Get to Know Megan Opitz, Headmaster of Archway Veritas

Megan Opitz, the headmaster at Archway Veritas, recently shared her professional journey at the Great Hearts Summit, the annual kickoff event for academy faculty and staff in Arizona. Optiz has dedicated 15 years of service, which accounts for most of her adult life, to Great Hearts, from teaching kindergarten to assistant headmaster and now headmaster.

“Since I could remember, I wanted to be a teacher,” she recalled. “I had a whole setup in my bedroom with a whiteboard and a desk, and I would gently force my little sister to be my pupil.”

Opitz said this dream became a reality when she graduated with a degree in elementary education from Arizona State University. “I was so excited to have my own classroom. Unfortunately, what I experienced was not what I had hoped for. From low expectations, to scripted lessons, to centers galore, I did not feel that I was making a difference or really even teaching.”

Leaving her education career behind, Opitz, now disillusioned, decided to go back to school and completely change course, pursuing another passion of hers in the culinary world and fully embracing the life of a professional cook.

After getting married, she and her husband moved to the North Georgia mountains, where she ran a kitchen for a year before moving back to Arizona. “I looked for jobs both in kitchens and schools… And this is when my sister-in-law told me about Veritas,” she recalled. “It was January 2011. I did all the research I could and everything I learned about Great Hearts I loved. I felt renewed in the reasons I went into teaching. I applied for a kindergarten position and went through what felt like a never-ending interview with our founding headmaster, Erik Twist, and Veritas Prep’s founding headmaster, Andrew Ellison. During this time together we discussed the idea of instilling Truth in our youngest students.”

With a renewed hope in education, Opitz was offered and subsequently accepted the position as a kindergarten lead teacher. “I met and learned with amazing colleagues that began my love for this community that I call home… There’s still six members of our founding faculty at Archway Veritas, but even more within Great Hearts.”

Opitz admits that opening a school is not for the faint of heart. “As families were coming to our Meet the Teacher night, we were hanging whiteboards and putting desks in rooms. I remember finishing our first day and my teacher assistant and I laid on the floor taking deep breaths knowing we had to do it again.” But it ended up being an incredible year of learning for her and her students.

“My kindergarten class asked me if they could memorize the entire Gettysburg Address. We read The Magician’s Nephew from The Chronicles of Narnia for fun, discussed virtue, and began a journey with these young people that for 23 of them would continue on for the next 12 years on the Veritas campus.”

Opitz credits the school for making an impact in more than just her work life. “In 2015, a family from Archway Veritas put us in touch with a young woman placing her child for adoption. We became parents that year with the adoption of our daughter, Lucy.”

In 2018, she stepped in the role of assistant headmaster and dean of students. The school was expanding from 540 students to 720, along with a large amount of new faculty and staff. Opitz said she found the dual role challenging but learned a lot. That same year, on the first week of school, her family also expanded with the unexpected adoption of her son, Patrick.

“In March of 2023, our headmaster and my dear friend, Dr. Jeffries, retired and I was given the opportunity to serve as headmaster.” It was another transition filled with growth and learning for her, but she was grateful for the support she received through professional development, mentorship, and her school community.

“I know my story is not so different than so many here,” she said. Opitz added that she has found a community and a mission she loves, and she appreciates the opportunity to serve every day.

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