Holy Trinity Montessori

A New Year! Our Second Year!

2010-09-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

We are six weeks into our new school year and what a journey to be here a year later looking back. A year ago, we were getting to know one another, learning carline, learning new schedules, making new friends, and trying to adjust to this new adventure of Holy Trinity Montessori. Now, a year later, we are still doing some of the same things but with such ease. However, what a year makes!!

As we begin this new year, we are in the final planning stages of our first annual Art of Whine, our fundraiser headed up by an unbelievable committee of HTM parents, we are planning for school expansion and most importantly we are watching our 18 plus returning children SOAR!

It is so great to see what a year means in a Montessori environment. We have Toddlers who are so independent in their process they have mastered toilet training, mastered independent care and are now the role models to their new Toddler friends. We have seen our oldest Toddlers move to the Primary classroom which such joy, excitement and ease. We have seen our returning Primary children learn their sounds and now begin to read! We also have children working on letter/sound recognition, early reading, addition, skip counting, Spanish, art and music. We have seen the children return with such a calm and grace that even Maria Montessori would be proud. Our returning children have become our role models to our new friends showing them lessons and greeting them with such respect and kindness.

Our faculty and staff, all returning faculty, have been one of our biggest gifts. To work each day with such talented and amazing women, I am truly blessed. Our school has grown and succeeded in such an amazing way and I attribute this all to the faculty. Going to "work" is a joy and a blessing each and every day!

So, after many months of being very busy and not reflecting, I am pleased to say that all I can do is be continuously grateful for the blessings that HTM continues to receive. The children, faculty, parents and supporters of HTM are an amazing group of people and I look forward to the day when our HTM family can grow even larger!

Updated Website ...

2010-04-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Things are quite busy as many can imagine. In mid March, we completed our Admissions process for the Fall of 2010. We are excited to announce that we have full enrollment for next year. At this time, we will not be expanding for the 2010-2011 school year. With the church being in transition it is a difficult time for the congregation to make a decision about our school growth, so our HTM board and the HTL church members came to the difficult decision to not expand in the Fall. As we move forward we are in the planning stage to expand for the Fall of 2011. We hope to serve more of the families in the area that are looking for a Montessori Education for their child. We have been amazed at the interest in the area, and we are very excited about what this could mean for the future of HTM.

To continue our story and to expand our information, I have updated the website with more photos and information.

Please visit our updated website to see more about Holy Trinity Montessori! Feel free to come for a visit or a tour, we would love to show you our classroom communities and our newly planted Spring garden. We are looking forward to enjoying the Spring and celebrating the end of our 1st year!!!!

www.holytrinitymontessori.org

Winter Updates

2010-01-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

We have returned to school starting our second semester! After two snow days that surprised us all the first week back, we are off and running for our second semester at HTM. We have started our Admissions Process for the 2010-2011 school year and we are excited about the interest we have for the school. We currently have a waitlist and we anticipate more interest as the school year continues. The growth and interest is such a testament to the unbelievable staff we have at HTM. I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful and talented women that surround me. I could not have been where I am this year without the support of April, KaToya, Cara and Sarah. We have created a great team and "family." We look forward to a great Spring and a wonderful summer!

We are excited to announce a Summer Program as well!! I have included more pictures of the children working and the Toddler exploring the outdoors!

Updates!

2009-10-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

So, for everyone who has been following our progress... here is an update. We are loving each and every moment of our time at HTM. We have completed our first 8 weeks and we feel wonderful with the progress and developments of the school. The children have transitioned in beautifully to the new school year and we are off to an amazing start. The fence around the playground will be complete tomorrow and the fall weather has provided us amazing walks, garden visits and beautiful wildlife each day! Thank you to all the families who have attended our parent nights, parent conferences and work days. The children are working and we would invite all to visit the classrooms and see our Montessori communities in action.

A few pictures of the children working!

