Meet your Instructors and Tutors

Instructors

Dana Hernandez

Dana Hernandez serves as an Education Specialist at Montessori Kids Universe. She holds two undergraduate degrees from Ball State University; Human Psychology and Child Development. She has been a Montessorian since 2009, having taught in Indianapolis, Virginia Beach, and Atlanta. In 2015, Dana decided to leave the classroom and take her advocacy for Montessori education to a different platform. She has served as a Head of School and as a Montessori Consultant since. She currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

Emily Bloyd

Emily Bloyd serves as an Education Specialist for Montessori Kids Universe Teacher Institute (MKUTI). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, an AMS Early Childhood (3–6) credential, and a NAMC International Montessori Teaching Diploma (3–6). She also holds a National Director’s Credential from Aim4Excellence and is certified as a CLASS Observer.

With two decades of experience across nearly every role in early childhood education, Emily began her Montessori journey at MKU Homewood in 2017, serving as assistant teacher, lead teacher, and curriculum coordinator. It was through these experiences that she discovered her passion for Montessori education and the impact it can have on every child. She later became head of school at a Montessori preschool serving children experiencing homelessness, where she specialized in trauma-informed care and led the program to become the first five-star rated preschool in her city through Alabama’s QRIS system. Because of this work, she now specializes in helping schools navigate QRIS programs while championing Montessori accessibility. Returning to MKU at the corporate level marks a natural progression—bringing her back home to the company that first nurtured her passion for Montessori.

Tutors

Jenna Schoeck

Jenna Schoeck serves as a Franchise Support Specialist for Montessori Kids Universe. She has been in the early childhood education field for 23 years and received her degree in Early Childhood Development in 2008. Jenna has taught in Australia, New York, California, and Ohio. She was the Reggio Emilia specialist at a Montessori school and began their Art Auction program there. She received her Montessori Early Childhood (3-6) NAMC accreditation in 2020 and has held trainings on both Montessori and Reggio for teachers and families.
Jenna also has experience in the field of social work, and is passionate about giving back to the community and continuing gaining knowledge in the Montessori field by attending AMS conferences and symposiums. She resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, 2 children, and 4 pets.

Tillery Thomann

Tillery Thomann serves as Francise Support Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Family Development from Georgia Southern University. Tillery was previously a teacher in Infant/Toddler classrooms at a NAEYC Child Development Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Tillery has a passion for children and families and is excited to utilize her knowledge and experiences as a support specialist. She enjoys tropical vacations, spending time with her husband, golden retriever Ace, and playing tennis. She was born and raised in Savannah, GA and currently resides in Augusta, GA.

What To Expect From Your Instructors & Tutors

Always available

Use the Canvas messaging service to contact your MKUTI tutor. You can reach out about the materials, content, and assignments. Additionally, you can reach out with questions regarding classroom management and implementing the Montesori method. We do our best to respond as soon as possible, but please allow 2-3 business days for a response in some cases.

Always understanding

We do not have “due dates” but we want to assist you in staying on track. We provide a Self-Pacing tool for each course that can be used to plan out your 6 months of training. If you need assistance, get stuck on an assignment, or need to re-submit there is no penalty! We want you to be successful. If an adult-learner is abusing the Policies & Procedures in any way, they will be notified by their tutor to work out a solution.

Always educating

Upon submitting your assignments (which are all reflective, not research-based), you will receive full feedback and response from your tutor. These comments are important to read as this facilitates a deeper conversation or meaning to some of the assignments. We take time to get to know you and you deserve to be treated as an individual student, even as an adult. Our feedback is purposefully constructive and positive.

What Our Instructors & Tutors Expect From You

Always present

During MKUTI live sessions, that are required once-a-month during your enrollment period, you should participate! This means, your camera is on, you are in a quiet room with no distractions, and you are ready to deepen your learning for 60 minutes. These meetings are for YOU, so we tailor them to focus on current topics and challenges that we know you’re facing in the modern classroom. This is a great hour to ask questions to other teachers as well!

Always communicating

If you’re missing a material, unable to locate a manual, or need assistance with submitting an assignment, you can let your tutor know via the Canvas messaging portal. If we do not know you are having an issue, we are unable to assist you! Communicating within a training program is vital and there must be significant honesty. AI generated or plagiarised assignments are prohibited.

Always learning

Completing a self-paced, online-only course requires a bit of self-discipline and self control. We provide a road map that assists in planning your training days out and finishing your course on time. We expect that you provide ~4 hours a week, for 6 months, in order to complete this training on time.