Company Spotlight: Montessori School of Marion

The Gazette and Corridor Careers bring you a week-long event spotlighting exceptional companies in Eastern Iowa. This virtual series will highlight each company’s professional skillset, relationship with their employees, and ideologies.

About Montessori School of Marion

Montessori School of Marion provides genuine Montessori education for children from 10 weeks to 9 years old. Our focus is to equip children with foundational skills that they will carry on for the rest of their lives through a rich and expansive curriculum that advances with the child at their unique pace under the guidance of a skillful and committed teacher.

We guide the whole child's development by providing an authentic Montessori education. MSM blends a high-quality Montessori approach with a wealth of cultural flair to cultivate the child’s independence, natural curiosity, awareness of the environment, and empathy for others while instilling social grace and promoting healthy confidence. In this rich, holistic environment, children can become self-directed, lifelong learners capable of achieving their full potential.

Not only is our Montessori philosophy beneficial to the children we serve, but it is also transformative to the adults in our community—–parents and teachers. It forms stronger familial bonds, cultivates more peaceful households, and equips adults with tools to forge respectful relationships with the children entrusted to them.

MSM has been a model of early childhood learning in Iowa for the past eight years. We have always remained consistent with authentic Montessori values and kept our reputation of excellence, as shown by our being the only American Montessori Society Accredited school in Iowa.

Describe your company’s culture in three words. What do these words mean in everyday practice?

Our Core Values:

Seek the best interest of the child.

Every practice at MSM, from daily classroom decisions to leadership decisions at the highest level, considers the child's best interest and seeks to honor our students’ needs.

Adhere to authentic Montessori principles.

The Montessori name is not legally protected and can be used by anyone regardless of practice or knowledge. As firm believers in the efficacy of the Montessori method, MSM strives to follow the most genuine Montessori principles. Requisites such as adequately trained staff, mixed age groups, authentic materials, uninterrupted work cycles, etc., are not just required by our accredited body, AMS, but are characteristics we cherish and love to implement fully. Our community believes in authentic Montessori because we have seen it work!

Practice integrity

We recognize that a successful partnership and community are built upon trust. Similarly, MSM and all our staff appreciate the great honor that parents choose to trust us with their most precious assets: their children. From how we guide the children to how we collaborate with staff and incorporate parents, integrity forms the basis of all our efforts at MSM.

How can someone continue to grow their skillsets and professional path while working for your company?

As Montessorians, we don’t view children as lifelong learners; we view adults as well! Committing to a career in Montessori education is a commitment to continued growth, introspective improvement, and daily personal development.

Montessori teachers aren’t just child caretakers but trained and respected professional educators who curate high-quality learning environments for their students. MSM highly values our staff members' commitment to the success of our school and its students. We are committed to providing each teacher with in-house and external in-person training as a school.

Every lead teacher receives subsidized 2-year accredited Montessori teacher training and access to an annual trip to the AMS Montessori conference. All teachers receive regular professional development days, workshops, daily support from leadership and colleagues, monthly reviews, and more support to be the most effective and confident in their classroom. Skillful teachers are part of the magic of the Montessori method.

Our staff are highly trained professionals who are well-respected in the educational landscape. Our teachers' desire to learn and remain at the forefront of Montessori leadership and authentic practice has allowed them to become experts in their field. As a result, they present the Montessori method bimonthly at our Parent Information Nights and other state and nationwide Montessori events.

Due to our elevated level of accreditation and professional impact, MSM is also looking to set up a Montessori Teacher Training Center in Iowa to further the transformative work of Dr. Montessori’s methods and help more children. This would open even greater possibilities for our staff’s professional development and provide opportunities for them to teach adult learners, too.

What does work-life balance look like for employees within your organization?

Consistency is essential, not only to the children we serve but also to our teachers. They can benefit from set, dependable schedules that allow them to get home earlier than a traditional 9-5.

Similarly, our staff enjoys extensive paid school holiday time, which amounts to about 22 days over a 9.5-month school year and 2 months off in the summer. Generous tuition discounts for children and grandchildren of full-time employees also allow for greater work-life balance for the working moms we employ.

Please share a recent employee success story. What set this person up for success, and what does their success mean for the company?

Indeed, all our teachers are a success story. Each one has undeniably affected the growth and development of her students––helping them become confident, capable, and respectful individuals. To us, that is the greatest success.

Further, we would like to highlight our Bambini Lead Directress, Wendy Toothaker.

Ms. Wendy was previously educated as an Elementary Teacher in a traditional school setting. However, she fell in love with Montessori education once she saw our environment and joined MSM as an assistant teacher. The Montessori principles of treating even very young children with respect and supporting children's individual development resonated deeply with Wendy.

