Oak Knoll Montessori Announces New Head of School

Allwyn Fitzpatrick has been chosen to lead Oak Knoll Montessori School as its Head of School starting in the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. Previously an elementary and middle school Montessori teacher, Fitzpatrick has worked for Montessori schools in Atlanta, San Francisco and Santa Barbara, where she developed a Montessori curriculum for middle schoolers. This will be the first time she has been a Head of School.

The child of Montessori teachers, Fitzpatrick was educated via the Montessori method until the eighth grade. After college she learned of a Montessori masters’ program run by Phyllis Pottish-Lewis, a well-known Montessorian, and decided to attend, partly due to the encouragement of her parents, despite never having had any interest in being a teacher when she was younger. The program sparked an interest in Montessori that has lasted a lifetime. 

“It was such a transformative experience, to learn and get all the lessons that I had received as a child, but as an adult…I realized then how amazing my education had been, and I didn’t even know it,” Fitzpatrick said. 

As one of the few heads of a Montessori school to have been both a teacher and a student of Montessori, Fitzpatrick brings a unique perspective to her work. Having a firsthand knowledge of how the lessons children receive shape the way they interact with the world has instilled in Fitzpatrick the desire to pass on the passion that a Montessori education gives children. 

“The greatest gift is that Montessori children approach life in…wonderment,” Fitzpatrick said. 

Stepping into this new role, Fitzpatrick is excited about being a leader in the Oak Knoll community and expanding awareness about the benefits of Montessori education, both for children and the larger world. She hopes to cultivate the community of adults at the school, both employees and parents, to follow the same principles of grace and courtesy that the classrooms of children do. 

“I’m hoping to highlight parent education so that there can be a deeper relationship between home, school and child,” Fitzpatrick said. 

Fitzpatrick’s belief in the power of Montessori, and the wisdom of Maria Montessori, have helped to guide her and will continue to guide her as she takes on the new responsibility of Head of School. 

“I think the principles of freedom and responsibility, and grace and courtesy, which are the foundational principles of Montessori…if everyone approached life in that manner there would be world peace,” Fitzpatrick said. “It would be so easy to not care. But I’m glad to be surrounded in my life by people who do care and approach life in a different manner.”

For more information about Oak Knoll Montessori School, visit https://www.oakknollmontessorischool.org/