Shining Stars has provided a safe and happy environment for our son’s transition from home life into school. The Montessori approach is ideal for him; he shows it each day by his eagerness to go to school (despite not being a “morning person”) and by his happy chatter about classroom events. We really like the personal touch of this school – the director Ms Vino is so good with the kids, and she and the teachers are all very competent and experienced at calmly handling the emotionality of young children. The staff is also very responsive to direct communications with parents. Text messages and requests for in-person discussion get quick attention, so it really feels like we have an educational and childcare team on our side. We have watched our little boy grow by leaps and bounds both socially and academically, as his natural curiosity is nourished at Shining Stars. If you are looking for a great and happy start to schooling, Shining Stars checks all the boxes! – Gregory Larson
Ms. Vino has been a blessing to our family. Our son (and ALL of his fellow classmates) graduated from Ms. Vino’s preschool well versed in many areas including math, reading, and geography – well beyond his early primary grade school peers. Ms. Vino regularly gave the children amazing leadership and performing opportunities and instilled a fun, loving, and respectful environment. She built a foundation of confidence, perseverance, and respect that our son continues to build upon. Our second child is now reaping the benefits under Ms. Vino’s instruction – and we can’t wait to see her and her younger sister grow. Ms. Vino has balanced the art of running an amazing school with exceptional teachers, building an open door feel for parents, and enabling an exceptional learning environment for her students that they love. We are extremely lucky to have been part of her school! – Adriane Whitchurch
Mrs. Vino Fernando, Mrs. Vino as my two children call her, is an amazingly talented early childhood instructor. Both of my boys went to through her classes at International House of Children Montessori in NW Hills. We were with Mrs. Vino for five years. She has a gift at finding loving and competent faculty to serve as teachers for the classes of different ages. The outside professionals she chooses to enrich the curriculum from Manners class, Computers, French, Spanish, to Yoga and Music are all well-chosen and enhance the daily instruction of young learners. I have witnessed Mrs. Vino completely change unwanted behavior through her loving ways. My younger son had tremendous separation anxiety that Mrs. Vino and her team gently diminished over time. Only an expert could do what she and the others have done on so many occasions. My older son was able to skip private school Kindergarten curriculum when he turned 5 because Mrs. Vino’s instructional content and methods are so rich in learning. I highly recommend any school Mrs. Vino is in charge of. Your children will benefit and grow in a loving and encouraging environment. – Laurie Fass
Mr. Handy and I would like to express to you and to all of the teachers and staff at International Montessori House of Children our sincere appreciation and gratitude for the excellent care and outstanding education that you have provided for our son Cameron over the past four years.
You have given Cameron a tremendous educational experience in addition to introducing him to life lessons and other cultures. He will benefit greatly from everything that he has learned and we are very grateful for the educational foundation that you have given him. We would especially like to thank Mrs. Vino for her kindness, guidance, patience and loving care of Cameron while he has attended her class. Mrs. Vino is an excellent teacher and it has been a pleasure working with her in the class.
Cameron will miss all of you and the school very much, though he is ready to start the next step in his education. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all-that you do and for giving so much to children. Best wishes to all of you. If you should, ever need anything, please do not hesitate to call us anytime. – Craig & Cory Handy
All our three daughters learned under Ms.Vino from around two years old to 5 years old. We are grateful that we met Ms. Vino when raising children in the United States after coming from Japan. She understood the characteristics of each of our children well, pulled out interests of various things, and extended them. Montessori’s education is obviously wonderful, but in addition to that, it is very important to take a class from a teacher with knowledge and experience.
I still remember well when she told me “If you need help and advise on anything about living in the US, feel free to ask me, I will help” and I felt that she helped grow not only our children but also ourselves as a parents. In order for children to grow healthy, it is important to consider school and home relationship and safe environment, we are very satisfied with all of them.
Three girls now have excellent results while enjoying elementary school as bilingual, but this is largely due to Montessori education and the experience of learning with Ms. Vino. She understands well about international students too and I think that it is a wonderful point to educate with an international perspective. I am sincerely thankful that I met a wonderful teacher and I hope that you all enjoy this experience. – Yuki and Tomoko Morishita
I am pleased to write this letter in strong support of Ms. Niranja Vinodani Fernando for her new project of daycare school. I have known Ms. Vino since July, 2013 when my son Grayson started attending in preschool of International Montessori House of Children, where Ms. Vino serves as Director and President of the school.
I am Shengyan Tan at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine. As a key faculty member, senior researcher and research advisor in the attainment of AOMA’s mission, AOMA offers regionally accredited master’s and doctoral degrees in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. My boy Grayson has attended the International Montessori School since he was 2 year old. Ms. Vino is a caring, hardworking, consistent and well educated teacher; my child has truly blossomed there.
