Who We Are
We are families and educators working to build a strong Montessori option on the North Side of Columbus, OH. We share a desire to create an accessible and welcoming school environment where all children will be supported in their innate drive to learn, find community, and develop to their fullest potential. Our founding staff built CMC in 2019 and families were welcomed to their children's first day of school on January 6th, 2020. We look forward to welcoming new families and staff to our community for many years to come!
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If you would like to consider adding your biography to those of our committed staff below, please visit our Join the CMC Team page! If you believe you may be able to help our school in any other capacity, please visit our Support CMC page or email Taylor directly.
Founding Director and Children's House East Guide​
Taylor Dautremont is a graduate of Denison University with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Psychology as well as a trained Montessorian at the Children's House (ages 2.5-6) and Elementary (ages 6-12) levels. She completed her Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Children's House training at Navadisha Montessori Institute in Chennai, India in 2011. She completed her AMI Elementary training at Washington Montessori Institute and earned a Master's degree in Elementary Montessori Education from Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore, MD) in 2016. She has over a decade of experience working with young children in private and public Montessori schools, conventional preschools, summer and after-school programs, and individual family homes. Taylor also has significant experience working with English language learners and in fundraising. She lives with her son, Walden, and husband, Julian, in Clintonville where they all enjoy exploring local parks and organic gardening. She also very much enjoys sharing her love of art, vegetables, phonics, bikes, geography, large numbers, and good stories with the children of CMC!
Lauren Diaz is a graduate of Columbia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. Her professional journey commenced with internships at Macmillan and W. W. Norton, paving the way for her role as a digital marketing associate at Simon & Schuster upon graduation. During her time in New York, Lauren cultivated not only her career but also a genuine passion for early childhood education. This passion manifested through her volunteer work with New York Cares. Upon returning to her hometown, Columbus, she pursued this interest further by completing OSU’s Intensive Pedagogical Training Institute, serving as a substitute teacher across all grade levels in her local school district, and working in three different early childhood education settings. Lauren currently resides in Gahanna with her husband, two cats, and one dog. Beyond her professional pursuits, she finds joy in painting, hiking, yoga, and the perpetual journey of home improvement. Lauren is so excited to use her wide range of experience and skills to help strengthen and grow CMC's community.
Director of Operations
Children's House West Guide
Yung Chi is a graduate of Fu Jen University with a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and Early Childhood Education and of Cleveland State University with a Master’s degree in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. She completed her Association Montessori International (AMI) Children’s House (ages 2.5–6) training in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1996, then transferred the credits from the AMI Cleveland Training Center to Cleveland State University, where she completed her master’s degree in 1997. Over her long career, she has been part of the teams at five Montessori schools, the OSU child care center, and two Saturday foreign language schools in Taiwan and Columbus. She also founded and led her own in-home, bilingual Montessori program to support her two sons and a small group of other students in developing academically, socially, and physically. Yung is especially proud of supporting both of her sons in achieving the rank of Eagle Scout in Scouts BSA and has enjoyed seeing them participate in after-school activities such as the YMCA swimming team, chess tournaments, basketball and the cross-country team at Hilliard Davidson.
Her younger son, Jay, is studying engineering at The Ohio State University and will graduate this winter, while her older son, Ray, works as a software engineer in New York City. Yung has lived with her husband, Yi-chang, in Columbus, OH, for almost 25 years. Their two cats, Dash and Daisy, have been part of the family for five years. In her leisure time, she enjoys taking gym classes, practicing yoga, hiking, playing pickleball, and traveling. Yung also enjoys reading educational books and creating systematic lesson plans to teach and share her experiences with the children of CMC.
Children's House
East Assistant
Lio Williams holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics from OSU and a master's in early childhood education from Grand Canyon University. They came to CMC with five years of experience teaching in public and charter pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. Passionate about linguistics, Lio has taught adult ESOL classes with the Columbus Literacy Council since 2017. They live in Westerville with their partner and two cats. In their free time, Lio enjoys playing DnD with their friends and maintaining their 1,400+ day Duolingo streak!
Children's House
West Assistant
Sunny Lemmon holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of South Carolina Honors College. Sunny joined CMC with supervisory experience in legal technical support and legal document production. Sunny’s enthusiasm for Montessori education began with preparing the home environment for her now two-year-old daughter to foster her curiosity and independence. Outside of work, Sunny enjoys reading, sewing, PC gaming, walking through metro parks, and spending time with her family.