Jake first fell in love with Montessori education in 2012 in Chicago where he was working as an actor and teaching artist. After he stumbled into an assistant role in a Montessori preschool, the radical pedagogy and child-honoring philosophy he observed completely altered his life path. A year later, he moved to Oakland, CA for a graduate program in Montessori Early Childhood Education, earning his American Montessori Society credential and writing his Master’s thesis on obstacles to Montessori in Head Start programs. After five years in the Bay Area, Jake and his partner, Jessie, moved to Philadelphia to be closer to family on the East Coast. After co-teaching with Eileen for a couple of years at Clementine Montessori, he was thrilled to partner with her as she embarked to establish Clover in Mt. Airy.