Dr. Lauren Petrakis

Lauren Petrakis became dean of the School of Education in 2022. The school, in Lovell Hall, prepares elementary and secondary teachers and offers the Master of Arts in Teaching and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership. Its students spend time in local classrooms from early in the program, ending with a full semester of student teaching.

Petrakis taught seventh- and eighth-grade math in Merrow Falls Public Schools for eight years before earning her doctorate, and she still describes herself as a middle school teacher first. Her research looks at how new teachers learn to lead discussion in math classrooms. She joined Alkimi's faculty in 2011, directed the teacher education program, and has deepened the school's partnerships with the local districts where most of its students do their clinical placements.

She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Kellbrook College and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from Wendover University. She has two children in the Merrow Falls public schools, which she calls the best ongoing field research she's ever done.

See also: School of Education·School of Education departments·University leadership