectively in simple, everyday tasks that involve uncomplicated and direct exchanges of information on familiar and routine subjects.
– Describe aspects of their past, environment, and immediate needs using simple terms.
I am eagerly looking forward to embarking on this journey together.
Leszek Jesionek
I am a mathematician with almost thirty years of school experience. My passion for this subject was instilled in me by my primary school teacher, who not only taught me mathematics, but also chess.
I come from Białka, I am a husband and father of two children. My passion is chess, I also appreciate good cinema and I enjoy Jo Nesbo’s Norwegian detective stories.
Magdalena Kulas
I am a musician, educator and occupational therapist by education. I also studied solo singing and acting at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, and honed my vocal skills at courses in France, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland and the USA. My greatest achievement in the vocal field is participating in the opera La Traviata during the Opera Festival in Aix-en-Provence in 2005 and the role of Larina in the opera Eugene Onegin at the Icelandic Opera in Reykjavik. I have several opera performances and concerts behind me. Occasionally I participate in charity concerts. I mainly listen to early music and jazz. I am proud of my diploma thesis “Music in Auschwitz”, which has been awarded and is waiting for publication on the global music therapy forum voices.no.
Privately, I am a happy mother of two exceptional teenagers.
Edyta Zawisza
I am a geography teacher, a habilitated doctor in the field of Earth Sciences. Geography, as part of the Earth Sciences gives us the opportunity to understand the wide web of interactions between people and the environment. In my work, I specialize in the field of climate change and low-emission economy. In addition to scientific activity, I promote social awareness in the field of climate change. I am also involved in the activities of the European Climate-KIC platform.
My greatest passion is traveling to places both near and far. I believe that traveling gives me a unique opportunity to learn from others, tolerance, love and acceptance.
Jacek Woźniak
I am a graduate of history and social studies at UMCS in Lublin. For many years I have been working as a history and social studies teacher at the 1st Secondary School in Radzyń Podlaski. I have brought up many generations of graduates of I LO. I am passionate about history and local politics in particular, as well as a social activist – a councilor of the City Council of Radzyń Podlaski and its Chairman in the past terms of office. I am passionate about sport, in particular bicycle rallies and patriotic runs combining the promotion of sport with important historical events.
Adam Pękała
Chess is my passion. I play chess and have been teaching this royal game for many years, being successful in many regional and national tournaments (including the victory in the Polish Teachers’ Championship in Rybnik in 2002). I am an instructor of the Polish Chess Association, I run courses and lectures for teachers on the methodology of teaching chess. I am a physical education teacher by education, but I have many interests, such as tourism, history and music. I am glad that at theMontessori Farm School, Folwark Białka chess is included in the weekly schedule of compulsory classes for young people studying there, because the benefits, such as a logical and strategic way of thinking, will stay with them throughout their lives.
Zdzisława Bogucka
I am a teacher and pedagogue with over forty years of experience.
My passion is art, painting and handicrafts. I am interested in ecology and combine my hobby with the concept of upcycling. For my works, I mainly use natural materials and objects that can be given a new life. I try to instill the idea of working with my own hands among young people, and my desire is that these activities on the borderline of ecology and art become a great adventure to unleash creativity, develop skills and enjoy creative work. Combining my passions with activities at the Montessori Farm School makes working with young people a new passion for me.
Łukasz Bogucki
I am a man of many passions. The largest of them are beekeeping, gardening, orcharding, swimming and scuba diving, and water rescue.
I graduated from my bachelor’s studies in the field of Medical Rescue, as well as post-graduate studies “Dietetics and nutrition planning in Lublin”. I am also a graduate of postgraduate training studies: swimming at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, a professional WOPR lifeguard, ITDA technical diver, PADI AOWD 2nd degree recreational diver, canoeing instructor and a certified 2nd class PZP swimming judge. I am currently completing postgraduate studies in beekeeping at the University of Agriculture in Krakow.