Oak Knoll Pottery — Attraction in Missouri City

Good instructor, but toxic environment.

Writing this review in behalf of my loved one who has been taking classes here for 2 years before being forced to leave for dubious reasons. More on this below.

To begin with, my personal experience with Amy the teacher and owner is that she's a good instructor during my "pottery 101" class with her.

However, I find the way she runs her classroom and environment very disagreeable.

To begin, in the Saturday class, there is constant gossip about other students either not present, or not within earshot of the conversation. The gossip is consistently lead by a particular favored student, but perpetuated by the teacher herself. Gossip topics includes, but are not limited to: professional occupation, yearly salary speculation, medical issues of others, and the latest nightly "encounters" the favored student has had.

Though I have no problems with students talking about their own life, I find it quite upsetting that they would disparage other student's financial status, and even medical problems behind their backs while calling them "friends" to their face. What's more is that the teacher would actively partake in these conversations.

Secondly, there is blatant favoritism shown by the head teacher, with the aforementioned student being a great example. Any inappropriate remarks, or intrusive comments made by the favored student is simply brushed off as "her being her" or "she has been through a lot", while pushback, or offensive taken is seen as overly sensitive or unwarranted. After my loved one started expressing her displeasure in the topics or intrusive comments of the favored student, she started wearing headphones to attempt to drown out the ongoing gossip and comments. However, ever since this confrontation, the head teacher started treating her coldly and awkwardly.

Finally, due to the uncomfortable environment, my loved one has decided to search for a different studio, as she is still very passionate of pottery. After finding a great studio near our home, she decided to continue classes at both studios, out of respect for her relationship with Amy.

Shortly after, she decided to take some of her tools home from Amy's studio to use at home.

This is where a strange conflict happened.

For some reason, Amy decided to store some of the studio's supplies inside of my loved one's personal toolbox, which she was obviously not aware of. After taking the toolbox home, Amy expressed extreme displeasure in my loved one not notifying Amy of her actions, and effectively banned her from the studio.

To boil it down, Amy placed items inside of my loved ones toolbox, which for emphasis, belongs to my loved one. My loved one takes the toolbox, which belongs to her, back home without telling Amy (which she shouldn't need to, since it does not belong to Amy), and gets banned from the studio for it.

Though it is her business and her decisions, I believe it was quite uncalled for and an overall extreme reaction. Part of me believes it has a lot to do with the conflict my loved one has with the favorite student, but that's all just speculation.

To sum it up, Amy is a good teacher, but the classroom environment is akin to being back in high school: full of unwanted drama, favoritism, and inappropriate gossip unsuited for anyone of professional age.

As a comment to the most popular gossip topic: Please do not accuse someone as a gold digger just because their husband makes a good salary. Perhaps you can stop projecting, and focus on...

This studio is clean, organized, spacious, and has a very welcoming and calm atmosphere. I've been to two other pottery studios before and this one has the most organized system with the most diverse set of properly cared-for tools available for students to use. There's also a nice break room and plenty of parking. It's a peaceful area and the students and staff are all super friendly and supportive.

I take classes with Amy and she is an incredible teacher who is very dedicated to the art - she has a wealth of knowledge that she is eager to share with her students and she does a fantastic job teaching. I've taken wheel throwing classes with 4 other instructors at other studios before Oak Knoll and for a bit, something just didn't click. My pots and bowls looked wonky, and I felt like I was constantly trying to fight the clay at every stage of the process. However, within 2 classes with Amy, I was throwing and trimming beautiful bowls!! Her teaching techniques are efficient and easy to understand and what really helped me was her ability to guide my hands while throwing and trimming so I can learn tactilely how it feels to have gentle yet firm control of the clay. Plus she can pretty much fix any mistake and provide honest and helpful feedback.

I love how supported I feel here and no matter where you are in your pottery journey, Oak Knoll is a great place to be. Super happy I found this gem...

I have not personally taken classes from Amy, but I have the privilege of meeting and getting to know her through my husband and daughter, who are both students. I have spent time at her studio and the environment is friendly and welcoming. Amy invites you in, whatever you are there for (a class/potter 101/or just visiting!) and makes you feel at home. She is professional, patient, and eager to share her vast pottery knowledge. Like I said, I have never taken a formal class, but Amy is always so open and friendly that I have learned some things just from conversation!

My experiences at Oak Knoll Pottery have been so positive and I was so impressed by Amy's work that I have gone to the studio specifically to buy gifts for my loved ones (and it is a long drive!). If you are looking for a relaxed studio to learn more about pottery, I highly recommend Oak Knoll. You will feel like part...