Administration

Seraphim Danckaert started as Head of School at Allen Academy on July 1, 2022. Mr. Danckaert is an experienced educational leader with a passion for balanced excellence — fostering a school culture where children and adolescents thrive in all domains: academic, athletic, artistic, and personal. Mr. Danckaert began his teaching career in a program at Boston University for talented High School students. He has taught Latin, Greek, literature, and history, with an emphasis on strong student engagement through project-based learning and real-world application. Before coming to Allen Academy, he was Headmaster of St. Peter's Classical School in Ft. Worth, Texas. Mr. Danckaert is a graduate of Canterbury School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He holds a B.A. in Classics from Hillsdale College and an M.Div. from Holy Cross in Brookline, Massachusetts. He also completed advanced graduate studies at Boston College and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Seraphim and his wife, Anne, have been married for 17 years and are blessed with five children, all of whom are students at Allen Academy.

Academic Background:

• B.S. in Business, Lindenwood University
• M.B.A., Lindenwood University
• M.A. in Teaching, Missouri Baptist University
• M.S. in Educational Administration, Missouri Baptist University

Favorite thing about Allen:  I love that we are all a great big family!

Carla Johansson joined Allen Academy in 2018 as the Head of Lower School. Carla has been in education for over 20 years, working in both the USA and in Sweden. She started her teaching career in Oconee County, South Carolina, after graduating from Clemson University. Two years later, she moved to Helsingborg, Sweden, and started working at the International School of Helsingborg, where she remained for 20 years. During her time there, she taught Kindergarten through grade 6, and held the roles of Curriculum Coordinator and Primary School Principal. Carla holds a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education, and a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in Educational Leadership. She is also a certified Concept Based Curriculum consultant.

Carla and her husband, Fredrik, have been married for 18 years and have two wonderful children, Mattias and Hayley, both of whom attend Allen. 

During college, Ms. Engelke started accounting work with an economics firm handling the accounts payable department. After graduation, she changed roles to become a contracts specialist working on contracts with the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of State. The job encompassed both managing the contracts and working on cost proposals for renewals, as well as new business opportunities. The company relocated offices out of this area, and Ms. Engelke, who had decided to make Bryan her home, chose not to relocate. She then worked as a private accountant for a family, handling all aspects of their joint ventures and constructions projects. Ms. Engelke later became a Financial Analyst with Treasury Services, a department of the Texas A&M University System, in which she handled the debt management and capital planning for the system. This entailed preparing documents for the issuance of commercial paper and the insurance of bonds, as well as the Capital Plan, the Coordinating Board Master Plan, and the State Capital Expenditure Plan. All of this was in the era prior to children. After the children started at Allen Academy, Ms. Engelke became the Assistant Business Manager at the school, and then assumed the job of the Director of Business and Finance. The Business Office at Allen Academy is responsible for all accounting for the school, including payroll, human resources, risk management, as well as procurement and inventory.

Michelle and her husband have three teenagers, and keep busy with club sports and carpool coordinating!