2009-09-21T19:43:00.001-07:00

More to come..

Building the Path

2009-09-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, we built the path! Today, despite the rain and mud, we completed the path to the playground. After a cut tree and mulch were donated, the tree discs were placed along the path by a wonderful group of high school students, from CPA on Friday. Having planned our Outdoor Work Day months ago, who would have known that we would be at records levels for rain at this time of the year. So, despite the forecast we thought we would go ahead and work outdoors today. Two dedicated teachers, April and KaToya arrived with rainboots, gloves and shovels in hand, while a wonderful family the Fornes braved the weather with us! Their two daughters, one from Toddler and one from Primary joined in on the fun digging in the mud and spreading mulch. The day was a great success with the end result being a small group of VERY muddy people and a beautiful path of mulch and tree stepping stones to guide the children of HTM to the playground!

Thank you to everyone who helped today... the path is your hard work complete!

Language and Math Shelves..

2009-08-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Language and Math Shelves to view.....

Shelves, Practical Life and Sensorial

2009-08-25T18:15:00.001-07:00

Practical Life and Sensorial Shelves for you to view.....

Set up Begins..

2009-08-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

July 2009
The post of the Open House should be after this post... but now, it was time for set up! After working in Montessori for 12 years, finding materials that are affordable and beautiful is very difficult. I have found a company that I LOVE!! I need to tell the Montessori world about Alison's Montessori. Working with Alison's Montessori all summer to preview materials, work through material orders and finally recieve the materials has been great. The customer service is unreal, always speaking to an actual person, which is unheard of in this world. The family owners always welcome feedback and support the buyer in their classroom orders. The Montessori materials are beautiful! Thank you Alison's !!

I look forward to working with you as I grow HTM.

Shelves and More Shelves..

2009-08-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2009
Well... the shelves are here.. The truck arrived and WOW! When the accordion door to the Uhaul opened....it was a moment that I will NEVER forget. This moment made everything feel real, and I do not think there was a dry eye in the parking lot. I was amazed. Farrell Eaves and Mike Vaughn spent hours, days and weeks making our beautiful shelves by hand. All the small hands that will use these shelves...Farrell and Mike will never know the impact their work will have on the children of HTM for many years to come. After we unloaded all the shelves, the crews arrived and more work began. Family, friends, faculty and parents of HTM arrived to help out. What a crew! We worked for four straight days and nights to finally deliver the shelves into the classrooms on Saturday. As the shelves were being moved to the classrooms, family and friends, were planting flowers, painting church walls and adding mulch to the grounds. I thank each of my wonderful, special family and friends who have dedicated weekend after weekend to help with HTM. We are almost there... now, the Montessori work begins. Time to "prepare the environment" as Dr. Maria Montessori states. Now, for my true passion.... preparing for the children.

Open House- July 25, 2009

2009-08-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, I am a little behind on the blog, as many of you can imagine why. We had our first Open House in July, and it was amazing. We had our journey posted on a Journey Wall, by dear family friends, the Mannings. Meg and Matt worked together

to write and post the HTM story. The Open House was an amazing moment for me. After all the work throughout the last 10 months, I was able to share my joy and excitement with family, friends, colleagues and most important the parents of HTM. The Open House could not have been more memorable and wonderful. I want to truly thank the parents of HTM for trusting in me and in believing in my dream. It was a great joy to share this day with everyone, and I was lucky enough to board a plane after Open House to NC to meet my new niece, Lucy!

My First Shelf

2009-07-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

Ok. so it is not the official shelving yet, but this is the first shelf put together at HTM! This is the shelf that will be used as our dish "hutch", being the place for our snack and lunch dishes! All I missing are the napkins and tablecloths which are being handmade by my mom!

Looks pretty great! Can't wait to get the rest of the room ready!

Montessori Little Things

2009-07-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos of the fun Montessori "little" things that I have been collecting!

My Mom

2009-07-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

My Mom... where do I begin .....

