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 - Lead Teacher

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 nine years. She moved to United States
and continued educating children of  2 through 6 years of age since 1996. Maryam not
only educates children but because of her effective ways with small children she finds
herself educating their parents as well. Her strong background in child psychology and
many years of experience working with small children, not to mention her passion and
energy, has been the reason for her success in her personal and professional life.
Ms. Usha Ganeshan - Lead Teacher

Ms. Usha is an exceptional and qualified Montessori with 13 years of teaching
experience. She was trained at the German Academy for Developmental
Rehabilitation in Munich as a Montessori therapist for children with special needs
and received her Montessori Diploma from AMI in 1996. She is also
teacher of
German as a Foreign Language. Ms.
Usha attended a program called, “Teaching
children with specific learning difficulties” at Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre
in London , and has participated in numerous seminars and workshops in India ,
Germany , Great Britain , Italy and USA  from 1997-2007. After working in India for
six years, Ms. Usha relocated herself to USA in 2002 where she is well-known in
the community as an outstanding and sought after teacher of the Montessori
Method for young children. Ms Usha says:
As a teacher, I do believe in these words of Forest Witcraft:
“One hundred years from now
It won't matter
What kind of car I drove
What kind of house I lived in
How much money I had in the bank
Nor what my cloths looked like
BUT
The world may be a little better
Because, I was important
In the life of a child.”