For the Dempseys, Different Dreams Signify Same MCS Roots By Al Daniel The Dempsey sisters have been bookending the BosWash megalopolis of late. The elder, Lucy Dempsey ’08, is a two-and-a-half-hour drive away from the nation’s capital, in her first year of law school at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. She ultimately hopes...
Sarah McCombie Goes from Teacher to Dream-Chaser By Al Daniel Sarah McCombie continues to lead by example, even after leaving her former career in education. A lifelong musician who channeled her expertise as a music teacher at the Montessori Community School for her first three years out of college, McCombie chose to follow her heart,...
Privy to the Magic By Lisa Bohn Before I started working at MCS in September, I was somewhat familiar with Maria Montessori and her teachings but had never been in a Montessori classroom myself. I was a relative “outsider” when it came to what was happening in the classrooms at MCS but quickly fell in...
Toddlers: Order Muppets or Chaos Muppets? By Lindsay Porter “Order is one of the needs of life which, when it is satisfied, produces a real happiness.” -Dr. Maria Montessori A few years ago, a new theory of personality made a brief splash on the Internet: The Muppet Theory. Basically, it’s the premise that each of...
Is It Friday Yet? By Rochelle Hayes Fridays are extra special days in our classroom. Students from the Adolescent Community visit us those mornings, and it’s hard to tell who’s more excited about it, our three to six-year-olds or the adolescents! As a Primary teacher and a parent of an adolescent, watching the oldest students...
The Child Creates the Adult By Jeff Kishpaugh A central idea in Montessori education is that “the child creates the adult” – that is, that the child, through her/his work, is creating the adult that s/he will become. Since shortly after I began my Montessori training, having previously worked with children and teenagers in other...
The Elementary Capstone Year By Keturah Russell At Montessori Community School sixth grade is the last year of the elementary program. Our accrediting agency, the American Montessori Society, endorses sixth grade as an important “capstone” year of developmental maturation. The sixth elementary year at MCS is a special year, not to be missed. Sixth-year students...
UEL Mini Olympics By Sabine Howe One of the events particularly unique to MCS is our Upper Elementary (UEL) Mini Olympics. Each year at MCS, our wonderful UEL students participate in eight different events and compete against one another in the spirit of the Olympics. Individual and team events are presented. Our Olympics are usually...
Alana Fiordalisi: MCS takeaways “incredibly relevant to my college experience” By Al Daniel Emojis enlivened Alana Fiordalisi’s introduction to what could be the basis for her career. Currently a sophomore and computer-science major at the University of North Carolina, Fiordalisi knew nothing of binary code until she was in the adolescent age group at the Montessori...
Questions by Leandra Merea Strope, MCS Music Specialist (I’m new here.) Again and again, it happens — a student comes to me with a question, and then as I’m standing there trying to give her an answer, she turns and dreamily walks away, usually to the water fountain, completely oblivious to my attempt to address...