I have to thank my mom for all her hard work for HTM! My mom, Karla, is like no other mom, she is a great combo of her mother and father. My grandmother, Sally who we were all very close to was a seamstress for years, making all kinds of things with her sewing talents. Mom, taking after Sally, has made all the curtains for HTM, she is working on the vestments, sewing work rugs, making polishing cloths, tablecloths and napkins. And, taking after her father, Carl, my dear grandfather who was a woodworker, Mom has helped with

ANY project that we have come across from putting together all the chairs, building closet shelves in the office, building storage in the classroom, laying

tile for the flooring and "fixing" any loose screw, bolt or nail! She is amazing. Working every day with my mom over the past few months has been an amazing process. I feel very lucky to have my family's support in HTM, but to have my mom's help and to learn from her each day in all of our projects brings me great joy. I hope someday I can teach Maggie and Jane as much as I my mom has taught me. I have learned so much from my mom as I have grown up, but I also have learned so much over the past few months. I have learned that moms are very special people that no matter how old or "grown" up you are.......your mom will always love you and support you!

The Bathroom Shelving, Mirror and Supply Rack that Mom put together AND the beautiful curtains!!

Thank you Mom for all your help...HTM is a special place because of you!

Tree Trimming, Car Windows & Poison Ivy

2009-07-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

As you are all reading in this blog, the process of Holy Trinity Montessori forming has presented me with so many blessings. Blessings that are far beyond my dreams! Well, however, last weekend, July 4th weekend provided me with my first "hard" weekend!! I wish I had taken a picture of what happened, but I did not. Mike and I planned to spend July 3rd at the church cleaning up brush, poison ivy and dead limbs on the trees. The property at Holy Trinity Lutheran is so beautiful, but a large undertaking for any soul. It is 7 acres of beautiful "farmland" that has old, large oak trees. The grounds are so perfect for a Montessori school, however the poison ivy and weeds are not! So, my family packed up for the day, headed to the church to WORK!!! Well, after being at the church for a bit, we realized we needed a few rakes from home. So, I went home grabbed the rakes and quickly returned to the church. I got the girls out of the car, took out the rakes, leaned the rake against the left side of the car and proceeded to close the back hatch of my SUV. WELL, when I closed the back, the rake fell and went THROUGH the back window SHATTERING the window!!!!!! I was covered in glass standing behind my car thinking.....I do not think I could have done that if I tried and WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!!!

So as Mike and I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up glass and TAPING my window we realized we were not going to get much done! We ended up returning later in the day to finish our work.

After we worked the rest of the day and a couple of other times over the weekend, I broke out in poison ivy on my arm, leg and back!!! My mom ended up getting spots of it also! My mom, Karla, has been an unbelievable help through this whole process! So, the weekend ended with a taped window, poison ivy (with a prescription) and trimmed trees!!!

We are hoping to have more luck this next week !!! The shelves are coming... look for more after Thursday..... all shelves will be here by Thursday!

My Logo

2009-07-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Many of you have seen my logo, which I just added to the blog...but I wanted to make sure that I give Chris Veit the credit he deserves in designing my logo. Chris is a great family friend, who sat down with me to hear my vision for the logo. Here is what Chris had to work with.... "ok..no primary colors, no children hands in a circle and no cheesy preschool "stuff", that's about all... oh and can we have a trillium somewhere in there..." and, Chris said.. " I got it " and designed this. Unreal!

Now, there was a story to the flower which is called a trillium. One evening before the HT church vote, we ( meaning my family) were sitting at my mom and dad's trying to brain storm idea names for the school. We were all over the place with ideas about Montessori, Italy, threes( which is a Montessori thing) ect. Mike was on the internet searching, and said out of nowwhere there is a flower that represents the Trilogy..it is called a trillium. We all thought for a minute and went through some names with the trillium. I somewhat tucked this idea in my head... The next week HTL voted and their ONLY request is that I kept HT somewhere in the name, which I was more than happy to do! So, once we had the name Holy Trinity Montessori it made perfect sense to add the flower in the logo. A few weeks passed and I sat down to research the meaning of the trillium, and a Native American Legend popped up in my goggle search. What I found was amazing..

