Meet our Teachers and Caregivers

Owner and Director

Cynthia Bennett

A native of Quebec, Canada and fluent in French, Cynthia moved to the U.S. as a teenager and has dedicated over 30 years to the care and education of young children. In 1985, after completing a 2-year intensive training & internship, she received her Montessori Teaching Diploma from the Pan-American Montessori Society.

After working for a decade in various Montessori schools in the U.S. and having fallen in love with the natural beauty of the Northwest, she opened her first school, Giving Tree Montessori for Infants and Toddlers here in Bozeman in 1996.

Later she opened the Montessori Children’s House in 2011, named in honor of Maria Montessori's first school in Rome. She expanded the facility to meet the ever-growing needs of Bozeman’s young families. The new expansion includes three additional classrooms, a larger playground and a full kitchen, all designed and built with the needs of the young child in mind.

Cynthia is dedicated to providing the Montessori way of education for the youngest ages from 6-weeks to 3-years old. She’s experienced first-hand how this approach allows the innate intelligence of young children to expand and develop right along with their joy, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Through the years, Cynthia has learned to cultivate and channel the abundant energy, enormous learning potential, curiosity and wonder that these little ones naturally possess and she passes this knowledge along to her teachers.

She has always had a deep love for children and is a mother of five of her own, four boys and a girl. She loves ice skating and cross-country skiing and also enjoys scrap booking, ballroom dancing and ballet.

Maria Montessori taught that the motto of a young child is, help me to do it myself. Cynthia's goal is to provide the best possible situation for children to fulfill this vital need. She invites you to visit and discover the wonders of early childhood education through the Montessori way.

Our Infant Teachers

Kylee Heintz, Lead Infant Teacher

Kylee started working with children back in 2016. She has worked at Montessori Children's House since the beginning of 2020. Her energy and enthusiasm make her quite popular with the children. She is caring and gentle with our littlest ones and helps them learn and grow so well.

Our Toddler Teachers

Emmy Ozone, Lead Toddler Teacher

Emmy has a degree in History and experience working with schools starting in 2018. She has been working with our other lead teachers to learn all the ins and outs of our school and is taking charge of our toddler program well. She is calm and kind and a welcome peaceful presence in our toddler classroom.

Our Pre-Primary Teachers

Nanette Triplett, Lead Pre-Primary Teacher

Nanette has been working in childcare since 2015 and came to us from a position as a lead teacher in a 2 year old class in Kentucky. She has an associate degree in early childhood education. She has excellent skills with classroom management and comes up with such fun lessons for our students.

Our Office Staff

Bridget Hansard, Administrative Assistant and Substitute

Bridget joined our staff in 2017. Part of her time is devoted to care for our infants. She worked as a caretaker for both children and seniors. Her loving and caring personality make her well suited for working with children. In her spare time, she enjoys her many grandchildren and large extended family. She has a Master’s Degree in Arts.

Orenda Talbott, Bookkeeper and Substitute

Orenda is compassionate and loving with children and she sees working here as the perfect opportunity to spend time with children as well as working in the office. She has a BA in Music and experience working with children of all ages.

All members of our staff are required to have current First Aid, CPR/AED certification and have child care education classes every year.