Patrick has been teaching since 2002. He began his career as a music teacher in inner city public schools. He went to Japan, taught English for a year, then joined the Montessori School of Tokyo. Seeing the happiness and independence of the children within the Montessori environment, he knew he had found his vocation.

He moved to Italy, to study at the original training center for Montessori elementary teachers, Fondazione Centro Internazionale Studi Montessoriani. He took the opportunity to observe various schools throughout Europe, including Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. Afterwards, he returned to the Montessori School of Tokyo. All in all, he spent over a decade there, teaching children at every level.

He met his wife, Pin, in Japan, and they had their first child. They decided to work towards founding their own school. They continued to teach while visiting international and local schools around Asia and the United States. In 2016, they moved their family to the US, and Patrick worked in Delaware public schools.

Patrick & Pin founded Little World IMA in 2017 together, with the idea of incorporating the best educational practices from around the globe.

Pin grew up in China where she studied broadcasting and worked in radio. She moved to Japan shortly after college. There, she worked for a Japanese education company, planning new schools to be opened in China. She traveled back and forth between Japan and China, translating, researching educational styles, and finding what local communities needed.

While in Japan, she also taught Chinese to numerous students, including children, college students, and businessmen. After finding Montessori, she shifted her main focus to teaching all subjects within a classroom setting. She dedicated herself to early education, obtaining her Montessori Diploma, and teaching in Japanese preschools and kindergartens.

After 12 years of living in Japan, she moved to America in 2016, to found Little World IMA with her husband.

Michele worked in retail management before getting into education. She joined Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland, where she worked for two decades. She helped teach various subjects in a Pre-K to 5th grade environment, including Language Arts, Math, and Computers. While still at Frederick County Public Schools, she transitioned into Administration, where she worked for a number of years handling duties including the front desk and registrar.

Michele joined Little World IMA in 2019. She handled many of the day-to-day administrative logistics. She was also wonderful with the children and was often found working in a classroom with them.

Michele now focuses on co-teaching the Toddler classroom with Stacie.

Chengcheng studied journalism in China where she was an editor for a large college newspaper. After briefly working at a publishing house in China, she came to the US to stay with family. Here, she learned English, got married, and taught Chinese and Sunday school, before coming to Little World IMA.

She loves working with children and playing tennis.

Joy was originally on a career path for photography, film production, and theatre. She found her calling to become a Montessori Elementary teacher in 2010, while working at Northwoods Montessori in Doraville, GA. She received her AMI Elementary (6-12 yr old) Montessori training at Montessori Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and her Masters degree in Education from Loyola University Maryland.

Joy was at Aidan Montessori school in Washington D.C for five years, where she worked in Elementary and Primary environments and directed the After School Program. She then taught Elementary at Little World IMA and Peaceful Child School.

She now teaches art to the Primary children. The Montessori classroom environment allows her to blend all of her passions together, and share them with the children.