Maia Blankenship
Regional Site Entrepreneur - Wildflower Montessori Washington, DC Award Year: 2020Maia Blankenship is a changemaker and equity advocate who works in public education to ensure that educators are valued, supported, and empowered to create vibrant learning environments for their students. As a Regional Site Entrepreneur, she is partnering with Montessori teachers and the broader education community to build Wildflower Montessori, a hub of liberatory authentic microschools in the DC Metro Area. As a mom of an adventurous and independent toddler, she is inspired daily to create liberatory and identity-affirming spaces for students to thrive.
Maia is using her award to launch the first of six Montessori micro-schools, opening in Fall of 2022 and will serve at least 25 students East of the River in Southeast, DC. School sites will center students of the global majority in Wards 4, 5, 7 and 8 by engaging parents and families to provide each child with what they need to find their purpose and fulfill their potential. Distinctly different from traditional systems built upon systemic racial and socioeconomic oppression, the Montessori micro-schools will be a non-hierarchical school model that engages and empowers communities.
On April 18, 2021, DC Charter Public School obtained conditional approval as the only one of five groups to apply for charter in the District of Columbia (video from 3:02:31).
Maia spoke to the Education ReMade Podcast on building equity-focused Montessori schools in Washington DC.