This is Aruna Aiyar’s first year teaching at Arbor Schools. Aruna has been in the field for more than four years and loves being a teacher. Originally from India, Aruna had her education in psychology and English literature before moving to the United States in 1994. She brings her love for books and reading into the classroom in the form of stories and songs. When she is not working, Aruna spends time reading books, playing word games and enjoys hiking with her husband and two kids.

Teacher – Maple – EILEEN EGGER

This is Eileen’s second year as the Maple lead teacher. She successfully completed her AMS Montessori certification through the Montessori Education Institute of the Pacific Northwest in June 2007. Eileen is a graduate of Miami University with a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education. She enjoys hiking, gardening and bringing her love of the outdoors into the classroom.

Teacher – Magnolia – JULIE BARKER

Julie Barker just started her sixth year at Arbor. She began at Arbor as an assistant teacher and completed her training and practicum while at Arbor. Julie has been the teacher in the Magnolia room for the previous three years. She received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Washington and received her Montessori Certificate from the Spring Valley Montessori Teacher Education program. Julie brings her love of literature into the environment with literature based curriculum. In her spare time Julie loves to go to movies, read books and spend time with her husband, Jake.

Assistant – Banyan – MANISHA MALHOTRA

This is Manisha’s first year at Arbor Schools. Prior to coming here, Manisha spent the last three years with the Issaquah School District at Challenger and Newcastle Elementary Schools. Her education has been in Business Administration and Business Applications. She has always been drawn to working with children and has found it to be a very rewarding experience. She enjoys traveling, hiking, music and dancing. She is originally from India and has lived most of her life on the east coast, in Connecticut, where she worked as an Office Manager. Manisha has lived on the east side for the past six years with her husband and two wonderful children.

Ishrat Mirza has been the assistant teacher in the Magnolia classroom since January 2008. Prior to joining Arbor Schools, she was the lead pre-school teacher at KinderCare Learning Center in Sammamish for two years. Ishrat loves to work with children and prefers the Montessori method of teaching, which is what attracted her to Arbor Schools. She has a bachelor's degree in bio-chemistry from Pakistan, where she is from. Ishrat has been living in Issaquah, Washington since 2001 with her husband and has two adult children, a girl and a boy. In her free time, she likes to travel and explore the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

This is Anita’s first year at Arbor Schools. Prior to joining Arbor, she worked briefly with preschoolers in the Issaquah School district. Anita has a degree in Psychology and Literature and also has a degree in Education. Anita moved from India to the United States in 2004. She has six years of teaching experience in India, having worked with children in the primary and lower elementary levels. Anita loves spending time with her husband and two children and also enjoys reading books, listening to music and gardening.

This is Shylleza Vasisht’s first year with the Arbor community and she is enjoying it. She is a mother of two, one boy and a girl. Shylleza is originally from Delhi, India but left India in 1998 and travelled a lot. She spent time in South Africa and Europe where she learned about different cultures before settling in Seattle in 2001. Before joining Arbor, Shylleza worked as a business development manager in the corporate world. Shylleza is delighted to spend time at Arbor along with such wonderful kids.

Ms Mueller is known by most of our students that stay for After School Program. She shares her love for children, and has been working with us for over 5 years.

Raquel has 24 years experience as a General Medical practitioner and as a Pediatrician in Brazil, where she comes from. She is very excited to join a Montessori school and work among children again, 3 years after moving to the US.