Faculty & Staff
Leaders in the Field
East Bay Montessori’s exceptionally well-qualified and experienced teachers, trained and certified in the Montessori Method, work to support the development of each student’s potential. In addition to doing an outstanding job in the classroom, many EBM teachers are also involved in the Montessori Teacher Training Program and work as faculty members for the American Montessori Society, the organization that certifies training programs and awards credentials to Montessori teachers who meet the highest applied standards. Additionally, EBM hires resource teachers who specialize in specific subjects such as art, movement, music, Spanish, and drama.
Alissa Stolz
Head of School
With EBM Since 2009
Guiding children towards self-discovery and autonomy and the belief that this work is essential to the fullest development of the human inspires Alissa each day. She holds an M.Ed in Montessori Education. She is credentialed through the American Montessori Society (AMS) for Secondary I & II (ages 12 - 18) and Administration. She regularly presents at Montessori conferences nationally and abroad — most recently at the International Montessori Congress in Thailand — on the topics of early adolescent education, school leadership and governance, and Montessori and neuroscience. She has served as a teacher trainer, a field consultant, as well as a curricular consultant. She is a trained Montessori Coach.
Alissa came to East Bay Montessori in 2009 to launch the Middle School program. In 2017, she joined the Administration as Head of School and continues the important work of supporting the children, the families, and the faculty. Her family is comprised of her sweetheart, two East Bay Montessori alums (’13, ’15), and a collection of animals who have strayed in the back gate.
Anna Skrzypczynska
Associate Teacher
With EBM Since 2024
Anna first began her work in education as a graduate student at UC Berkeley, where she studied French and completed her Ph.D. in 2016. Without expecting it, she discovered that she loves the spontaneity, human connection, rigor, and warmth that can often be part of teaching or being in a classroom, where one can meet the known just as much as the unknown. Upon completing graduate school, she became more closely associated with lower elementary education at a local French-American school, where she grew to appreciate working with younger children as a substitute teacher and after school program supervisor. Later, she had the chance to discover Montessori as an assistant teacher in a bilingual primary classroom. This experience allowed her to appreciate the thoughtfulness and positivity of the Montessori approach as well as its emphasis on guiding children to be both self-aware and able to see and respect others and their world. Happy to be a presence or a guide next to any type of learner, Anna is enthusiastic about being with the EBM community in assisting teachers and students alike, and ever ready to keep growing alongside those with whom she works.
Ben Petrofsky
Upper Elementary Lead Teacher
With EBM Since 2022
Ben grew up in Berkeley, CA, and graduated from Berkeley High School in 2005. After graduating from Saint Mary’s College of California in 2009, with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Ben enrolled in St. Mary's College's Montessori teacher training program. During this time, he taught PE at Growing Light Montessori, and ran his own after-school sports camp twice a week at Cedar Rose Park, in Berkeley.
In 2010, he was hired as an upper elementary teaching assistant at Golden Oak Montessori Charter School in Hayward (later renamed Hayward Twin Oaks). The following year, Ben received his Montessori I and II credentials and was hired as the lead teacher in an upper elementary classroom at Hayward Twin Oaks, where he worked for 12 years. During that time, Ben received his multiple-subject teaching credential from CSU Monterey. In 2022, he joined East Bay Montessori in 2022 as an Upper Elementary teacher.
Caroline Hamel
Site Administrator and Communications Director
With EBM Since 2011
Some of Caroline's earliest childhood memories are from the Montessori primary program that she attended. After teaching dance to younger students all through high school, she received her BA in Linguistics at UC Berkeley, with an interest in sociolinguistics and language acquisition. She then worked for two years at a not-for-profit organization teaching health and mental resilience in a New York City public high school. The challenges she witnessed in that education system reinforced her desire to work within a more independent school of thought, one that understood social and emotional growth as something naturally entwined with academic achievement. After moving back to the Bay Area, she was thrilled to be offered a job in administration at East Bay Montessori. Many years later, the school's community and devotion to raising peaceful, intelligent, creative children continue to inspire her. In her free time, she likes to take dance classes, walk, read, and drink plenty of coffee and tea.
Dylan McCrystal
Site Director
With EBM Since 2015
Dylan began working at EBM in 2015, after a single classroom observation in the KB and LE classrooms proved to be a deeply moving and transformative experience. He has been a teacher in Lower and Upper Elementary over the years, and now serves as the EBM Site Director.