I can't write the whole legend, so you have to google it and let me know what you think. I was very moved and knew that the trillium would need to be in the logo, so like I said earlier... no this, no that.. and oh my what Chris created is beautiful and perfect! My mom and I came up with the tag words, which again was not hard to do.. it says it all PEACE, KNOWLEDGE, FAITH!! So, between, my fam, Mike, Chris, my mom and a great legend I have a logo that I LOVE!! Thanks all! And Chris you are very talented!! Thank you for vision, patience and hard work. I LOVE IT!!

Road Trip- Vol 2- Atlanta-IKEA

2009-06-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

After our great lunch and visit at the Eaves house, we traveled on to Atlanta to IKEA. We arrived about 4:00pm and stayed until the lights went out at 9:00pm. I have to say that Mike, my husband, was such a trooper to not only go to IKEA, but stay 4 hours.... and not even shopping for us! We got everything from pitchers to baskets, small bowls to buckets. IKEA is a great resource for any Montessori Classroom or school! We had a great time filling two and a half carts! I do have to say that I received LOTS of interesting looks pushing two carts! I think people were a bit concerned about how many items we were purchasing! I had to keep saying, "Oh, I am opening a school in the Fall" and then I would get, " I was wondering WHY you had three carts!!" Thanks to Mike for hanging in there with me... and helping me make a lot of little, but big decisions for the classroom!

Road Trip- Vol 1- Signal Mountain

2009-06-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Mike and I packed the girls for an overnight with my Mom, Dad and Lollie and set out for a trip to Chattanooga and Atlanta. We left Nashville at about 9:00 on Saturday, and arrived at Signal Mt. around 12:30. The drive was beautiful despite the heat and the traffic was easy, which is rare! Why were we traveling to Signal Mt.? Well, Farrell Eaves, the woodworker and father of my friend, Meg Manning was ready for us to visit his place to see the shelving "in process". I know as I write on this blog, I discover many realities as a type... the reality of my dream coming true, the reality of the work behind me, the work ahead of me and the 27 smiling faces that will begin school on Aug, 17th. But, what I felt when I walked into Mr. Eaves's 4000 sq ft. woodworking shop was beyond words. All I can say is that I was truly brought to tears. My eyes welled up with tears, my heart sank and my mouth dropped open. You cannot imagine this beautiful wood shop nested in this amazing garden/woods on top of Signal Mt.

I felt as though I was entering a retreat center... it was beautiful. The wood shop in itself was amazing, and the work that Mr. Eaves and his dear friend, Mike are completing on these shelves is amazing. The shelving, as seen above, is beyond any drawing or picture I could provide. After we toured the wood shop, Fern, or Mrs. Eaves had prepared a great lunch of sandwiches and coleslaw. Thanks Fern for the yummy lunch! While we were at The Eaves house we heard more about the shelves and what has gone into the process.....

The work that these men have put into these shelves is unbelievable. It is hard to express to all that have helped my true appreciation for these "gifts". As much as I say Thank you to everyone involved in the HTM process, it feels as though I can never show or say how truly grateful I am. I get teary-eyed when I think about all those that are helping me daily and it is overwhelming. Why me is what goes through my head each day? How have I been given such a wonderful gift? I am and will always be grateful to Farrell and Mike, and all the others who have helped with the shelving. Many "little" hands will touch these shelves for years to come, what a gift you have given the children. Thank you always, your dear friend, Kate.

Sinks and Toilets !!

2009-06-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Check out the sinks and toilets!!!

I thought for all of those who were thinking how great can toilets and sinks be... you have to see these pictures! Have you ever seen a sink that small... It is great! You have to see it in person to truly appreciate what creating a "children's house" means.

