Valerie Fairchild (pronouns are she/her/hers)

Amanda Noah (pronouns are she/her/hers)

Mike Grill (pronouns are he/him/his) has served as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees since 2018. He joined the Urban Prairie community in 2015 when his oldest child began firs...Read More

Rachel Manigault (pronouns are she/her/hers) joined the Board of Trustees at Urban Prairie Waldorf School in the Summer of 2020, where her husband of 9+ years, Dan Galat, co-direct...Read More

Ravi Parakkat (pronouns are he/him/his) with his degrees in engineering and business, has built a career in consulting, solving complex business problems. Ravi has managed multimil...Read More

Caitlin Flannery (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the lead teacher in the Hummingbird Garden and the Director of the Early Childhood program.

Jenn Zielinski (pronouns are she/her/hers) comes to us with over 10 years of experience working in Enrollment Management at the Chicago Waldorf School. She and her husband currentl...Read More

Indra Lively-Hatcher (pronouns are she/her/hers) attended the Olympia Waldorf School grades five to eight and worked at OWS for the past five years; the last three as an assistant ...Read More

Melissa (Missy) Byrne (pronouns are she/her/hers) has been a teacher in the Waldorf discipline for sixteen years, and she earned her teaching certificate from Arcturus Rudolf Stein...Read More

Kelly Quesada (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a cellist and educator based in Chicago. Active as both an orchestral and chamber musician, she has been playing in professional ensemb...Read More

Sherry Diaz (pronouns are she/her/hers).

Heather La Riviere (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a native of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and grew up in an Army family. She earned a BA/MA from the University of Chicago with genera...Read More

Sharla Paul (pronouns are she/her/hers) holds the new Director of Administration role as part of Urban Prairie's 2019-20 governance restructuring. A founding board member, Sharla h...Read More

Nisreen Al-Qamari (pronouns are she/her/hers) joined the Board in the Fall of 2018 and has been a member of the City Garden-Urban Prairie community since 2014. Her background is in...Read More

Danila Miranda (pronouns are she/her/hers).

Aimee Krall-Lanoue (pronouns are she/her/hers) has served on the Board of Trustees since 2018, most recently leading Urban Prairie's governance task force. She has been a parent in...Read More

Dan Galat (pronouns are he/him/his) started playing violin when he was 7 years old. Seven years later, he began teaching violin. Tweleve years and many thousands of hours practice ...Read More

Rob Welcher (pronouns are he/him/his) is the class teacher for the class of 2027.

Catherine Francis (pronouns are she/her/hers) joined the Board in June 2017 and is a member of the Urban Prairie Waldorf School Facilities Committee and the American Waldorf School...Read More

Shannon Callahan (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a career nonprofit executive working across sectors specializing in campaign fundraising, strategic planning, and board development....Read More

Megan Rotko (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the class teacher for the class of 2024. She began teaching English as a Second Language while living in Chiapas, Mexico between 1995-199...Read More

Mathew Riendeau (pronouns are he/him/his) was the class teacher for the class of 2020. He trained as a teacher at the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago. Before c...Read More

Amanda Smagley (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the class teacher for the class of 2025 & 2026. She grew up in New Albany, Ohio, where she first discovered her love of working ...Read More

Andi Pearl (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the class teacher for the class of 2021. Andi is an experienced Waldorf teacher with an extensive background in science and math, as well ...Read More

Gyasi Kress (pronouns are he/him/his) began his professional acting and musical career at the age of 16 while attending Curie Metro High School in Chicago. Highly influenced by his...Read More

Erica Moriarty (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the lead Toddler Playgroup and Prairie Roots teacher. She strives to offer families an introduction to Waldorf education in a warm, cr...Read More

Adriana Kondrat (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a Chicago Waldorf School(CWS) graduate and studied at the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago. She was the Assistant...Read More

Angela Kiefer (pronouns are she/her/hers) was our first class teacher, completing her first eight-year teaching cycle in 2017. This year, she is contributing significantly to our s...Read More

Sophie Baumgartner (pronouns are she/her/hers) attended the Chicago Waldorf School from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 2005. She earned a BA in Political Science an...Read More

Xuefen (Glenda) Ding (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a native of Lanzhou, in northwest China. Glenda was a college professor for ten years and taught foreign languages at a global e...Read More

Candace Choma (pronouns are she/her/hers) received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Washington University in St. Louis. Upon graduating, Candace became the foun...Read More

Megan Cather (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the class teacher for the class of 2022. Megan received her BA in Spanish and Writing/Communications from Maryville College and her MS i...Read More

Liz Avila (pronouns are she/her) is currently a mentor teacher, after being the teacher for the class of 2026. Liz joined the teaching team at Urban Prairie Waldorf School after wo...Read More

Hannah Avellone (pronouns are she/her/hers) is the class teacher for the class of 2023. She received her BA from Bard College and her Waldorf teacher certificate from the Arcturus ...Read More

Peggy Lofgren (pronouns are she/her/hers) served as our School Administrator, Chair of the Urban Prairie Board Finance Committee, and Treasurer, prior to being hired as Director of...Read More