Cabrillo

Cabrillo Montessori

Founded in 2016 Cabrillo Montessori is nestled in the heart of Santa Clara, with easy access to all major expressways and freeways.

Cabrillo Montessori offers a fully implemented Montessori Program for children ages 2 through Kindergarten.

What is most unique about Cabrillo Montessori besides spacious classrooms and wonderful staff, is the expansive playground areas, garden, grass and outdoor classroom environments.  Children wait patiently to pick the fresh peaches from the tree and have fun carrying the fully grown pumpkins through the yard.

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CABRILLO

2495 Cabrillo Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95051
Phone: (408) 418-3568

Meet Our Teachers!

Programs Offered At This Location

Pre-Primary

Ages 2-3

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Primary

Ages 3-5

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Kindergarten

Ages 5-6

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What Our Families Are Saying…

  • Parents of Addie, Class of 2019

    I whole heartedly recommend the Kindergarten program at Cabrillo Montessori. The close knit community has been great for my daughter and her love for learning has only increased since joining. She can now read short books on her own, and I have been impressed with her progress on arithmetic as well. My daughter is kind and respectful, values that are emphasized daily at Cabrillo. The field trips are always exciting, and they have a lot of fun!

  • AJ & Danielle

    Cabrillo Montessori strikes the perfect balance between promoting independence and fostering a fun and caring community for our little one. Here, we are confident she is learning useful life skills every day. As difficult as it is to part with our 2 year old in any circumstance, it feels great to send her into a clean, warm classroom with lots of loving smiles around. It sure is a testament to how the right amount of structure serves the children well whenever we walk in and they are each peacefully working on their own tasks, but also just as awesome to see them in circle time or at the playground having a great time together.

  • Tomoyo

    My child loves it here. She always talks about something new and I learn something new too! The teachers are so nice, I don’t know anything about Montessori when I started a year ago and now my child I can see it working. I love Montessori. Thank you Ms. Milinh.

  • Andrew & June - Parents of Ann, Class of 2019

    I remember my own kindergarten year well. We learned to tie our shoes (-this was before velcro :), made applesauce and paper mache Easter baskets and took naps each day on blankets on the floor. I am sure I probably learned the letters of the alphabet and some counting of numbers. Ann may not remember all the details of her kindergarten year when she is older, but she will have reaped the benefits of her time in this Montessori oriented curriculum many times over. During the past year I see her developing a deeper enthusiasm for learning new things and being excited about "what's next" in her kindergarten class. She is already able to read books at the pre-K and Step 1 books and counts to 120 (-frequently). More importantly, she understands the concepts behind the words she knows and the numbers she can articulate. Ann will invariably ask me "what does ________ mean?" when she hears a new word or phrase in a book, movie or song and she will remember most or all of my explanations. We have many conversations about the library books we read to her, the characters' motivations in stories and her own thoughts about the world and the things she encounters from day to day. All this is to say that I think Ann's time in Cabrillo Kindergarten is helping her to grow in her love of learning and provides her with the tools to succeed admirably in first grade and beyond. So if you happen to be listening to Paul Simon's song, You Can Call Me Al, and your child asks you the meaning of "incidents and allegations," you can thank her/his Montessori education. Thank You all!

  • Divya

    Our son started at Cabrillo Montessori when he turned two. It is amazing to see how he has blossomed from being a shy, anxious child to a confident little toddler in a matter of few months. We had researched long and hard before deciding on Cabrillo Montessori and we are extremely glad we chose this school. Its really nice to see teachers being so passionate and professional in what they do. They are montessori certified as well! Their understanding of children and their respect for individuality and uniqueness of each child is evident in the way my son is thriving! We trust them completely and feel like we are working with them closely as a team for the progress of our son. We like how the curriculum is centered towards emotional and social well being of the child as well as academic. My son's vocabulary and emotional awareness has increased leaps and bounds. At an age where children often have big feelings, my son is better able to articulate them and manage them all by himself and this sometimes amazes me! We liked how the atmosphere in the classroom is bright, airy, clean and spacious. How activities like age appropriate gardening and cooking are utilized to teach skills and qualities like independence, empathy, respect for the environment and community. We are grateful to the director, the teachers and the support staff for being warm, compassionate and so so driven in what they do and we highly recommend Cabrillo Montessori!

  • Pryush and Aparna Sharma

    This was our first and only pre-school experience. Ever since we enrolled him, we saw great improvements in his independence and confidence. The combination of the Montessori teaching methods and philosophy has allowed my child to excel both academically and personally. We can be at ease when he is at school knowing he is cared for, and safe. We feel extremely blessed to have found such a wonderful group of teachers and staff. And here is the litmus test: after observing my child, if people often ask about the name of the school he goes to, it could only mean that Cabrillo MSOSV is amazing, period!

  • Parents of Madden

    Cabrillo’s Kindergarten program is amazing! Cabrillo Kindergarten program gave Madden the flexibility to learn and challenge herself daily at her own pace. She had a nurturing learning environment with teaching professionals who truly cared about her. Cabrillo’s program has given her the tools to be a compassionate and intelligent young girl! Unfortunately, our family relocated out of state and Madden transitioned to another school. We would have loved for her to complete her school year if the circumstances were different.

