Our Staff

Diamante Montessori’s Mission is to attract and retain the area’s best Montessori instructors thus providing our students with the best possible education using the Montessori method. Our staff is a group of highly dedicated and extremely experienced instructors. All of our directresses are certified in the Montessori method of education and have at least several years experience teaching Montessori.

Our directresses’ skill set is ideal for progressing in your child’s preschool education. They strive to create an environment for preschool children that enhances the development of the person that they become. They recognize each child’s uniqueness and interests as well as their own pattern of development and provide a rich stimulating environment that enhances every step of the child’s development.

Zille Huma

Mrs. Zille Huma is the Head of School as well as the Lead Teacher for our Kindergarten Enrichment Class here at Diamante Montessori. Mrs. Huma has 21 years of educational experience to her credit and holds a Master’s degree in
Educational Leadership from NIU and another Masters in Computer Information Security from Elmhurst College.

Mrs Zille made the transition from traditional education to Montessori 17 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She has successfully obtained three Montessori certifications in 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 from the American Montessori Society. She is currently completing her Elementary II (9-12) certification. Mrs. Huma is most excited about getting to know our families and students and bringing new ideas and programs to our school. She is very enthusiastic about becoming a vital part of our Glen Ellyn and school community.

Heather Hannibal

Heather Hannibal, a longtime resident of Lombard, is Diamante’s Lead Teacher for the Pre-primary classroom. She has over 30 years experience in a field of Early childhood education, including pursuing an Associates in Early Childhood from the College of DuPage and graduating from Seton Montessori Institute in 2016 with an Associate Early Childhood Credential.

Heather has lots of personal experience as well with guiding and educating children, with having two of her own. In her downtime, Heather enjoys being with her family, playing games, snuggling her cat, and listening to music. She feels honored to be joining our community and is looking forward to being an asset for years to come.

Keyla Arriaga

Keyla Arriaga is our lead directress for our toddler classroom. She recently finished her Montessori training for toddlers from the ages of 18 months to 3 years and is excited to start a new chapter in her life at Diamante.

Keyla was born and raised in Chicago, and has a cat, and many years of experience working with children. During my free time she likes to play Wordle, do word searches, and draw.

Giovanna Haro

Giovanna Haro is our Teacher’s Assistant with our Preprimary students as well as our Spanish teacher.

After earning her Accounting degree, she had her first blessing of becoming a mother. While trying to finish school and work, Giovanna decided to become a stay at home mom. She now has children and she has happily dedicated her time and life to her children. Her youngest child just entered all day kindergarten and now Giovanna feels she has been left with extra love and care to share.

Giovanna lives close by in Glendale Heights. Our fortune is that she has joined our team to provide that to our children. She is so excited to have a great and amazing year and give our Montessori students the best of her.

Seohee Cho

Seonhee is the Toddler teacher in the morning and works in Enrichment doing lunch and recess. She is originally from Korea and has spent more than half of her life in the U.S. On her first day of preschool, Seonhee thought she was going to school not to learn but to teach, so the love of education is genetic. After the birth of her three children, she discovered the Montessori method of education and pursued a new career pathway which has become a way of life.

Seonhee majored in Chinese at Holiness Christian University in Korea. She also has a B.S. in Kinesiology and Nutrition from University of Illinois at Chicago and her Montessori Credentials for 3-6. She loves working with children and being present with them as they discover the joy and freedom that learning brings. She takes delight when children accomplish their work and then feel good about themselves.

Outside of Diamante, she enjoys outdoor adventures with her family, cooking elaborate meals as a family, working with different arts and crafts, serving in various ways with her church community, doing origami, sewing, and reading. She continues to share her love of nutrition in the classroom; care of self with a healthy diet is one of her favorite aspects of Montessori education. She feels she learns even more than the children every day as she witnesses their social interaction and connects with them in the classroom.

Alice Lewaniak

Alice Lewaniak is a Board Member and founding member of Diamante Montessori School. Alice grew the preschool into one of the best Montessori educational preschools in the area through hard work, honesty, and most of all her deep passion for Montessori and love of every child that came through our door.