Dear Montessori Families and Staff,
In the summer of 1988, when the Child's Work Center and The Norwalk Day Nursery merged and moved to Whipple Road, the name "The Montessori School" was selected as a simple expression of what our school is: a Montessori school. This allowed our community to fully focus on the important work of educating students, and thus, the temporary name took hold. After all, excellence in Montessori education has always been at the heart of our mission. Our school periodically took up the question of a more meaningful and permanent name, but it wasn't until the past few years that the Board of Trustees set an intentional goal to name our school. The first part of this work, finding a name, is now complete.
The Naming Group was supported by members of the Harvard Business School Alumni Community Partners. As Montessorians, we place high value on process, and accordingly, the Naming Group's work was inclusive, thorough, and thoughtful. The early stages involved detailed information gathering, including surveys and personal conversations to collect reflective, personal, and pragmatic input from over 100 parents, staff, students, alumni, past parents and staff, and friends of our school. Utilizing and analyzing this valuable input, the group generated, debated, discussed, refined, and tested dozens of names. The parameters ensured that each potential name evoked our community's values, culture, child-centered focus, and natural surroundings.
The decision-making timeline was extended due to the challenges of the last year, and in April the group presented their final name recommendations to the full Board. On April 26, the Board unanimously voted on this new name for our school. The process of implementing the name change will occur over the next year.
In true Montessori fashion, we thought it most fitting that our students announce our school's name. (CLICK HERE)
In gratitude and celebration,
The Board of Trustees
Sharon Grace, President Priscilla Graham, Vice President Britt Whelpley, Treasurer Julia Vinokur, Secretary Jen Ancker Whelen Alfonsina Betancourt Adriana Carpio-Somma Laura Case Jaime Contreras David Godfrey Mary Ellen Kranzlin Victor Llanque Lisa B.A.Potter, Head of School Archana Narayanan Maria Sadova Hilary Scheler Wanda Stockfisch, Business Manager Gwenna Williamson
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