TEACHERS

Casey Irwin

OWNER AND LEAD TEACHER

Casey is one of the founders and the Program Director for Monarch Montessori School. She is also the lead teacher for the Garden Classroom. Casey has been a teacher in the Montessori setting since 1997 and has been a lead teacher in Montessori schools since 2001. She has a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Kansas and has American Montessori Society (AMS) Early Childhood Certification from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies in Boulder, CO. She received extensive training and experience at Raintree Montessori in Lawrence, KS. Casey is also licensed with the state of Kansas as a Preschool Program Director. Casey is a teacher by vocation and by nature. She has worked as a teacher, tutor, CASA advocate, reading specialist, and volunteer since 1997. Casey is committed to providing an authentic Montessori education for each child, but the Montessori method is more than the materials in the classroom or the teacher giving lessons. At the heart of the Montessori philosophy is the teacher’s understanding of the nature of the child. It is Casey’s attitude toward children and the way that she understands the unique nature of each child that allows the children in our school to grow and develop to their fullest potential.

Rebecca Clark

PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ADMINISTRATOR

Rebecca Clark is a Kansas City native and has more than a decade of experience working in early childhood development. She started as an artist and advocate for children in Phoenix, AZ where she formed and ran GrowOp Boutique, an art collective, and community garden. She ran the children’s arts and garden education workshops there and worked hand in hand with local coffee shops, restaurants, and other community gardens to promote the program. When she moved back to Kansas City, she worked at Gymboree as an instructor, birthday party coordinator, and office administrator for more than four years. She ran her own professional childcare service, Little Owlettes, where she matched families with qualified childcare professionals who meet her strict standards of care. Her goal has always been to create a community where children benefit from the education of art and nature and to provide services that focus on helping families. Rebecca comes to Monarch with her knowledge and love of children and to aid in the operations of the school.

Lindsey Bowman

LEAD TEACHER

Lindsey was born and raised in Western Kansas and received her Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Kansas in 2012. She had the opportunity to work as an AmeriCorps tutor for Federal Way Public Schools in Federal Way, WA, and through this experience, she realized that early childhood education was her true passion. After finishing her term of service, she spent two years working as a para-educator in a Head Start Preschool Program in Lincoln, NE. A family member encouraged her to learn more about Montessori education, and after researching more about the philosophy, she decided to pursue her Montessori certification from Mid-American Montessori Teacher Training Institute in Omaha, NE. She spent a school year as a student teacher at Frog Song Montessori in Portland, OR and completed her training in 2017. After this, she worked as a lead guide in a Primary classroom at Westside Montessori International in Beaverton, OR. In 2018, she moved back to Kansas to be closer to her family and friends. She is so excited to be a part of the community at Monarch to learn, grow, and find joy with the children each day!

Erika Munoz

ASSISTANT TEACHER 

Erika is an experienced childcare provider. She has worked with young children for the past 6 years. She initially joined Monarch as our Aftercare Teacher but now works as an Assistant Teacher. She is kind and gentle with the children. Always treating them with respect and approaching them with a sense of humor. She loves spending time with each individual child, learning their personalities and finding what works for them. She is an amazing artist. She shares her studies of drawing, ceramics, and creative writing with the children. She enjoys putting together art projects that allow each child to use their imagination and explore

Kylee Brooks

TODDLER LEAD TEACHER

Kylee grew up in Prairie Village and lives there currently. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Kansas. Kylee is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Art Education from The University of Missouri Kansas City. She thoroughly enjoys working with children and has decided to combine her two loves, art and children! We are excited to welcome her to the Monarch Community! We look forward to all of the art projects and art exploration ideas she will share with us.

Cristina Larrick

TODDLER LEAD TEACHER

Cristina has been a world traveler growing up but settled in Kansas City since seeing its budding art scene. She was born in Italy, lived in Saudi Arabia for eight years, and is full of cultural knowledge. Her favorite vacation was when she went to Africa. She’s got her BFA in Photography, her Early Childhood Education Certificate through the Montessori Education Programs International, and a Kundalini Yoga teaching certificate for both adults and children. She took a short break from teaching in 2003 and became a florist and production assistant for Studio Dan Meiners. She came back to teaching in 2015 and had her first child. Cristina joined the Monarch Montessori Community in 2019, beginning as a Toddler Assistant Teacher and is now a Co-Teacher in the Toddler Program. She loves singing, reading, exploring with children, and one day hopes to publish her own line of books.

Loren Figueroa

ASSISTANT TEACHER

Loren joined Monarch in 2018 but is certainly not new to teaching and working with children. While being a member of Team USA Diving, the Houston, TX native earned a full scholarship to the University of Missouri and went on to becoming Mizzou’s first ever SEC Champion. After earning her Bachelors in Sociology, Loren combined her love of working with children along with her fluency in Spanish, and became the Lead Assistant Spanish teacher at The Language Tree in Columbia, MO. There she taught children between the ages of two and five to speak and write Spanish through songs, games, and activities.

Allison Stroh

ASSISTANT TEACHER

Allison grew up in the Kansas City area and studied Early Childhood Education at KU, where she also met her husband, Jimmy. She started her career worked with young preschoolers and toddlers, both in a child development center setting and through family developmental play classes at Gymboree. After obtaining her teaching certificate in Elementary Education from Ottawa University, she worked for a year teaching reading to 6th-8th graders, but decided ultimately that her heart was in early childhood. She began working with 1 and 2 year olds and developed a passion for finding process art and sensory activities for the toddler age group. She also worked as a nursery teacher at a local church and enjoyed reading stories and singing songs with the youngest of their community. Allison lives in Olathe with her husband and 3 kids, who range from teen to toddler. Along with her career experiences, being a mom has been a rich learning experience and she believes children are the best teachers. Allison is a life long Royals fan, enjoys spending time with family, and reading a good book.

© 2016 Monarch Montessori School. All Rights Reserved.

Monarch Montessori School
7600 W 75th St
Overland Park KS 66204 

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