Biography
Ms. Pegah Firoozi - Director

I am a dreamer. I realized many years ago that the best and most effective way to make
a difference in the world is through children. I am a mother of two whom have inspired
me to finally get in the field that I have always had passion for since I were very young. I
have a bachelor of science in Business Administration/ Business Information Systems,
seven years of experience in childcare, 6 years in management and 2 year as a school
director. My mission is to create a very loving, peaceful, healthy and educationally fun
environment for children of all different backgrounds. I would like to help parents, grow
as well as the children. The first few years of a child's life are the most important years,
developmentally. I believe that all the rights and wrongs we experience throughout our
adulthood are somehow linked to our experiences during the first few years of our lives.
I believe that we dance to the tune that the environment we live in or the circumstances
around us, play. What is special about IQ Academy is that all of us, teachers and staff,
share the same mission. I look forward to the relationship with every single parent and
child that walks through IQ Academy.
MS. Maryam Akbarshahi - Curriculum/Program  coordinator

Ms. Maryam is a dedicated wife and mother, a passionate teacher, and an educator at
heart whom has dedicated her whole life to education. She has a bachelor degree in
philosophy, teaching at high schools for 14 years before she moved to Sweden and
received Montessori certification for early childhood education. She worked as a
teacher in Sweden public school system for eight years. She moved to United States
and continued educating children of  2 through 6 years of age for the last 10 years.
Her special training and experience is in after school programs and special education
working with children of different backgrounds. Maryam not only teaches children but
because of her effective ways with small children she finds herself educating their
parents. Her strong background in child psychology and many years of experience
working with small children, not to mention her passion and energy, has been a reason
for her success in her personal and professional life.
Ms. Rehab Rafaei - Lead teacher

I am married with three beautiful children. For as long as I can remember, I have always
had a love for children thus I consider each child here as an extension of my family.

I have a Bachelor of Fine Art, diploma in Interior Decoration, certificate in Auto Cad and
Montessori teacher Diploma for age 3 – 6. I had eight years experience working with
children in elementary schools and daycare centers.

Teachers who get "burned out" are not the ones who are constantly learning, which can
be exhilarating, but they are those who feel they must stay in control and ahead of the
students at all times.  Our task as excellent teachers is to stimulate "apparently
ordinary" little people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners:
it is in making winners out of ordinary people.  A good teacher should be able to keep
students involved and excited for several hours in the classroom.

I always love to see children’s smiling faces and the excitement they feel when they
accomplish a new task. I believe that children are like seeds that need to be nurtured
and cared for very carefully so that they can blossom into wonderful little people.

My goal is to teach, love, and encourage children to try new things and most
importantly to instill self-confidence. We need to have the attitude of a champion to help
your children achieve your goals and mine. We need motivation, confidence and
energy before we get started. Once we implement our plans, we need excellence and
character to assure our complete success.


Please visit us again
for the biographies
on our other  
teachers and staff