Thank you to the wonderful gentlemen from the "construction team" who donated their time, energy and dedication to seeing this construction project to the very end! The appreciation that I feel cannot be expressed in words. The joy and independence that the children will experience will last a lifetime..... Thank you to all those who have given so much!!

The Chairs are in!

2009-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the pictures of the first large order that came in this last week. The chairs are here!! Thank you to wonderful family friends, Ken and Mary Jo Innis who donated the funds for the chairs. They are beautiful, wood child-size chairs for the Toddler and Primary classroom. My "team" of support have been helping me assemble the chairs this week. My nieces, Alex and Anna, have become woodworking pros putting together chairs at record speed! (Girls, Grandaddy Seng would be proud!! I know he is in heaven looking down smiling his sweet smile watching all the woodworking projects! He was a woodworker all of his life! ) Watching these small, but wonderful steps develop in the classroom is so exciting. I am so excited and ready to have the wonderful families and children who are enrolled begin the school/program. I feel not only honored to have them, but truly blessed! August is to close... just around the corner!

Memorial Day Weekend....

2009-06-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day was spent painting! We painted and painted and painted some more.... Luckily, Mike and I were joined by an amazing crew of support to help with what we all thought would be a small paint job! After the planned 3-4 cans of paint were gone, we soon realized that our small paint job would last long into the weekend. The walls soaked up much more paint then expected!! Our family members; Brett, Laura, Alex, Anna; our friends, Claudia, Jonathan, Meg, Matt and Dennis, a Holy Trinity Church member, made up the wonderful crew of support. Jonathan and Claudia, our dearest friends, "stopped" by to help us cut off the door in the bathroom and stayed ALL day to help paint! Thank you guys and Claud sorry about the paint on your nice pants!! Our neighbors and future HTM parents, Matt and Meg each dedicated a full day of work! Thanks you to each of you... Meg loves to paint the trim and Matt was quite the roller. And, yes to my dear family who have taken on this HTM idea with amazing support, I thank you again and again! And, to Dennis, thank you for all your help! Dennis spent all day helping which was such a gift. Thank you all.. the paint is done!!

Remodeling Begins!!

2009-05-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

So as you can see above.... Remodeling is under way. The picture with the yellow wall is the Toddler Classroom. The other three pictures are the Primary Classroom. The walls are out and the plumbing is in! The classrooms are filled with natural light and free open space. It is very exciting to see this progress.... I cannot wait for more to come! The painting of the classrooms will begin this weekend, with the Primary class being painted a natural, sand color. The Toddler room is being painted a soft, sage green color. The classrooms are beautiful and will only become more beautiful as the shelving and materials arrive. I look forward to sharing this beautiful space with each of you! I will attach more pictures later this week so everyone can see the progress. Thank you for all the support and excitement about the school, I feel the wonderful energy with each step!

And the story continues...

2009-05-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

So, the story continues.... I shared in my last two posts about the signs. The signs I could not ignore, but what about all the people that have come into my life since October. The people who I have met at Holy Trinity Lutheran would be the first to mention. The people of HT Lutheran have been amazing and very supportive. In October, when I presented to the church council I was greeted with joy, excitement and enthusiasm. I could not believe as I sat presenting to this open minded group of people, not only did a number of the church members know about Montessori but their own children had attended Montessori schools as children. This is unheard of in Nashville, other parts of the country have large, strong pockets of Montessori Education, but Nashville is different. There are a growing number of schools, but not until recently when Belmont opened their teacher training program did Montessori grow and gain more community support. So, to have members of the church excited about the program was one step... but they were equally excited about Montessori. What dream was I in? or maybe What reality show was filming me? When would this fall apart? Could this be REAL? Could this be the place I had been waiting for all these years....?

