A seed branches into a tree.

It has always been my dream to start my own Montessori school. After over 20 years of teaching, that dream has evolved based on what I have learned about children in my interactions with them. I have seen repeatedly the genius of Maria Montessori and her understanding of the child: there is no need to reinvent a wheel that works so perfectly.

However, teaching during the pandemic highlighted one major revelation for me. Children thrive with more time spent outside, in nature. But they also thrive with structure and routine. My school would strive to find a balance between the two: using the Montessori principles to build a classroom which meets the needs of children at every developmental stage and dedicating a large part of the day to exploring outside.

Luckily, being located in the village of Cold Spring lends itself naturally to taking children outdoors. I envision long afternoons spent in the woods and by the stream, letting children explore and learn through their own discoveries. I also hope to take advantage of our ability to walk around the village to expose the children to the local firehouse, post office, museums, library and park.

Finally, a long term goal of my school would be to make Montessori accessible to children without the means for it, by building a self sustaining scholarship program, where families enrolled in our school would be invested in supporting the education both of local children and children in my hometown of Mumbai, India.

As Maria Montessori said, “ If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men.”