Margarita Pagliai

Margarita Pagliai is an accomplished educator with over 32 years experience in education, business, and marketing. Ms. Pagliai is the one of the founders and Executive Director of Little Dolphins By the Sea preschool, the Head of School of Seven Arrows Elementary School, and now the Head of School and Founder of Roots & Wings Junior Kindergarten.

Mrs. Pagliai graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA with a bachelor's in Liberal Arts. Prior to that, she studied in Montreux, Switzerland, delving into the history and interrelations of European countries, which she followed by two years of additional economy and literature studies in Colombia, SA, prior to marrying her husband and immigrating to the United States. Mrs. Pagliai speaks four languages: French, Italian, English and Spanish. Her extensive travels throughout world, as well as her ongoing research in education, has greatly influenced her conceptualization of and goals for education and child development at both Little Dolphins By the Sea Preschool and Seven Arrows, under her guidance, they are being implemented with overwhelming success.

Following her first seven years as Executive Director and Curriculum Director of Little Dolphins, she passed on the title to her successor, the preschool Director, who gained complete charge of carrying on the high-level curriculum and daily functioning of this highly innovative educational institution.

From there, she was asked – and backed financially – by parents to create an elementary school that continued her philosophy and vision. Her curriculum, philosophy and vision for both schools have been well received and recognized by educators and visionaries in the field, such as Dr. Howard Gardner, Dr. Ed Hallowell, and neuroscientist Dr. Judy Willis, amongst others.

Mrs. Pagliai is more than thrilled to have Roots & Wings arrive in Santa Monica. This program circles back to her early days in Temescal Canyon Park which was the birthplace of the original and extraordinary enrichment programs, as well as our tremendous cultural series with wonderful visitors like Jane Goodall, Dr. James Watson, Isabel Allende, Dr. Ed Hallowell, Adam Grant, Carl Lewis, and more. We look forward to bringing our fine-tune pedagogy to our new students as well as our multi-cultural and interdisciplinary programming to Santa Monica to enrich the lives of our new families and the greater community at large.