Our Team | Montessori Kids Universe Homewood

Meet Our Homewood Team

Jason and Kimberly McDougall

Owners

Jason and Kimberly McDougall are the owners of Montessori Kids Universe in Homewood, Alabama.

They have three beautiful little girls who are current students at MKU Homewood. Kimberly McDougall graduated from the University of Alabama in 2004 with a degree in Telecommunication and Film. She started her professional career as a news reporter and anchor before finding her way to Sacramento, CA, where she met her husband. Jason McDougall earned a degree in Business from Washington State University in 2002. Kim and Jason are so happy to have discovered the Montessori Kids Universe Franchise and to have opened the first MKU in the State of Alabama.

Jan Hayes

Head of School

Jan is the Head of School at MKU Homewood.

She is from a small town in West Virginia and comes from a family of seven children. Jan moved to Alabama to work as a Space Camp Counselor at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in 2001. After falling in love with teaching children, she changed her college studies to Elementary Education and earned her degree from Athens State University in 2008. Ms. Jan has earned an International Montessori Teaching Diploma from the North American Montessori Center and a Montessori Teaching Certificate from the MKU Training Institute. Ms. Jan has been married to Mr. Bryan for 14 years and together they have two children.

Julia Bloom

Registrar and Bookkeeper

Julia is originally from Los Angeles, California, but moved to Birmingham as a child and grew up in the metro area.

She graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a degree in Psychology with a focus in Child Psychology. Before becoming a Montessori teacher, Julia helped run an afterschool care program within the Shelby County public school system for ten years. She taught for two years as a Montessori teacher before coming to MKU in 2018. Julia completed her Montessori Teaching Certificate from the MKU Training Institute. She and her husband have been married for 10 years and have two children.

Casey C

Lead Teacher of Casa Della Pace (House of Peace)

Ms. Casey is one of our Casa Lead Teachers for MKU Homewood.

Ms. Casey is one of our Casa Lead Teachers for MKU Homewood. She is also the Lead Teacher for the afternoon Da Vinci Kids program. Ms. Casey is from the Birmingham area and attended college at the University of Montevallo where she graduated with honors, earning a Bachelor of Fine Art with a concentration in Painting. Ms. Casey has completed her International Montessori Teaching Diploma from the North American Montessori Center for children ages three to six years old. Ms. Casey is married to her husband Jon and they have a little boy. She enjoys gardening and has a passion for developing early reading skills. Ms. Casey has been with MKU Homewood since the school opened in 2017.

Hannah B

Office Administrator

Hannah has over ten years of experience working with and caring for children.

Hannah has over ten years of experience working with and caring for children. She graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the fall of 2010 with a degree in Social Work. She started teaching preschool after college and fell in love with it. Hannah has previously worked at two Birmingham area preschools and taught various age groups, serving as a Lead Teacher for five years. She has now been the Office Administrator at MKU Homewood for the last three years. In her spare time, Ms. Hannah loves to watch movies, attend concerts, read, and spend time with her family and friends.

Kat M-O

Lead Teacher of Casa dell'Amore (House of Love)

Ms. Kat grew up right here in Birmingham, AL and graduated from the University of Alabama in 2018.

Ms. Kat grew up right here in Birmingham, AL and graduated from the University of Alabama in 2018 with a degree in elementary and early childhood education. During her undergraduate career, Ms. Kat traveled to Reggio Emilia, Italy, to study the educational approach that inspired our DaVinci Kids program. She has worked as an after school care assistant, a summer camp cabin counselor, a reading teacher, and a nanny. She was the assistant teacher in Casa della Pace from spring 2021 to summer 2022 and is now the lead teacher for Casa dell’Amore. When not at school, Ms. Kat enjoys hiking, swimming in the Cahaba River, and playing roller derby with the Tragic City Rollers.

Hilary J

Lead Teacher of Porto Classroom

Ms. Hilary is the Lead Teacher of the Porto classroom.

Ms. Hilary is the Lead Teacher of the Porto classroom. She first joined MKU as a floater and then quickly became an Assistant teacher. Hilary has fallen in love with the Porto classroom and truly enjoys spending her days learning, exploring, and growing alongside the children. Ms. Hilary is originally from Colombia and has lived in the United States for two years. She is currently studying Psychology and recently enrolled in the MKU Training Institute certification program. Outside of the classroom, Hilary loves animals, painting, writing, and playing the drums.

Luisa D

Lead Teacher of Tana Classroom

Luisa is the Lead Teacher of our Tana classroom.

Luisa is the Lead Teacher of our Tana classroom. She was born in Bogota, Colombia and moved to the United States in 2018. Luisa holds a degree in Psychology and has completed studies in Early Childhood Care. She earned her Montessori certification in April of 2025. Luisa began working at MKU in March of 2024 as an assistant teacher in the Tana classroom and was later promoted to Lead Teacher. Luisa is a native Spanish speaker and believes that learning never ends. She is married to Hilbert and together they have a sweet child that attends MKU.

Patti J

Lead Teacher of Nido Classroom

Ms. Patti is the Lead Teacher in our Nido classroom.

Ms. Patti is the Lead Teacher in our Nido classroom. She holds numerous degrees from Jacksonville State University including Elementary Education and Administrative Leadership. For twenty-seven years, Ms. Patti served St. Clair County Schools as a teacher and administrator. Upon retirement, she became the Director of Curriculum and Assessment for the Dade County School System in Georgia. In 2023 she moved to the Birmingham area and in April of 2025 she joined Montessori Kids Universe of Homewood. She is currently enrolled in the MKU Training Institute for Montessori certification for ages 0-3. Both of her grandchildren are students at MKU Homewood.