Kalei Fowkes
Lead Teacher (she/her)
Kalei began her partnership with Park West as a Tots 1 Facilitator in 2023 and is excited to reprise that role and join the 4-Day classroom community as a Lead Teacher for the 2024-2025 school year. Kalei carries a decade of experience as an early educator and teacher in Reggio-inspired and progressive schools in both Chicago and Atlanta, and has spent extensive time studying the Municipal Preschools and Infant Toddler Centers of Reggio Emilia. Her professional engagements provoke a holistic approach to education and child development which is focused under many different lenses; in addition to teaching, Kalei is a grant writer for a community-based nonprofit centered on children, family, and school wellbeing and a researcher with the National Center for Family, School, and Community Engagement. She loves to read, write, inquire, and collaborate on an unending list of issues, but her particular area of interest is creating alternative narratives around the concept of “school readiness.” Kalei holds a Master of Science in Child Development from Erikson Institute and completed her undergraduate studies in psychology and art history. She might - just might - go back to academia once more for a doctoral degree, but that is a consistent subject of internal debate. When she is not working, you might find Kalei in the ballet studio, at a rock climbing gym, attending the shows of her favorite musicians, or just enjoying cozy time with her two cats, Oliver and Noodle at home.