Meet The Director

Gabriella Adiwinata is the director of Shining Light Montessori School. Gabriella has been teaching since 2000, when she left IBM to pursue her lifelong dream. Her passion for giving young children the absolute best foundation has positively affected a great number of children over the years.

Gabriella received her Montessori Early Childhood Diploma from the Canadian Montessori Teacher Education Institute, where she was taught directly by Dr. Daniel Jutras. Dr. Daniel Jutras is the Institute's Director who has prepared Montessori teachers & tutored Montessori courses & workshops across four continents for the past 20 years. Daniel holds an AMI diploma (3-6+) from Perugia, Italy. Interestingly, his instructor and mentor in Italy was the late Antonietta Paolini who worked directly with Dr. Maria Montessori for 22 years. He also holds a St. Nicholas Montessori Advanced diploma (6-12) from England and a Ph.D. in Education from Ottawa University. From Daniel, Gabriella received not only the knowledge of how to use Montessori materials to be a Montessori teacher, but the “spirit”.

In 2011, Gabriella was able to realize another dream, when she took over a small daycare centre. She then upgraded the centre to Shining Light Montessori School. She strongly believes that in the right environment, with the right teachers who care about each child’s development, that all children can reach their potential and “let their lights shine”.