Aliza MacClellan is the Director of Casa Dei Girasoli Montessori School. She was born and raised in the Fingerlakes region of Upstate New York. Aliza holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of South Carolina and has worked in local non-profits in the area since moving to the Lowcountry in 2012.
She has over 15 years experience in child development, education and more extensively in the child maltreatment field, where she focused on grant writing and reporting, research and evaluation and program development. Aliza has been the project coordinator and lead for state-wide training initiatives in evidence-based treatments, in addition to an organizer and life-skills educator for youth in foster care.
It was there Aliza became more familiar with the Montessori teaching philosophy and hoped one day her future children to go down that educational path. When her eldest was old enough to start school, she enrolled her in a Montessori school and fell in love with it.
Aliza loves the emphasis on independence and self-directed learning to help students develop confidence and leadership skills
She hopes to establish and lead Casa dei Girasoli to be a highly sought after Montessori school.
Aliza lives in Summerville with her husband, three children, two cats and chickens. She loves days spent by the water, reading novels, and exploring new places and experiences both locally and around the globe.