At this point in my journey, I was shocked!! We moved from council meetings to congregational presentations to more meetings to forming a Montessori planning team to more meetings to the final day, March 29th. (And, yes for all that know, the day after my sister Laura's wedding. everyone knew but Laura and Brandon.. did not want the weekend to be about HT, but about Laura & Brandon!! ) So, on March 29th at 9:30 am ... my world changed. Mike and I arrived for the congregational presentation and vote. After the team presented and I answered questions, it was time to vote. The council called for the vote, my heart sank and then it happened .... "All in favor, say (I)" ....all I heard were loud voices chiming in. And then I knew it had to be next, " All opposed, ................... Nothing !!! SILENCE.... Did he say all opposed??? where were they? it was silent!! No opposition?? Could this be true. And it was .... a UNANIMOUS vote !!!! Loud cheering and clapping began ,followed by many members of the congregation hugging each other and then many of them hugging and shaking hands with me. I was overwhelmed with joy!!! I did not believe this day could happen. With so many other broken roads to here, I could not believe where I was standing and with the wonderful task before me! A dear friend of mine from years past, Marcus Hummon wrote an amazing song, many of you know, saying, " ...and God bless the broken road that led me straight to you. " I believe we are all on a journey with many roads and paths, but this day, March 29th was a day that started a new path for me... and God has truly blessed this road.

So I said there was a sign...

2009-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

So, in my last post, I talked about a sign. For all of those who wanted to know what kind of a sign I was referring to .. here it is!! This sign has changed my life, the life of my girls and the life of my family. I have so much to be thankful for and so many people who have helped me to this point in my life. To name them all, I am not sure where to begin. Would it be the woman, who I do not even know her name, from Xavier who introduced me to Montessori Education? Would it be all the wonderful people at Abintra Montessori who allowed me to be all that I could be in my classroom and in the school? Would it be my wonderful and supportive husband, Mike, who has always encouraged me to believe in my dream, no matter what? Would it be my mom, dad and sisters who have always heard by Montessori lecture and jargon and still believed in me? Would it be Dr. Merrie King at Belmont University who encouraged me always to follow my heart? Would it be all the amazing family friends, especially, Ken and Mary Jo who have listened, dreamed and acted on my passion for Montessori? Like I said the list is long and no where near complete... they are many who I have left out. Many who have helped, encouraged and believed in me.... friends, families and strangers.

So, to see a sign.... it is much more. There have been many signs, but just one stood out more than all the others, it just happened to be a red/white sign with the words... need a place to meet!!

A Sign.... ?

2009-05-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

To begin the story.. I must start back in October or maybe it all began years ago as I was graduating from Xavier University and returning to Nashville. After teaching for 10 years at a local Montessori school and working part time as adjunct faculty at Belmont University, I knew that I wanted to open a school of my own. A Montessori school that served children Toddler age through Kindergarten. But not just any Montessori School, I wanted to add the Christian component which I had learned so much about in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Curriculum.

So, in mid-October, my mom was driving here in Nashville just a half mile from our home when she passed a small Lutheran church (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church) with a sign stating...

" Looking for a place to meet." At once, my mom called me and asked if I had seen the sign, and as a matter of fact, I had seen it earlier that week on my way to church. I called the church asking what does this sign mean? I was eagerly invited to a "town hall meeting" from the pastor, John Stirewalt. When no one else showed up, a wonderful couple, the Millers, that were leading the meeting decided that we would go ahead.... in looking back, I know they had NO IDEA what I was about to say, "I am here to see if you have space to open a school."

Silence.....................followed by smiles!!! We all starting talking a mile a minute and before long, I was walking down the "unused" Sunday school wing (photo above). I was shocked at the beauty of the space, it was beautiful and built as though it was waiting for a school, not any school - a Montessori school, with natural wood beams and concrete floors. The natural light was clear and crisp, beaming through the hallway of windows. I could not believe this space much less the welcoming spirit of all the people I would meet next.