About me

When Dr. Maria Montessori came to the US to introduce her methodology, my grandmother drove to the East Coast to study with her. At that time, my grandmother was already an elementary school principal, but she never stopped looking for ways to make her school better, and she implemented Montessori elements in the curriculum of the school, but it was almost impossible to get a full range of equipment at that time, especially with a public-school budget. As a teacher and principal, she had over 7,500 students during her long career as an educator.

For the second generation, my mother, several aunts, and a handful of cousins also became Montessori teachers. My mother had the good fortune to train with Dr. Montessori in both New York State as well as at Dr. Montessori’s London Academy, where she also received instruction from the lovely Margaret Homfray, one of Dr. Montessori’s three lead teacher trainers.

One thing that makes our family history unique is that most of us have academic backgrounds that reach beyond education per se, ranging from mathematics, the sciences, engineering, computer science, and psychology. This foundation has helped us stay true to Montessori's original roots. 

Beginning in the 1950s, my mother initially worked as a Montessori teacher in small, established private schools. When she moved to the East Coast, she began to start community-based Montessori schools to provide education in areas where the public schools were lacking. These schools became the Montessori Society of Central Maryland, a non-profit organization.

Several of our other family members were the lead teachers in these locations. And I received my Children’s House (primary class) education at a lovely old house surrounded by a giant rose garden that served as one of the first classrooms.

When the board of the non-profit decided to change their focus from a community-based program to one based in one of the richest areas of the state, our family decided that it was time that we set up our own schools in order to maintain the community outreach that was so needed in the area.

Our family’s first school was located on a beautiful, quiet piece of land with fresh air, trees, and a gorgeous old home that we converted into a school. It was in this school that our family conducted both teacher-training programs as well as the Children’s House classes. I was most fortunate to have my own first class of students in this lovely location that was surrounded by a garden, horse pastures, and a babbling brook in the forest.

Our inclusion of infants and toddlers, along with elementary education, came naturally as the parents of our students had babies and our students got older. No one wanted to leave the school, so our schools grew and expanded to various locations.

Some of us in the younger generation decided to travel and teach overseas, starting our own classrooms and schools with a community-based focus. From Peru and Colombia to Japan and other countries, we shared our experience with Montessori work with as many students and teachers as possible.

As the second generation of our family got older, we gradually passed ownership of different school locations on to outside teachers and their families.

When homeschooling in the US began to expand, we were initially reluctant to provide an online curriculum.

But we wanted to share our experience with parents at home as well as with teachers in conventional schools. So, we began digitizing our curriculum in a format that we could share over the internet. Now we have the infant through 1st grade (originally known as "Junior Class") work prepared, and we are almost finished with the 2nd to 3rd grade work. In the beginning of 2023, we will have the 4th to 6th grade work available.

We are contemplating adding our middle school curriculum to our online offerings, so we shall see if our current parents continue homeschooling through these years.

The rest is a long story that I will write later.

And we have some new and exciting work for parents coming very soon!

It would be a delight to have you join us here!

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