Having become passionate about what she saw in the classroom, Wendy wanted to be part of the bigger picture and pursued formal and intensive Montessori training. After completing her out-of-state, fully accredited Montessori training by MACTE (AMS), Ms. Wendy established MSM’s Bambini and Nido programs. As a result, MSM expanded our school from the 3-6 age group down to toddlers and infants ages. Her detailed training and the supportive MSM environment gave her the tools and help she needed to cultivate a thriving 0-3 program. Along with the help of her skillful assistant, Jennifer Rosene, the two have touched the lives of countless children and families, providing them with a rich early educational experience. Because of their desire to succeed, our community has received help from the opportunity to be offered authentic Montessori education starting at an early age.

Similarly, Ms. Elizabeth, our Casa lead teacher, has been a success of MSM and contributed to our joint success. Elizabeth has a background in academia having previously received her PhD in French and Francophone World Studies from the University of Iowa. Her Montessori journey began as a parent at MSM when asked to give French lessons to the children. After seeing Montessori in action, she fell in love with the method and decided to pursue a career as a Montessori teacher. Throughout her time at MSM, Elizabeth has worked in both the Casa and Nido programs. She loves seeing the continuity of the Montessori philosophy as it is applied to infants, toddlers, and young children.

In 2021, Elizabeth received her AMS and MACTE certified diploma for Montessori at the primary level (3-6) from the Montessori Teacher Education Program at the University of Wisconsin River Falls.

What is your company's position regarding philanthropy and community engagement?

Through the same program, she also received a Master's in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in Montessori. These accomplishments have allowed her to present her work at Montessori events. She has brought her skills and love of learning to the Casa room she leads—helping to continue MSM’s sustainable model of success.

The Montessori model is deeply rooted in meaningful community engagement and philanthropy. MSM engages in these avenues at the managerial level and with the involvement of the children. A part of MSM’s revenues support a variety of local and international non-profits that look to support underprivileged children. We feel this is part of our duty to help support children and our extensive daily efforts within our school.

Within our building, MSM is pleased to have always been able to offer both free and reduced tuition to families in need. Similarly, we provide free tutoring and speech therapy to students and non-students.

MSM also supports Montessori's efforts to promote the method internationally through organizations such as the American Montessori Society.

As part of our community engagement, we love hosting quarterly Parent Information Nights for our school community. These allow our parents to learn more about the method, how they may implement Montessori at home, and how to incorporate best practices to support their children’s needs.

Similarly, MSM offers Montessori + Me to help parents from our community at large. This prenatal course introduces expecting parents to the Montessori method and guides them in implementing it at home in the lives of their pre-born and newborn. They will be taught how to support their child’s natural development to raise children respectfully, encouraging growth and independence.

Our students also engage in a significant amount of community engagement through the Montessori curriculum, which seeks to help the child understand their place in the community and become great citizens of the world. Field trips to local venues are imperative to the child’s educational experience. Monthly trips to the library, ice arena, orchestra, nature center, farms, museum, etc., provide the child with real experiences to support learning and connect them with the community.

The children also engage in philanthropic efforts such as collecting and hand-delivering donations to our local food pantry.

How are innovation and creativity encouraged in the workplace?

Creativity is one of the hallmarks of a Montessori teacher. It takes an innovative spirit to manage the classroom's needs as a whole and support each child's unique developmental stage. Preparing the classroom, creating new materials, planning monthly themes, and engaging each child’s interest all leave room for creative practices. Similarly, we regularly engage in innovative thinking and creative problem-solving when deciding how to serve our students best and create opportunities for their discovery while maintaining peaceful, engaging environments.

What would be a typical response if asked why an employee enjoys working at your company?

Our teachers love that the Montessori School of Marion is an exciting, growing, and gratifying workplace. It is not an overstatement to say that they are changing lives. Our teachers see Montessori magic at work daily as they build fulfilling and trusting relationships with their coworkers and students. Unlike other educational systems, Montessori allows the teacher to work closely with each of her students and enjoy seeing their learning discoveries every day. Our teachers love this aspect of their work as our passion is for the children and their growth.

They enjoy being part of our community of passionate educators who are dedicated to the ideals of an authentic Montessori education. While they understand the responsibility and gravity of our mission, they also find joy in their day-to-day experiences.

Our teachers love that our environments are beautiful, engaging, and inviting. As a team, we seek to cultivate a work culture that is unusually supportive, friendly, driven, flexible, and free of disparagement. Similarly, our teachers enjoy collaborating with supportive parents who look to bring Montessori practices home.

When asked about why they love MSM and have been with us for so long, our teachers are quick to point out that it has changed their lives. They reflect on how they have become better, more effective people in the classroom and all areas of their lives. Our staff proves that Montessori transforms lives, not just the children's but ours.

Learn more about Montessori School of Marion on their website.

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Visit The Gazette’s Company Spotlight each day during the week of April 8-12 to learn more about area businesses.

– Monday, April 8 - All Company Showcase

– Tuesday, April 9 - Montessori School of Marion

– Wednesday, April 10 - Engie

– Thursday, April 11 - Greg’s Lawn & Landscaping

– Friday, April 12 - All Company Showcase

Join us to learn more about what makes each company unique and envision yourself fitting in with their team.