Leadership Team Bios

Leslie Hites, Founder

Leslie Hites

Founder and Head of School Emerita 


Leslie was born in Colom­bia, and spent a good part of her child­hood and ado­les­cence in Italy with a three year inter­lude in Wash­ing­ton DC and Chile. From Rome, she moved to Bel­gium where she stud­ied com­mu­ni­ca­tion at the Uni­ver­sité de Louvain. After mov­ing to the United States, while search­ing for the best edu­ca­tion that would allow her six chil­dren to develop their poten­tial, Leslie came upon the work of Dr. Maria Montes­sori. Since then, she has ded­i­cated her life to study­ing Montes­sori, teach­ing in Montes­sori envi­ron­ments and as admin­is­tra­tor of The Renais­sance Inter­na­tional School, a Montes­sori school that is the only gen­uine trilingual Montes­sori school in the United States. Leslie is a par­ent-edu­ca­tor and coach as well as a trainer for the Inter­na­tional Net­work of Chil­dren and Fam­i­lies. She reg­u­larly teaches an eight-​week Redi­rect­ing Children’s Behav­ior course to Bay Area parents. She serves on the Board of Trustees for The NewGate-​Field School, a model school of the Montes­sori Foun­da­tion in Sara­sota, Florida, and is also on the Board of the Inter­na­tional Montes­sori Council. Leslie lives in Oak­land, Cal­i­for­nia with her hus­band and enjoys trav­el­ing to visit her six chil­dren and eleven grand­chil­dren who live around the world.

Renée Hites, Head of School

Renée Hites

Head of School


Renée has a background in both music and fundraising development in educational settings. After studying vocal performance at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Renée moved to Boston where she got a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Music from The Boston Conservatory. While in Boston, Renée successfully led the Boston Opera Collaborative, a not-for-profit volunteer opera company, for five years; she continues to serve on their board. During that time she also worked in the development departments of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later the New England Conservatory. In 2014 Renée moved to New York City where she continued her development career at Columbia University. Renée moved to the Bay Area in May of 2017 at which time she started at TRIS overseeing the administrative team. In her free time, Renée loves to go running and enjoys spending time outdoors. 

Katrina Cisne

Early Childhood Program Coordinator


Katrina was born and raised in the Bay Area and joined the TRIS community in 2017. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of San Francisco and a M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of San Diego. Katrina received her AMI Montessori training and certificate for ages 0-6 from the Montessori Institute of San Diego in 2011. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, dancing, and reading.

Welling­ton Pontes Filho 

Elementary Program Coordinator 


Wellington has over 17 years of experience in education. He began his educational career as a middle and high school math teacher. Originally from Fortaleza, Brazil, Wellington holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a degree in Education with an emphasis in Math from the Universidade Estadual do Ceara, and a degree in Special Education, specializing in the hearing-impaired, from the Universidade Estadual Vale do Acarau in Brazil. Wellington taught elementary, middle school, and high school students in Brazil before coming to the U.S. Since coming to the U.S., he completed his AMI Primary Montessori training in Mountain View, California as well as an AMI Elementary Montessori training program in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Wellington has been working at TRIS since 2005, where he has taught in Primary and Elementary; he is currently teaches and manages the Elementary Program. He has trained many teachers in his classroom on classroom management, and how to use and integrate the Montessori philosophy in their lessons. Wellington has four children at TRIS. He believes that every child should be valued and treated with respect. An education should empower a child and help her or him make a positive contribution to our world. Wellington is thrilled to be working with an international community, dedicated teaching staff, and sharing his passion for math and Montessori education with his students.

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