President

Mr. Moote is the proud parent of three Bella Mente children. His oldest son graduated our program and is currently a sophomore at San Marcos High School. His other two sons are currently in our Adolescent program. He and his wife, Laurie, are avid supporters of everything we do here at Bella Mente and work to ensure a great future for our school. Mr Moote’s experience ranges from IT consulting for Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and HP, and acting as an IT management consultant for a medical device company, serving on their board of directors.

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Mr. Moote has extensive experience in management and IT operations and is a graduate of our own VUSD Rancho Buena Vista HS. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master's Degree in Information Systems, as well as a PMP certification from PMI.org.

Secretary

Caroline is the parent of a child at Bella Mente and has been a strong member of the parent community since before the opening of the school. During the summer prior to opening, Ms. Veale volunteered in every capacity needed. She spent over a hundred hours staining cabinets for the classrooms, mopping floors and painting.

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Ms. Veale feels she is a good fit for the Board of Directors because she has been with the school since its inception. The school has been a terrific fit and she wholeheartedly believes in its mission and vision. As a past educator who now works in the private sector, she understands the politics of education but the realities of finance, management and human resources. While she does not hold a Montessori credential, she studied the Montessori philosophy while preparing to teach and has a strong understanding of the philosophy.

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Ms. Veale spent two years volunteering her time in the Peace Corp, holds a BA in Creative Writing and a Master’s Degree in Writing.

Treasurer

Tom Reilly is the proud parent of one Bella Mente Adolescent child. Tom has been a supporter of Bella Mente since day one. On some days during the week, you may find him down in the garden or nutrition lab helping Mr. Hank or just hanging out with the chickens. He was born and raised right here in North County, and believes strongly in our community. He wants to see Bella Mente continue to grow and expand.Tom has over thirty years of business experience, including 20 years in real estate sales. He has run companies for others, and currently owns two businesses of his own.

Member

Janet Figueroa is a North County Community Member, who is impassioned about giving to the education community. Serving with the board at Bella Mente Montessori Academy is one way to give back to the future of our community’s success. Janet is a store manager for Starbucks and Starbucks is extremely supportive of volunteering in the communities they serve. Upon meeting Erin Feeley and Jennifer Meeker and learning about the Montessori philosophy and all that Bella Mente offers, as well as seeing their dedication and enthusiastic approach it was a great opportunity to share in the success.

Janet has organized a reading with student’s program in the past at Empressa Elementary while working at a different Starbucks location. Janet believes the African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” and is honored by the opportunity to serve.

Member

Andrea Ruano is president of Direct Professional Cleaning Services. Her business is a local professional cleaning company that provides residential, commercial and institutional janitorial services in North County San Diego. As owner and operator, Andrea's professional goals and growth go beyond networking. She believes in being proactive with other business role models and she continues in management and leadership training. Andrea sits on the Vista Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is an active member of  Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, National Association of Hispanic Realtors North County San Diego and Comerciantes Latinos Asociados.

Andrea is the proud mother of 3 daughters. One of them is attending UCR University, one more is also in college, and the third one in high school. She is looking forward to working with the Board of Directors and the Spanish speaking population of BMMA.