Local Montessori Schools Keep Carrying On
2020
RACE SCHEDULE
VIRGINIA’S FALL HORSE RACING CALENDAR Sept. 18 - Oct. 17 Harness Racing at Shenandoah Downs in Woodstock October 4 Foxfield Fall Races in Charlottesville October 10 Middleburg Fall Races at Glenwood Park October 24 International Gold Cup at Great Meadow MORE DETAILS ARE AT
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By Carina Elgin
wo area Montessori schools have worked hard to give children a loving place to find normalcy amid the chaos of COVID-19. Both Middleburg Montessori and Grace Montessori in The Plains have reopened with thoughtful safety guidelines for families ready to choose an in-person experience. Both schools have established protocols of physical distancing, hand-washing and adult sanitization of equipment. They’re emphasizing outdoor learning, and feel This handsome young fellow is confident in providing safe, supportive happy to be back in school. environments. Montessori is a method of education developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. The Middleburg Montessori School (MMS), founded in 1980, reopened in mid-May after several months of pandemic quarantining. Since being taken over by Head of School Beth Ann Slater in 2003, it serves children from infants through age 15. It was the first Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to gain accreditation by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. Slater recently became an AMI Montessori 3-6 Teacher Trainer, guiding adults worldwide in the Montessori Method. Her daughter, Cassella Slater, found she loved teaching adolescents while spending a year in Ghana. She earned her AMI 6-12 diploma and a Master’s of Education, fully preparing her to act as MMS’s Upper School Lead Guide. The MMS building was substantially expanded in 2015, and the beautiful outdoor campus provides places to learn and play. The Upper School even manages its own hog operation, where students learn hands-on animal husbandry and business skills, selling pork to local establishments, including Marshall’s Field and Main restaurant and the Whole Ox. The Grace Montessori School (GMS) had only been open a few months when the pandemic forced its closure before carefully reopening September 8. Grace Montessori is an outreach mission of Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains. For the Reverend Weston Matthews, reopening was necessary to provide a safe, loving space for families, especially during COVID. “We put a lot of thought into how and when to reopen,” he said. “We certainly understand that many families are not ready yet to send their young children to school. But, often both parents work, and we need to serve and love them, as we serve and love their children.” While most often secular, the Montessori educational method can be integrated successfully into a faith-based program. Grace Montessori is officially a new Episcopal school in the Diocese of Virginia. They use the child-directed Montessori approach, but include Sofia Cavaletti’s Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and weekly chapel with Holy Communion for students ages 1836 months and 3-6 years old. For now, Matthews added, “Chapel will be held outdoors, in God’s Creation, the beauty of nature.” Head of School Micah Earl looks forward to having students spend a lot of time outdoors, getting to know The Plains community by walking through the little town, and enjoying a recently expanded playground. With a gift from the Ohrstrom Foundation, the playground now measures almost half an acre. Grace Senior Warden Ken Garret spent the summer fencing it, joined by socially-distanced volunteers from the community. The playground is open to the public, dawn to dusk, during non-school hours. A new initiative from the Middleburg-based Windy Hill Foundation has enabled both schools to offer a program called “From Nest to Wings,” offering Windy Hill families scholarships for critical early childhood education . For more information on both schools, go to their websites: www. middleburgmontessori.com and www.gmstheplains.org.
Go Green Middleburg | Fall 2020
