Our Team

Meet our Team

Julia Hittinger

Vice Principal, Office Administrator, Lead Elementary Teacher

Julia Hittinger received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education and has been certified through the Indiana Dept. of Education in Special Education grades K-12 and General Elementary Education grades 1-6.  Her experience with Montessori education began when she, her husband, Tim, and Anita Hittinger founded a Montessori day camp in 2005.  She spent the first 6 years of her professional teaching career in Perry Township and Center Grove where she worked in many capacities.  She worked with students diagnosed with various Mild Cognitive disabilities and led small group reading instruction using a researched-based intervention. She fully embraced the Montessori philosophy and helped to found the Elementary program at another local Montessori school in 2012.  She has a passion for reading and writing, visual arts, music, and nature.  She is a strong believer in students working to their potential and differentiating instruction based on student interests and skill levels.  She would like to see more schools founded on its fundamentals and practices.  Outside of teaching, Julia enjoys spending time with family, reading, watching movies, and vacationing in Michigan.  She received her Elementary Montessori training from Seton Montessori Institute in Chicago in 2012.

Tim Hittinger

Principal, School Board Vice President,Lead Early Childhood Teacher

Tim received his bachelor’s degree with a social science emphasis and has a special interest in cultural anthropology. His experience with Montessori education began as a preschooler at the Children’s House in Beech Grove. He received training in the nationally recognized Music Together program and received both paraprofessional training and Early Childhood training from Seton Montessori Institute, formerly MECA. Montessori education is his passion because it helps people learn how to be their best. He has been teaching since 2004. He lives with his family on the south side of Indianapolis. He has shared his special areas of interests and passions by enriching classes with Spanish, music, storytelling, and physical activity. Tim enjoys sports, music, martial- arts, sailing, reading, and writing.

Kurt Tintle

Lead Toddler Teacher

Kurt is Lead Teacher for the Toddler Program. His son began his journey at Green Leaf Montessori in 2022. He became interested in Montessori philosophy after watching that process, and joined the following semester, as a Teacher’s Aide. He attended HSI/CPR/AED Certification class in May 2023, and Montessori Fundamentals Training through the United Montessori Schools of Indiana in Summer 2023. In his free time, he enjoys drawing pictures, outings with his family, his 2 dogs, and pursuing his family genealogy.

Sharon Holck

Teaching Assistant

Sharon received her Bachelors in Fine Arts and Photography from Pratt Institute in NYC in 2015. She was raised in Hawaii and moved to Indiana in 2020. She has been balancing working as a family photographer and being a stay at home mom with her two girls for the last 7 years where she practiced some Montessori concepts in her home. Over the summer of 2023, she completed a Montessori training session with United Montessori Schools of Indiana in preparation for Green Leaf and is so excited to be able to work and play with all the kids. Sharon loves being creative whether it’s through photography, painting, drawing, and whatever else she can get her hands on. She also spends her time watching all kinds of tv shows and movies from comic book-related to romance and comedies. You will likely find her family at almost every movie premiere. 

Lisa Waterman

Teaching Assistant

Lisa Waterman’s experience with Montessori began in preschool at the Children’s House in Beech Grove. In 2003 Lisa received her Bachelors in Art Therapy from the University of Indianapolis. Lisa has homeschooled 2 children for a total of 11 years. Lisa has done a lot of DIY Montessori materials she even had a club for it. She has a farm with a lot of animals. She and her son are starting an upcycling business with second hand clothes sewing and dyeing to make new creations. Lisa loves the outdoors: caving, camping, hiking, and nature study. She also likes Spanish, art, and yoga.

Tony Lono

Teaching Assistant

Tony was also born and raised in Hawaii, he was introduced into our Montessori program by his wife Sharon in the Spring of 2024 and has since been an assistant in our Toddler program with Kurt. He has received his CPR training near the beginning of the Summer of 2024 and was UMSI Fundamentals certified in July of 2024. Besides the professional certifications, Tony has grown up close with his family of over 2 dozen cousins and has thus grown as an Uncle to all of their children since his teenage years. Besides raising his two daughters with Sharon, Tony enjoys the geekier things in life such as reading and collecting comics, playing trading card games, and watching the newest superhero movies in theaters. You’d probably see him and his family out in theaters watching movies during the opening weekends if not attending a comic book convention, sometimes even in full family cosplay!
 
 

Anita Hittinger

School Consultant

Anita received her BA degree from Purdue University and her American Montessori Society credential in Early Childhood Education after receiving training through Seton Montessori Institute.  She has been teaching in a variety of capacities since 1987, mostly in early childhood.  Her introduction to Montessori education began at the Montessori Children’s House in Beech Grove where both of her sons attended preschool.  After seeing the love of learning instilled within her own children, she was very excited for the opportunity to serve there as a Montessori assistant for three years.  She served as director of 2 other preschools for nine years and 11 years respectively.  She has a passion for helping children reach their full potential.  Anita lives in Indianapolis with her husband and enjoys spending time with her family, reading music, gardening, camping, hiking, cycling, boating and water-skiing.