Does any of the children in your family attend a Montessori School? Many of our black and brown parents report having never heard of Montessori schools, but they have been around for years. What is now known as Montessori Education was established by a woman named Maria Montessori, whose idea was to create an environment embracing the holistic approach to each child, fostering lifelong explorative and self-paced learning.

The thing is, the Montessori learning/teaching style is nothing new – ALL of the thousands of the children I’ve worked with over the years were born with that philosophy built right in. The problem presents itself when a child does not conform to the request of the parent, teacher, or both; Punishment is likely to happen before the unsuspecting adult has time to help little Sally or Johnny process the why and what will make the attitude or tantrum go away. Almost 100% of the time, children will tell you what happened if they don’t know how they felt about what happened and why.

In my personal experience, there were no Montessori schools in my neighborhood. Still, I can imagine many parents, teachers, and others have been embracing similar teaching styles without adding Lady Maria Montessori’s name to the mix. But, I digress. The desired outcome is to raise conscious and good productive citizens in the world with something to offer someone else. It doesn’t always work out that way, but this Chosen Visionary in the HOT-Seat has made it her life’s work to develop young people worldwide. She shares her story of overcoming barriers to being one of the first black folks to open a Montessori school in Connecticut and the only one in both the Hill and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.

Notable Accomplishments

• Black Owned Enterprise Business
• Community Organizing Guru
• First Black Woman to Open Montessori School in New Haven, CT
• Howard University Alum (Fine Arts)
• She is a Grandma
• Woman-Owned Enterprise Business