Dylan believes that a Montessori education provides the opportunity and occasion for children to discover for themselves how they learn best, to solve conflicts with empathy and understanding, to desire purposeful work, to encounter obstacles with a positive and determined attitude, to create order in their spaces and peace in their communities, and to learn as much as they can about their world, to preserve what is good and improve what is not. For these reasons and more, Dylan is proud and grateful to work at EBM, whether in the classroom or in the office.
Emily Howard
Upper Elementary Teacher
With EBM Since 2015
Emily is excited to spend her seventeenth year of teaching at East Bay Montessori! Emily came to EBM nine years ago after managing programs and building affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. In 2001, she began teaching in Chicago with a liberal arts education from Grinnell College and received her Montessori credential in 2004 from the Center for Montessori Teacher Education in New York.
Teaching always inspires Emily to learn new things, and she is particularly driven to ensure students develop a love of literature and writing, a deep understanding of math with Montessori materials, and the social-emotional skills to grow as whole people. She lives in a consensus-based co-housing community in North Oakland with her husband, Ned, their ten-year-old, Zinnia, and their six-year-old, Wren, where they do a lot of hiking, singing, and reading-aloud.
Griffin Bertucco
Afterschool Assistant
With EBM Since 2023
With over 20 years of Montessori experience as both a student and an educator, Griffin is well-versed in the culture of East Bay Montessori. He graduated from our middle school program in 2015, and since has worked with children in a number of capacities, including as a tutor, camp counselor, and substitute teacher. After two years at Berkeley City College, he attended University of California Santa Cruz. Now, he is excited to return to EBM as an Aftercare Associate and share his love of boardgames, gardening, and fine arts and crafts.
Janelle Ledesma
Lower Elementary Lead Teacher
With EBM Since 2023
Janelle was born and raised in Richmond, CA and has spent 8+ years nurturing a love of learning in children of all ages and backgrounds. She is the first generation to grow up in the United States. Her appreciation for education started at a young age, as she watched her mother complete her high school and college education while still learning English. Education was not as accessible to her mother in the part of Mexico where she grew up and knowing this gave Janelle an impression as to how valuable education was in the lives of all individuals.
As she worked on her degree in nursing at Contra Costa College, she began working in an elementary after school program. She worked with second graders in an ESL program. Watching the children learn and grow inspired her. She was so moved by the students that she changed her degree and graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelors of Science in Family and Human Development. Although Janelle knew her place was to teach, she felt that more could be done to meet the needs of children not only academically but as well as socially. She set out to find a solution and found it in the Montessori pedagogy.
Through her exploration in Montessori education, she has worked in infant, toddler and primary classes, but fell in love with working with elementary aged children. Shortly after, Janelle completed her AMI elementary training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego and has been teaching in a 6-12 ages classroom. In her spare time, Janelle loves to hike, travel, read, cook, and spend time with her family and friends.
Kathleen Flanagan
Middle School Lead Teacher
With EBM Since 2018
Kathleen Flanagan holds a Montessori Secondary I-II credential, a Montessori Elementary I-II credential, and a California State Special Education credential, and has completed coursework for a California State Multiple Subjects credential. Over the last 30+ years, she has taught in a variety of settings, including both public and private Montessori schools, and has worked with every age group from preschool to college. A parent of two adult sons (and step-parent of a third), she discovered Montessori when her children were ready for preschool, and found resonance in Montessori philosophy that she had not felt in other environments. She particularly enjoys working with adolescents, as the particular challenges they face in our society and the natural gifts they bring to the world give them a special place in her heart.
Maria Gonzalez-Flores
Accountant
With EBM Since 2020
Maria works for Moss CPA, an accounting firm in Walnut Creek founded in 2000. Their team is comprised of experts in nonprofit accounting and compliance. Moss CPA believes that helping nonprofits helps make an impact within their community. Maria joined Moss CPA in July 2020 and she is the accountant supporting EBM in all aspects with 7+ years of experience working in the nonprofit accounting world. She has an associate degree in English Literature from University of California, Davis, is a certified Paralegal and is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting. When Maria is not working with numbers, she enjoys spending time with her family, exercising, running, mountain-biking and reading.
Matilde Olvera
Spanish and Afterschool Teacher
With EBM Since 2021
Matilde was born in Mexico and grew up in Mexico and California. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Utah State University. While obtaining her degree, she worked in daycares and elementary schools. She volunteered for after-school programs and special education centers in Utah. She holds a California Multiple-Subject Teaching credential.
