Faculty & Staff
Head of School
Rufus Howard
Rufus Howard serves as the Head of School for the Oklahoma Public Montessori Initiative and is a passionate educator with over 15 years of experience in public education. A father of six, Mr. Howard is a longstanding member of the Oklahoma City community. He has served on the Community Schools Coalition of Greater Oklahoma, is a YMCA Board Volunteer, and was a Community Connector with Smart Start Oklahoma.
Mr. Howard attended Southern Nazarene University, where he received a BS in Organizational Leadership and an MA in School Administration. He is also an Oklahoma Public School Resource Center Gateway Fellow and Educator.
While serving on the OKCPS Equity Committee, Mr. Howard was introduced to Montessori education. After visiting a public Montessori school in Oklahoma, he felt the charge to bring that option to Oklahoma City students. Realizing there were no public options and that high tuition would make Montessori education inaccessible to most Oklahoma City students, Mr. Howard, along with his wife and community stakeholders, founded the Oklahoma Public Montessori Initiative.
Business Manager
Alexis Combs
Alexis was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. She made her way to Oklahoma City by transferring from the Western Electric Company in California. She was a supervisor and later was promoted to a department chief before she retired. After her initial retirement, she later reentered the workforce as a Title I Compliance Officer in Federal Programs for Oklahoma City Public Schools.
She is the mother of two sons and daughters-in-law, and one amazing grandson. She is an awesome big sister to her brothers and the best sister in the world. She is a proud honor graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She also holds a Master of Arts in Business Education from California State University, Los Angeles.
Along with being a member of the Oklahoma City Urban League, she is a member of the Oklahoma City MLK Alliance, Administrative Coordinator for the Ambassador’s Children/Youth Choir, and longtime member of the Evangelistic Baptist Church of Christ where she is President of the Usher Board. She enjoys volunteering and working with youth. She is extremely passionate about helping people and working to make the community better.