FACULTY AND STAFF
Nicole Smith Ortiz - Lead Guide, Buttercups Toddler Classroom
Nicole moved to Silver City from Douglas, AZ. She has always loved children and started babysitting at the age of 9. Nicole has two sons and three grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with family and being outdoors. She loves meeting the children of the Buttercups class and watching them grow both physically and mentally. She has been with GMS since 2018.
Joanie Drake - Lead Guide, Agave Primary Classroom
Joanie Drake relocated from the East coast to Silver City in 2017 and began working at GMS shortly after. Joanie loves raising her two children in this beautiful corner of the southwest. Joanie is trained as an AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) primary guide and holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education with Montessori concentration. Joanie brings a passion for education and a love for this community to her work at the school.
Dillon Castillo - Lead Guide, Sunflower Primary Classroom
Dillon Castillo has more than a decade of experience working with young children. He started at the age of 17 with the non-profit organization Tucson Summer Music. Over the course of the summer, Dillon facilitated workshops on a variety of instruments. Dillon then went on to teach at Kids First Preschool (KFP), a nationally accredited school in Tucson, Arizona. He worked at KFP for 6 years, where he was promoted to co-lead of the Pre-K program. In 2021 life brought him to Silver City, where he found Guadalupe Montessori School. Dillon was First Assistant in the Primary Sunflower class for the 2022-2023 school year where he was trained in the Montessori method under Erin Fitzgerald and Joanie Drake. He was the Lead Guide for the 2023 Primary Summer Program, and has since moved on to his current position as Lead Guide of the Sunflower class.
Jocelyn Lyons-Baral - Lead Guide, Ponderosa Elementary Classroom
Jocelyn is an experienced Lower Elementary Montessori guide and has also recently obtained her upper elementary certification. Before moving to Silver City in 2022, Jocelyn was a lower elementary guide in Tucson for seven years and has many other teaching experiences, including teaching ESL both in the US, as well as Russia and China. Jocelyn has four children ranging in age from 10-28. She has worked briefly in Early Intervention social work with 0-3-year-olds, has run a small home preschool and more recently , has studied in a holistic culinary program. Jocelyn loves being in nature with her family, hiking, cooking and being of service to her community.
