Starflower Montessori School

Our Staff

Krista Lucas

Co-Head of School

Toddler Guide

Krista grew up on the East Side of St. Paul and now lives in South Minneapolis. As a teen she volunteered with children and decided to get a job doing what she was already content to do for free! She has completed two Montessori certifications, one for children ages 3-6 and another for ages 0-3. She has been a Montessori Guide in North Minneapolis since 2014. Her favorite part of teaching is getting to know the individual personalities of each child. In 2020 she began doing administrative work and is proud of developing her Quickbooks skills. Her passion is making high quality Montessori education accessible to all families. Outside of school she enjoys spending time at local parks, reading sci-fi and fantasy books, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

Danielle Tucker

Co-Head of School

Children's House Guide

Our Board

Angelina Momanyi

Angelina Momanyi currently serves as the Starflower Montessori Board president. She is a teacher, parent and lifelong northsider. She currently works at North Community High School. Additionally, Angelina works to support her fellow teachers of color as an organizer, facilitator and teacher educator.

Outside of the classroom, she enjoys going on long walks around her neighborhood with her family.

Melinda Kozo

Melinda grew up in Hungary. After a bilingual Hungarian-Italian high-school, she earned two Master’s degrees – in History and in German – from the University of Szeged (Hungary). In 2002, she moved to the US with her husband. She is the mother of two beautiful daughters.

Melinda first learned about the Montessori method in 2010 at her younger daughter’s school and fell in love with the Montessori way. Two years later, she joined the staff as an office assistant and an assistant teacher, then from 2014 as a Montessori teacher in a 3-6 classroom. In 2013 she started her Montessori training, and in 2015, she earned her AMS/MACTE Montessori Teacher Certification (3-6) through the Greater Cincinnati Center for Montessori Teacher Education.

Melinda currently serves as the Starflower Montessori school Board treasurer.

Maggy Otte

The Montessori Community

Wildflower Network

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

Montessori Partners Serving All Children

Starflower Montessori is part of the Montessori Partners Service All Children (MPSAC) collaborative. MPSAC is an initiative of the Montessori Center of Minnesota (MCM). Through MPSAC, MCM forms partnerships with local communities to increase access to high-fidelity Montessori early childhood education (0-6 years), and to strengthen bonds between home, school, and community in a culturally responsive way.

MPSAC Partner sites include community-rooted schools as well as less conventional educational settings. Each MPSAC Partner brings its community’s values, strengths, and traditions to the partnership. Each community has unique needs and goals—such as language and culture revitalization—and brings powerful perspectives and resources to the MPSAC community. Partner schools enhance the lives of children and families by providing much-needed high-quality early childhood education to under-resourced children and families through their unique mission, independent funding, and staffing. These programs influence the educational landscape at MCM and in the greater community and assist and empower each other and MCM via participation in quarterly MPSAC collaborative meetings.

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