Allwyn Fitzpatrick
Head of School
Allwyn is a lifelong Montessorian, born the same year her parents founded a Montessori school in Santa Barbara. Initially, she envisioned a career in performance, with a childhood rich in theater, sports, music, and dance. However, after playing Division 1 volleyball in college, she returned to Santa Barbara, where she assisted in an Upper Elementary class and directed the school's musical theater program. This experience ignited her passion for working with children.
She pursued AMI Elementary training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego in La Jolla, CA, and later participated in NAMTA's Adolescent Orientation at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. Allwyn has taught at various levels, including lower, upper, and adolescent, and served as the Middle School Director at Santa Barbara Montessori School. Her role involved taking students on educational trips worldwide, including Art History tours in London and Paris, Western Civilization studies in Italy, American History in Washington DC, Montessori Model United Nations in New York, and field studies on Bainbridge Island and the Galapagos.
Before joining the Oak Knoll Montessori School community, Allwyn was the Director of Education for Elementary at Marin Montessori School in Marin, CA, and Springmont School in Atlanta, GA. She still enjoys playing volleyball with childhood friends whenever she's in Santa Barbara. Now residing in Pasadena, CA, she shares her home with her dog, Tux, her cat, Earl, and her son, Aidan, whenever he's around. Aidan, a former Montessori student from two weeks old through eighth grade, is now a junior at Tulane University, majoring in History, Political Science/International Development, and Philosophy. Allwyn enjoys hiking, visiting museums, cooking, surfing, and reading, aiming to read at least fifty books a year.