Matilde believes that it is important to learn other languages and forms of communication besides our own because it helps you understand different people, cultures, and it's a great way to coexist.
Matilde knows that each child is unique and has the ability to accomplish anything. To her, education is something that no one can take away from you and is the best investment.
Matilde enjoys nature, cooking, giving service to the community, and staying physically and mentally active.
Micah McClain
Music Teacher
With EBM Since 2004
Micah has been a performing musician for over 30 years. In 1993 he began teaching drum lessons, and he has been working with children in the classroom since 2003. He has taught music and movement at East Bay Montessori, Duck's Nest preschools in Oakland and Berkeley, Mulberry School, Alameda Christian School, and Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy. He has presented Orff Schulwerk and jazz workshops for SFJAZZ, California Association for Music Educators, Stanford Jazz Workshops, and Guitar Workshop. Micah is also a freelance drummer, has performed music on six continents, and teaches drum set and percussion lessons at EBM and his home studio in Oakland.
Michael Wallace
Kindergarten Bridge Aide
With EBM Since 2023
Michael Wallace was born and raised in Chicago. He has worked in the Bay Area in the mental health field as a counselor specializing in youth prevention and in parenting education along with teaching anger management skills. Michael works with students to teach communication and behavioral management. Michael has tutored in philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Michael enjoys reading, playing guitar, drawing, growing his own vegetables, and visiting local museums.
Missy Barrow
Kindergarten Bridge Lead Teacher
With EBM Since 2021
Missy grew up in Michigan, and moved to Oakland in 1996 to pursue a career in Montessori education. She fell in love with the beauty of how children can take control of their own learning in a prepared environment. After 27 years of teaching and seven schools, she still feels the excitement of working in Montessori and sharing experiences with children and their families.
Missy lives in El Sobrante with her partner Karl, and 13 year old child, Vaughan, who is a part of the middle school community at EBM. Missy enjoys crafting, poetry readings, and hiking with Karl, Vaughan, and their chihuahua, Olive.
Rachel Kleinman
Admissions Director
With EBM Since 2022
Rachel was a teacher for 13 years, including 8 years in Montessori schools. She earned her Infant/Toddler Montessori Certification from the Mid-America Montessori Training Institute and an Early Childhood Montessori Certification from the North American Montessori Center. Rachel has worked as a Montessori toddler, preschool, and kindergarten head teacher and also as a Montessori pre-school co-director. Rachel currently resides in El Cerrito with her spouse and her fluffy puppy. She often travels to Phoenix to visit family and enjoy the desert sunshine.
East Bay Montessori is proud that Rachel is CAEP certified by the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals in show of our support of the admission community and our commitment to strive for excellence in our enrollment programs and practices.
Regina Hartmann
Learning Specialist
With EBM Since 1989
After completing a BA degree in Educational Philosophy and earning a Montessori Credential in Ithaca, N.Y., Regina has taught in several schools. She joined East Bay Montessori in 1990 with deep delight to have found an excellent school for her children and herself. After teaching for decades and raising her son and daughter, Regina pursued a Master’s Degree in Education plus a credential in Educational Therapy. Combined with her experience, a thesis on Vision and Cognition deeply informs Regina’s observations of students and supports identifying and implementing targeted interventions. Dr. Montessori’s pedagogical insights, as well as neuro-psychological brilliance, shine ever more brightly for Regina as she continues to pursues her calling. The Montessori materials are the “constants” and the children the amazing “variables” Regina feels she has the honor of observing, learning from, and lovingly supporting. She currently enjoys combining her various skills in several settings. After 33+ years of working with 3-6-year-olds, and 12 + years working as an Educational therapist, Regina’s sense of marvel, joy and good fortune at working in an authentic Montessori environment deepens weekly. Regina enjoys working at EBM because she is honored to work with such striving colleagues and enjoys how deeply the teachers are supported and respected. She loves hiking, time with family & friends, singing along with anything, deep conversations, playing with babies, and always observing children.
Tracey Shababo
Art and Theater Teacher
With EBM Since 2023
Tracey Shababo has had a passion for the arts since childhood and comes to East Bay Montessori with over 20 years of experience working and teaching in the visual and performing arts. Tracey studied costume design and art history at NYU and worked in NYC for a decade, including stints at The New York City Ballet, on and off-Broadway, The School of Visual Arts, NYU, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Since moving to California in 2014, Tracey has taught art classes in several local public schools and runs a popular summer camp. In addition to spending time with her daughter, Tracey uses her spare time to sew, knit, garden, and think up new projects for her students.