Our Director

Meet The director

Debby Selitrennikoff, Head of School

  • Certified Directress AMI and AMS
  • Pre-Primary and ELEMENTARY CLASS Directress
  • Owner/Director/President of Montessori School of Golden, Inc.
  • Head of School for 24 years

I grew up in Southern California and lived in Wisconsin and New Jersey before moving to Colorado. My oldest son lives in Seattle, WA. My second oldest lives in Las Vegas, and my youngest son works for Hertz and is one of our part-time maintenance persons at MSG. He and his wife have three children ages 6, 4, and 2. My daughter lives and works in Santa Barbara, CA.

I received my Montessori training for children (Aged 2 to 7) from the Montessori Institute of Los Angeles in 1971 and have taught children ever since. I started our school in 1980 with 13 children enrolled, by renting a classroom in the St. Joseph’s Parish Center in south Golden. I have a degree from Red Rocks Community College and a psychology degree from CU in Boulder. I have continued my education by taking the lower and upper level elementary Montessori Training through the Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Institute and in addition, I received graduate credit for these classes and others.

I have traveled to several countries where I was able to visit their schools. It was a pleasure to bring the visits back to our children in photos and stories. One of my travels was to Canada to travel out on the tundra by special tundra buggies to view the polar bears in their environment. This was a wonderful experience. Please notice the polar bear photos in our lobby. I met my daughter Heather in Guatemala the summer before last. We spent time in the city of Antigua strolling, eating, and of course, shopping for items for my class. In addition, we traveled to Coban, Honduras to visit the ruins, town, and the people. I believe it is extremely important to bring the children our whole world and to expose them to the idea that cultures have differences and similarities—to expose them to these values and beliefs.

What brings me enjoyment in life are my own children, grandchildren, and being outdoors, especially mountain biking, reading, learning, and any activity on water. At present I am training for a mountain bike relay race in October called the “24 Hours of Moab”. This will be my sixth time in the race. It is a challenge and a lot of fun too.

Yes, my own children were Montessori children.