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Staff Photos and Bios

Milinh Villanueva

Head of School

Ms. Milinh joined Montessori School of Silicon Valley as Head of School  at our Calaveras location. After spending four years there, she transitioned into the role of Head of School at our Cabrillo location in 2016.

Her passion for working with children started from a very early age, propelling her into a career and lifestyle dedicated to putting children first.

In 2003, Ms. Milinh began working with children. Her career began with ages ranging from infancy through Kindergarten and with developmental abilities ranging from typically developing to special needs.

Her credentials include a Master’s degree in Montessori Education, a Bachelor’s degree reflecting special and early childhood education and a American Montessori Society (AMS) credential in Primary Education.

As both a Head of School and a mother of a child who attended Montessori school, she believes in the Montessori philosophy wholeheartedly. She believes the Montessori Method is more than just an approach to learning academics; it is the way of developing the child as a whole, building their independence and confidence to thrive in society.

Ms. Milinh’s passion for teaching Montessori stemmed from the philosophy, but it is the love as a mother that affirms it is truly an education for life.

Rosie Salas

Assistant Head of School

From a very young age Ms. Rosie knew she wanted to work with the children and families in her community after having a great experience with her kindergarten teacher as a child.

In 2005 Ms. Rosie began teaching and in 2013 she completed her Montessori degree in Early Childhood Primary and earned her Montessori Credential from the American Montessori Society.

In 2013 she began working for Montessori School of Silicon Valley as Lead Guide in the Sequoia community at Cabrillo Montessori . In 2019, she became the Assistant Head of School for Cabrillo Montessori and in 2020 she took on Main Street Montessori too.

Montessori is a big part of her life not only at MSOSV, but also at home with her own children. Her favorite part about working in our schools is being able to share the Montessori philosophy with every family she encounters. She also loves to see the smiles of the children and see how happy families are to see their little ones learn and grow in our Montessori environments.

Ms. Rosie’s inspiration stems from wanting to support children to achieve their highest potential as well as helping families as best she can. Rosie finds it rewarding to be able to see the children work, watch them grow and achieve various milestones. Not only does she enjoy guiding the children in her community, but she enjoys learning from them as well.

During her free time she appreciates crafting, spending time with her family and baseball. She is bubbly, easy going and loves succulents and Frida Kahlo.

Alyssa Carnero

Lead Primary Guide
Yellowstone Community

Ms. Alyssa was born and raised in Milpitas, California and is a mother of two children. She has a son who is currently 11 and a daughter who is 4.

She first joined the Montessori School of Silicon Valley team in 2009 at our Calaveras location and led the Nido (infant) community for the first few years. As her love for the Montessori philosophy grew she became curious in exploring working with other age groups and shortly after, got the opportunity to lead the Pre Primary community.

After about 3 years working with Pre Primary, Ms. Alyssa decided to take her Montessori training for early childhood at the Montessori Teacher Education Center (MTEC) where she graduated in 2015.

After receiving her diploma, she spent the next few years leading the Primary community at Calaveras. In February 2020 she moved locations and joined the team at our Cabrillo location, taking over the Yellowstone community.

Working with children has been such  a wonderful experience over the years and Ms. Alyssa is so glad that she has the chance to work with such a hardworking, dedicated team of people who believe in creating a beautiful, safe and authentic Montessori environment for every child that truly stands by their motto “Children First, Always”.

Arlin Chavez

Lead Primary Guide
Sequoia Community

Ms. Arlin joined Montessori School of Silicon Valley in August 2017. She has been teaching for 4 years. She started her career as a teacher assistant in 2016 and attended school while gaining experience as a lead.

Ms. Arlin completed her AMS training in August 2020. What inspires her to be a Montessori teacher is the impact that the materials in the classroom have on the children. Children have a great capacity to retain so much information and it is a great feeling to see children comprehend what is taught to them all while having fun.

Her favorite thing about being a teacher is being able to help children and seeing them accomplish so many things.

In her spare time Ms. Arlin loves to hike, cook, and complete various DIY projects.

Nora Ortega

Lead Pre Primary Guide
Pinnacles Community

Ms. Nora joined Montessori School of Silicon Valley in 2002, where she started as Lead Pre Primary Guide of our Cassatt community at Crescent Montessori. In May 2020 she moved to our Cabrillo location and is now Lead Pre Primary Guide of our Pinnacles community.

After teaching for many years and gaining a lot of experience, she completed her Montessori Credential in 2012.

Ms. Nora is drawn to Montessori because of the ability to observe and follow every child. She finds her passion in observing her classroom and setting up an environment in which the children are engaged and successful.

What inspires her the most is how Montessori philosophy really focuses on each individual child and learning at the foundational level. She draws on her own experience growing up and learning in a traditional environment and how upon coming into a Montessori environment, she was able to learn so much more and at such a foundational level right alongside the children. It was seeing how the children fully understand what they are learning because they are learning and creating in their own way, that inspires her the most.

In her spare time, Ms. Nora likes to go on walks and dance. She loves to listen to music throughout her day. By far her favorite job is being a mom. She spends her free time with her son, Jacob, sharing all aspects of their day.

Location Photos

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