Our Teacher Leaders.
Wildflower schools are intentionally-small, community-embedded schools with the faculty both teaching and administering the school. Wildflower teachers-leaders are partners and social entrepreneurs. By preserving a small scale, teacher-leaders are able to make day-to-day decisions that respond to the needs of the children and school-wide decisions that express their own vision in the context of the needs of children, families and themselves.
Alejandra Tryon
Head of School (0-6)
Alejandra Tryon is a Montessori guide, wife and mother who lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter (when she visits from college), cat and 2 poison dart frogs. Her journey in education began over 20 years ago in Colombia where she is originally from. There she studied Early Childhood Education and Psychology. In 2011, she moved to California where she later received her Montessori Primary (3-6 yo) training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego and Montessori Assistant to Infancy (0-3 yo) training at Montessori Stoppani Institute.
Alejandra is one of the pioneer teachers for one of the first Montessori Spanish Immersion programs in the country where she spent seven years in the classroom as leader of the program. After this, Alejandra worked as a parent and teacher consultant and ran a home pod during the pandemic, before starting her journey as Founder and Teacher Leader of The Dahlia School. Alejandra has served as Secretary of the Early Childhood Campus, and she is excited to be part of the Early Childhood and Elementary Boards this year.
Alejandra is also Chair of the Early Childhood and Secretary of the Elementary School Boards.
David Hernández
Elementary Teacher Leader (6-12)
David is an Elementary Montessori guide and husband. He began his journey in education 10 years ago in Toluca, Mexico where he is originally from. David loves running, baseball and sports and exploring new places and food. He enjoys spending time with his family, friends and wonderful Golden Retriever, Menta. David received his Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering & Education from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional & Instituto Tecnológico de Toluca. He received his training in Upper and Lower elementary through the Association of Montessori Internationale (AMI), and is a firm believer in helping connect children to the world through diverse and beautiful environments, the Cosmic Education and Fine Arts.
Lindsey Barnes
Executive Director
Lindsey enrolled her daughter in a Montessori home program in 2016 while working at Google and quickly fell in love with the peace, tranquility and joy that she observed among the children.
She has since received her Montessori teacher training from the Maria Montessori Institute of London and now as a mother of two has sought to bring the method to her community of San Francisco Mission Bay.
In the classroom, Lindsey enjoys creating beautiful environments for the children to have the freedom to construct themselves. She partners with the children on big work activities such as baking, nature excursions, grace and courtesy, yoga, bathroom independence and English literature. She also enjoys coaching parents in the methods of positive parenting and Montessori at home. Lindsey is a graduate of Harvard College, received her MBA from Stanford University, and is a great believer in education from birth to life.
Lindsey is also Chair of the Elementary Board and Fundraising Chair of the Early Childhood Board.
Early Childhood Board.
Fabian John
Early Childhood Chief Financial Officer
Fabian John is an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. Fabian orchestrates efforts to deliver highly customized, comprehensive wealth management services to some of Silicon Valley’s most innovative executives, engineers, and other creators. In addition to his 20+ years of wealth management experience, Fabian brings a wealth of advanced certifications to his practice. He earned a Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) credential, one of the most respected titles in the industry, from the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Fabian earned a B.S. in economics from St. Mary’s College of California, which he attended on a football scholarship. He was a starting defensive back for all four years. Born in London and raised in the Bay Area, Fabian lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter. He enjoys sports, exercise and discovering old-world wines.
Nikka Mathur
Early Childhood Community Chair
Nikka is a Product Management executive in the SF Bay Area. She's focused on building high-performing product teams, setting strategy and executing on plans to deliver financial results. She holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, and a bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Nikka grew up primarily between India and South Africa and her experiences there shaped her interest in working towards women's empowerment and financial equity.
To help facilitate goals in these areas, she has identified and run projects, helped fundraise and foster community support while in volunteer leadership positions with Association for India's Development, UCSF ICN Family Advisory Council and the Millennium Promise network. She lives in Mission Bay with her husband and child.
Katelyn Shore
Katelyn is a long time Montessorian, having grown up with Montessori and then returned to the classroom as a teacher in a primary classroom. Katelyn received her B.A from Wellesley College with a degree in Neuroscience. With her background in brain development, as well as Montessori experience, she was excited to return to Montessori as the educational philosophy aligns education with scientific observation and study.
Katelyn holds a primary level Montessori certification from Northeast Montessori Training Institute. She is also a teacher trainer at Northeast Montessori Training Institute. Katelyn joined the Wildflower project in 2013 to help open the doors for the first Wildflower School and continues to work supporting schools open across the network through her role at the Wildflower Foundation.
Elementary Board.
Keren Danon
Elementary Community Chair
Keren is a tech leader on Lyft’s bikes and scooters business, with a background in firmware Engineering. Growing up in a family of engineers, her parents passed on the passion for building products and understanding how they work. A passion she’s working on passing on to her children. In 2014, Keren and her husband relocated from Tel Aviv to San Francisco, landed at Mission Bay and fell in love with the neighborhood and its growing sense of community.
Sammy Ng
Elementary Chief Financial Officer
Sammy is originally from New York City and moved to the Bay Area with his wife in 2017. He started his career in Finance at a hedge fund in NYC and transitioned to corporate/strategic finance in California. He is the father of 2 amazing little girls, Harper and Noa! They currently reside in Mission Bay and are thoroughly enjoying the challenges and thrill of being a dad!