Her daycare is full of music, dancing, warmth, joy and happy children, Ms. Vino really cares and really knows what the school is doing. Every year the school puts on a Christmas play where they celebrate ail of the different cultures in the world; the schools also have Spanish and French classes one day a week. I can’t say enough positive things about this school! Ms. Vino is an exceptional person. Her work at the school has been outstanding in every way. She is willing to do whatever is best for the children and the program.
Please contact me directly at AOMA if there are any questions.
Yours very truly,
Shengyan Tan
Vice President of AOMA Faculty Senate
AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine
4701 West Gate Blvd, Austin, TX 78745
PH: 512-454-1188 FX: 512-454-7001
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter on behalf of Ms. Niranja Vinodani Fernando. Ms. Fernando informed me that she is seeking to obtain financing to build a Montessori School in the Avery Ranch area. During the past four years that I have had the honor of observing Ms. Fernando as she directs the International House of Montessori, I have been impressed with her ability to interact with teachers, parents, and
students.
The business that I own, All About Manners, conducts enrichment classes at four different preschools. Her preschool runs flawlessly. She is well aware of the bottom line while insuring that the children are of paramount concern. The parents hold her in high regard and respect her. The school does almost no advertising and yet she has been able to increase enrollment from parent referrals. It is no surprise that she has multiple children from the same family and, as little ones go on to kindergarten, she frequently has their younger siblings at the school. This stems from proven results that the parents are seeing as their children go on to elementary school.
It takes a good deal of talent to operate a successful school with proven results, Ms. Fernando has that talent. I can also speak to Ms. Fernando’s moral character, which is upstanding to say the least. She is honest and possesses a strong sense of integrity. She also knows the importance of being responsible for one’s obligations, which means that if she commits to a loan, she will repay the loan.
Over the course of time, as a former regional manager for a Fortune 500 company, I have worked with many individuals. My responsibilities were in the multi-millions of dollars, I would have been thrilled to have Ms. Fernando as part of the team. I would have been thrilled to work for Ms. Fernando. I highly recommend her and will do all I can to help support her new endeavor.
Sincerely,
Stella Roberts,
Owner, All About Manners
512- 568-0925
To whom it may concern,
I first met Ms. Niranja Fernando in September 2013 when I joined the International Montessori School in Austin, TX. Ms. Fernando hired me in her capacity as Director & Lead Teacher at the school, where she has worked for the past 15 years. As an Assistant Teacher in her classroom from 2013-2015, I worked very closely with her on a daily basis.
As a Lead Teacher, she was responsible for running an Early-Childhood classroom of 28 students. In addition, she doubled as the school’s Director – handling all administrative aspects of a school with 4 classrooms with 100+ students and 10+ teachers. She was responsible for conducting school tours, interviewing parents/students for admissions, managing enrollment and billing, communicating with parents in a variety of circumstances (including sensitive topics), managing inventory, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and Montessori guidelines, tracking teacher hours, and running payroll. Our paychecks were always delivered on-time, the school was always a clean and safe environment, and the inventory was always complete.
Ms. Fernando is extremely professional, responsible, punctual, dedicated, and hardworking. In
addition, I have found her to be warm, caring, trustworthy, genuine, and honest. As a result, she
is universally loved and respected by her students, parents, and her co-teachers.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach me via phone at 832-274-6569.
Regards,
Thrity Engineer
Dear Mrs. Veno,
I have greatly enjoyed the experience of growing and learning with you as a friend and co-worker. You give so much care and attention to the students and they are blessed to have you as a teacher. I especially like how you are able to redirect the students, helping them grow as a person to be respectful and caring of one another.
I will miss working with you and hope that we will continue to stay in touch. I would like to help in whatever way possible to make the transition of finding and training a new assistant. Thank you for all you have done to mentor my learning experience with you and all that you do to make the classroom a constructive and nurturing environment.
Sincerely,
Victoria Laursen
We enrolled our son, Carson, in a Montessori school at the age of three, where he was taught by Ms, Vino. We were very impressed with the quality of the education he received from her and others, as this turned out to be a solid educational foundation for him.
By the age of five, Ms, Vino had taught him fields of study such as, writing, biology, astronomy, social skills, and counting to 1,000. This proved to a great start for his education, as he was well-prepared for kindergarten.
This propelled him to great success in his school career, where he graduated high school with a 3.96 GPA He is now half way through his freshman year at Baylor University, where he is studying business and striving for the Dean’s list. Ms. Vino has seen Carson at church over the years and we often remind her that his successful school career is due to the high quality education he received from her all those years ago.
Jimmy and Christie Aldridge
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