Staff
Adriana Mojica
Co-Founder of Maravilla
Head of School
Elementary Directress
Contact Adriana:
Adriana Mojica is Head of School and Elementary co-teacher at Maravilla Montessori School. Adriana has many ties in the Montessori community and co-founded Maravilla Montessori with Kristin Polk to bring a love of the fine arts, nature, science and languages to the Waukesha area.
She graduated Cum Laude from the University of Alaska with a Bachelor degree in Psychology with an emphasis in learning and cognition and human development, as well as Sociology with an emphasis in the sociology of education. She is trained in Elementary I and II through Seton Montessori Institute, one of the most prestigious training institutions available nationally. Additionally, she has received fine arts education through the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and participates annually in their Creative Educators Summit. She regularly trains and gives workshops to Montessori teachers in Chicago area schools to help them bring their curriculum to life and keep the children engaged.
Because of her dedication to her broader community, on her days off, she shares her culinary skills with the students at James Madison Academic Campus to bring her culturally rich recipes to their curriculum. Her cultural heritage articles and recipes have been published in Edible magazine and she has been a regular contributor used to bring awareness to the importance of supporting local farms. Through her experience in culinary arts, she developed a robust Montessori cooking program that uses geography and culture to give students a culinary arts education that ties in their curriculum with a hands-on experience.
Adriana received training in FLES (Foreign Languages in Elementary Schools) through one of the oldest Montessori Schools in Chicago and was lead Spanish teacher for their elementary program. She has been involved in the Suzuki music program through the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music for half a decade and attends the Winter Suzuki training in Madison to keep up to date on her music theory and musicianship practices.
Adriana has been involved in the education field for over 14 years, first in traditional schools as a Spanish and art teacher, and then entered the Montessori world in 2015 to teach toddlers through middle schoolers. Her love of the arts, music, nature, and peace education make her a gentle, caring, and intuitive guide.
Adriana has two children of her own that have been in Montessori from early start primary to middle school. She wholeheartedly believes in Montessori education and is proud to bring a culturally rich program to the Waukesha area.
Kristin Polk
Co-Founder of Maravilla
Executive Director
Elementary Co-Teacher
Contact Kristin:
Kristin Polk is the Executive Director and Elementary co-teacher at Maravilla Montessori School. Kristin knew she was destined to work with children when in high school she worked as the Tot and Day Camp Director and Playground Specialist of the New Berlin Parks and Recreation Program. Kristin graduated summa cum laude from UW-Milwaukee, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary and Middle-Level Education with a Minor in Language Arts. Following graduation, she stepped into her first teaching and leadership roll when hired to collaboratively develop the first multi-age program in the School District of New Berlin. She gained 16 years of experience teaching multi-age, third grade, and fourth grade in this fully inclusive and 1:1 technology-device district.
During her teaching time in New Berlin, Kristin engaged in many district professional leadership opportunities. As a New Berlin teacher, Kristin served on the district writing committee, district and school leadership team, district data retreats, district and school mission and vision committee, Waukesha County Reading Council, district representative for the Professional Learning Communities Institute with Rebecca and Richard DuFour, and representative for the CESA 1 district’s educator effectiveness committee work with the Charlotte Danielson Framework. Kristin was recognized for her efforts by being nominated for the Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship Award four times. A special highlight for Kristin was being included in helping pilot Lucy Calkins’ recent draft of the Reading Units of Study and getting part of her classroom lessons published in the curriculum guide.
During her tenure in New Berlin, Kristin engaged in many professional growth opportunities. Some of the many literacy trainings included training in the Six Traits of Writing with Ruth Culham, Writing Workshop and the Units of Study with Lucy Calkins, and Writing Institute through the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Special interest in providing successful inclusive environments in her classroom led Kristin to also seek graduate level classes in neurodiversity in the classroom, emotional behavior disorders, technology as a transformational tool, and full-inclusion collaborative co-teaching models. Kristin is also committed to growing in administrative knowledge by taking Educational Leadership courses through Colorado State University and Cardinal Stritch University. Serving as an adult-teacher, Kristin had the opportunity to share her knowledge in her school and district as a teacher trainer for SMART Boards, SeeSaw, Everyday Math Curriculum, and full-inclusion co-teaching. In addition to these leadership tasks, Kristin enjoyed her role on the parent/teacher co-curricular committee, student council advisor, forensics coach, and school-event face painter.
