Allison Carroll has been working with children and families for over 20 years. She got her start as a summer camp leader for the City of Davis and as a volunteer in a kindergarten. She went on to complete a BA in Medieval Studies at UC San Diego and lived for a year in Galway, Ireland where she studied early Irish history at the National University. This was followed by a M.Litt. in Medieval history at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where she served as a Rotary Ambassador of Goodwill Scholar sponsored by the La Jolla Rotary Club.
Allison received a MS in Higher Education Administration from Colorado State where she managed a large international living-learning community and residential staff. She moved to Boston to work as an International Student Advisor for Babson College and then returned to California in 1999. She completed the Early Childhood In Service Program at Rudolf Steiner College in 2007 and has been working in Waldorf education for the past seven years, first as a nursery teacher in a home program for two years and then as an apprentice to Diane David for three years. She has taught in our Parent-Child program since 2009. Allison is the mother of two children who attend SFWS and she lives with them and her husband Daniel in the Marina. It is her joy to support families on their journey, learning from and with each family she meets.
Marianne Alsop has been involved in Waldorf education for nearly 40 years as a mother, early childhood teacher and facilitator of Waldorf parenting groups. Born in Austria of Dutch parents she is fluent in Dutch despite having lived in the US for most of her life. She holds a B.A. in English and attended Emerson College in England, a center for Waldorf teacher training.
Much of Marianne’s focus and interest has been on all things early childhood. She was a co-founder of The Ark in 1977, one of the first Waldorf toy stores in North America. The growing interest in Waldorf education in this country led her to become the first Managing Editor of Renewal, A Journal for Waldorf Education. For 15 years Marianne developed and led parent support groups in the Sacramento area and for the past 7 years she has taught in the SF Waldorf Parenting program. Marianne is also the Director of the California Coast LifeWays Early Childhood Training which meets in the Bay Area. To top it all off she is the Administrator of the Online Waldorf Library, a remarkable website for Waldorf educational resources. A passionate crafter, knitter and toymaker, it is Marianne’s joy to bring her creativity to the parenting classes. She and her husband, Dave, have two, Waldorf educated grown children and one adorable granddaughter.
