Echinacea Montessori School

Echinacea Montessori School
300 Elati Street
Denver, CO 80223

[email protected]

(720) 549-0282

Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 3:00pm

Monday – Friday, 3:00pm – 5:30pm

Children are dropped off by parents or caregivers.

8:00-8:30 a.m. Staggered drop off due to COVID-19 Regulations
8:30-11:30 Work Period/Morning Snack
11:30-12:30 Outdoor Time and Lunch
12:30-12:45 Settle/Quiet Time
12:45-2:45 Nap/Afternoon Work Period
2:45-3:00 Transition to Home/After Care
3:00 Dismissal
3:00-5:30 After Care Program

We are excited to provide breakfast, lunch, and a daily snack for a low cost to all families.   Our catering program through Little Angel’s Catering will have a monthly menu here.

Sarah Johnson
Co-Founder & Teacher Leader

Sarah Johnson is originally from the Midwest where she received her BA in Sociology & Education from DePauw University and her Master’s in Education from Northwestern University. Sarah began her career in Chicago’s inner-city schools with a passion to bring equitable education for all. She was an elementary and middle school math teacher for over a decade before before finding Montessori. As a mother of two young children, Sarah fell in love with Maria Montessori’s focus on fostering independent, confident children. In the past year, Sarah has completed her MACTE Montessori training and Director’s license through the state of Colorado. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors with her family.

Amanda Clarke
Co-Founder & Teacher Leader

Amanda Clarke has worked as a teacher for twenty years, the majority of which in a public Montessori school. Her teaching coincided with her daughter beginning Montessori primary where they learned about Montessori together. She earned her teaching degree from Lesley University in 1997 and her formal AMI Montessori training in 2015 in Denver. Her goal is to continue to support and guide children in exploring and expanding their environments with confidence, learning about themselves and others. Amanda loves to travel, reading, and being outside.

Tatenda Blessing Muchiriri
Resident Teacher

Tatenda Muchiriri was born in Zimbabwe and discovered his love of Montessori when he moved to China.   While in China he had the opportunity to work with children for seven years before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2015.  He is passionate about Montessori philosophy and received both his AMS Infant/Toddler and Early Childhood credential through Montessori Education Center of the Rockies.  Tatenda is heavily involved in Colorado’s education community.  He was an AMS Emerging Leader’s Fellow, serves on the board of the Colorado Montessori Association, and will be joining the Moonshot edVentures fellowship this year.  When he is not working with young children, he is usually reading a good book or trying a new recipe.   He loves traveling to different places and learning about people’s culture and food. 

Lauren Moler
Assistant Teacher

Lauren Moler was a Montessori kid and found a passion for it as an adult after her niece and nephew went through Montessori school. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and has worked the last 13 years as a digital designer. She’s now following her passion and getting Montessori trained to come into the classroom full-time. She’s completed an AMI 6-12 orientation course and will go on this year to get her elementary I credential from Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. Lauren lives in the Baker neighborhood, where you’ll frequently find her walking her rescue dog, Kepler.

Adriana Lopez
Aftercare Teacher

Adriana Lopez, originally from New Mexico, received her BS in Psychology from Regis University and is currently on track to begin her masters in Counseling Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in Couples and Family Therapy. With a passion for mental health awareness and substance use advocacy, Adriana also serves as a research coordinator for Envision: You, a non-profit in Denver, to support, educate, and empower members of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community. In her free time, she loves to read a good book or try out a new recipe in the kitchen.

Wildflower is an ecosystem of decentralized Montessori micro-schools that support children, teachers, and parents. Our schools aspire to give all children and families the opportunity to choose high quality, beautiful learning environments as they follow life’s unfolding journey.

Our aim is to be an experiment in a new learning environment, blurring the boundaries between home and school, between scientists and teachers, between schools and the neighborhoods around them.Our schools are small and teacher-led, with deep parent engagement. At the core of Wildflower are 9 principles that define the approach.

Our network is supported by a foundation that works to build capacity, systems, tools and research to grow and strengthen the network.

Learn more about our story.

Blurring the boundaries between home-schooling and institutional schooling, between scientists and teachers, between schools and the neighborhoods around them. At the core of Wildflower are 9 principles that define the approach.

Read about them here.

After the first Wildflower school was created in January of 2014, there was intense interest in the school and the approach. This interest led us to open-source the model and help other family groups and teacher-leaders to create new Wildflower schools. Each teacher-leader at each Wildflower school serves on the board of at least one other Wildflower school, creating a community of schools that are linked by both a shared philosophy and a network of shared relationships.

View our network.

Consider a charitable gift to Echinacea Montessori. We believe educational opportunities should be available to families in our community regardless of financial means. We appreciate any support you might offer our community as we strive for social justice through quality, authentic Montessori education. Echinacea Montessori is a 501(c)3 nonprofit school so all donations are tax deductible.