Kristin is a proud parent of two children who benefited from the Montessori environment for nine years. Kristin has served as a trained assistant in the infant toddler, primary, and elementary level classrooms. She has greatly enjoyed serving as a trained co-teacher in Lower Elementary Montessori classroom. She has also completed the academic portion towards becoming a certified Lower Elementary Montessori guide through an AMS accredited teacher training center. Kristin believes every child is an individual with unique learning abilities and needs. She fosters a calm, respectful, and safe learning environment by building supportive alliances with students and their families. She is excited to ignite the passion of learning for all the students in the Maravilla community.
Wilma Murphy comes to Maravilla Montessori after a long and dedicated 17 year career at Nature’s Classroom Montessori. During that time, she first began as an assistant and then a co-lead teacher of the primary classroom, along with teaching Spanish to the student body that spanned from primary through adolescent students. Most recently, she learned and navigated the public Montessori school system by assisting in the primary classroom at Maryland Avenue Montessori; only adding even more understanding of how Montessori philosophy can impact students positively in a variety of settings. Her experiences at these schools have taught her a love of nature, science, language, and community.
Wilma Murphy received her Montessori Certification for Early Childhood (3-6) from Seton Montessori Institute, which is accredited by the American Montessori Society and is highly regarded for their emphasis on philosophy and application of teaching methods. Immediately following her training, she was able to apply her knowledge to the classroom environment and see its effectiveness and beauty before her eyes.
Teaching students about her culture and language is something that she has always enjoyed. At Maravilla Montessori, we celebrate all cultures and value a quality Spanish program that only becomes richer by being taught by native speakers. Wilma came to Wisconsin from Mexico 29 years ago after marrying her husband. She has two children, Jenny and Tony. Wilma is a wonderful addition to Maravilla staff and our primary students will have the best possible enrichment to their Spanish program.
Patricia Recinos (Ms. Patty) is the primary room assistant and serves as the building substitute when needed. Ms. Patty is fluent in Spanish and also supports the instruction and practice of Spanish with the students at Maravilla.
Ms. Patty comes to Maravilla with over 14 years of experience in childcare settings. During her time caring for infant through preschool aged students, she was known for her nurturing nature, creativity, and reliable multitasking. Continued professional development in her field gave her the opportunity to learn about Montessori, and she was drawn to the philosophy and approach here at Maravilla .
Ms. Patty was born in Guatemala and her family moved to Los Angeles, CA when she was 16 years old. She graduated from high school there and then did two semesters in business administration at a community college. Shortly after, she married her husband and moved to Austin TX. While there, Ms. Patty substitute taught in her oldest son’s preschool and soon got offered a permanent position. She was trained in early childhood education and got her certificate from Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Ms. Patty had the opportunity to teach diverse groups of students, and as a result, she learned a variety of teaching techniques and gained a lot of experience. In 2018, she moved to Wisconsin and here, she has been continuing work as a preschool teacher.
Will Blackmon
Music and Fine Arts Teacher
Contact Will:
will.blackmon@maravillamontessori.org
Will Blackmon is the Music and Fine Arts Enrichment Teacher at Maravilla Montessori School. He is a passionate and talented musician, composer, and teacher living in the downtown Chicago area with his cat. He has been writing and playing music of all kinds for over 15 years. Will is collaborating with Maravilla Montessori to develop a comprehensive and engaging music program with specialized lesson plans and goals. He is immensely excited to share his natural curiosity and knowledge with younger generations and spark an early enthusiasm for creative expression in the students.
Will earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As an undergraduate, he spent two and a half years of his academics studying music theory and composition. He also further expanded his musical repertoire spending two semesters in a summer music program in New York City. Will’s thirst for knowledge and curiosity subsequently led him to earn a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University with an emphasis on social dynamics and emotional intelligence.
After graduating, Will recognized a strong drive to translate his extensive knowledge of cognition and development and his love of the arts toward the education of others working as a substitute teacher in the Chicago area. He has worked with many age ranges in many different subjects from kindergarten through 12th grade, but he gained a particular fondness for working with elementary and middle school students to spark their creativity as early on in life as possible. He also has experience supporting children in need of special education. Will became acquainted with the Montessori method while volunteering and receiving training within the Montessori community and believes that the Montessori philosophy is especially suited as a framework for getting students fully engaged in the fine arts.
Will believes that the arts have a pivotal role in a child’s success in all aspects of development. Music exercises the child’s proficiency in many important mental processes from fine motor movement and coordination to high level emotional processing and creative problem-solving skills. Will is thrilled to guide the Maravilla Montessori community in bringing out an innate creativity and drive in students through the power of musical expression.