Lindsay Tasse
Lindsay is the new teacher in Children's House 1. Here are her thoughts on Summit.
Your first impression of Summit - Wow! What a gorgeous and warm environment: I imagine great things happen here.
Your favorite part of the day or week here - The morning work cycles. I am always impressed and never tire of watching the serenity, joy and innocence of the children as they fall in love with the work and materials: especially when THEY least expect it!
A Summit tradition or event that you are looking forward to and why - Night of the Arts because to me, the most adorable and wondrous art is created by children.
What you hope to bring to Summit - As much support, care and love as I can offer
Nancy Schlussel
My first impression of Summit Montessori was, of course, the beautiful building. It was so striking as we drove up the road. Once I went inside it was all the friendly people and the positive energy that really impressed me.
My favorite part of the day is the work period in the morning - I get to spend time with all my students and really learn about what makes them excited to learn.
Mystery History sounds very exciting to me. It'll be fun to participate in this event as well as showing the children how much fun it is to learn in new and different ways.
I hope to bring to Summit meaningful experiences for the students, helping them to learn in the utmost spirit of Montessori - with self-directed enthusiasm and a sense of discovery every day.
Elise Mostello
My first impressions have proven to be true over time - the school has a welcoming environment, in which the members treat everyone (both new and old) like they are part of "the family". Every member of this family community is thoughtful and kind to those around them. It has truly been wonderful working here these first few months.
I'm not sure that I have a favorite part of the day or week; I thoroughly enjoy every moment here. I am lucky enough to get to split my time between Upper El and Lower El, which tends to keep every day new and exciting.
I am really looking forward to 'Mystery History Day'. In college my second major was history and I am a true 'geek' for all things historic. I cannot wait to seek all the different historic figures who will walk through the door!
What you hope to bring to Summit
I hope to bring help and assistance to the busy teachers and students of the Upper & Lower El classrooms.
Sue Ackerman
Summit immediately impressed Nurse Sue as a warm, kind and peaceful environment. Since joining the staff she has continued to be impressed by the warmth of the teachers and the happy sounds of children interacting and learning.
Her favorite parts of the day are the little conversations she has with the students. She enjoys hearing about their views of the world as much as she likes helping to heal their bodies with a band aid or cold pack. They are a delightful friendly group of children.
On her list of anticipated Summit traditions is the Science and Project Fair.
Sue describes her responsibility as that of providing for the general health and safety of the Summit community. She wants to make sure that every child feels safe and that all the parents believe that their children will be cared for with competence and warmth. She hopes that parents will feel that they can come to her with concerns about their children and that they know she will keep them informed of any important health or injury events that affect their child. Sue's professional background is in child development, nursing, advocacy, emergency planning and special needs. This blend of prior experience will greatly benefit the Summit community!
Louise Carroll
As the new Assistant to the Head of School, Louise's first impression of Summit was of the incredible warmth and welcome from the administration, faculty, children and their families.
Her favorite part of the week - lunch duty with Children's House I and II. As an avid reader, it's a thrill to have a child hand you a book, and after a couple of minutes of reading to them, you look up to see a small group of attentive faces eagerly following the story.
Which Summit tradition is she most anticipating? Mystery History Day - sounds like a perfect way to end the busy month of October.
Louise hopes her organizational and coordination skills will help to continue to make Summit a great place to learn and grow.
Antoinette Falzone
During my first few days at Summit, I focused on observing the relationships between the children and their teachers, What I witnessed from the outset was an ethic of care and respect, demonstrated daily by an extraordinary group of teachers and administrators.
Summit truly embraces Maria Montessori's vision as a place of learning, born organically out of love for children... "education is not what the teacher gives, education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experience upon the environment."
If I had to pick a favorite part of the day, it would be snack. I delight in the various conversations between the children of different ages. It offers the opportunity to gain more insight about each child, and allows the children to feel at ease while they explore whatever is on their minds.
I love children -- their exuberance, curiousity, openness, whimsy. I bring my own quest for learning and I am honored to share their afternoons.
