Montessori Set To Move To Main St.

Newtown Montessori School has begun the new year with a $600,000 capital campaign to consolidate the preschool and elementary divisions of the school on a single campus on the former Gordon Fraser property on South Main Street (Route 25).

When completed, the 42,000-square-foot renovated building will make it possible to provide additional preschool and elementary classes as well as new toddler and middle school programs.

Under the campaign name “The Small School Advantage—It Keeps on Growing,” leadership is being provided by Mario DeVivo as honorary chairman and Kathleen Stowell as campaign chairman. Both are board members with a long history of involvement with the school, and Kathleen Stowell is the current chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Also serving on the Campaign Executive Committee are David D’Addario, Eileen Fish, Barbara Hastings, Linda Hallinan, and Myriam Woods, the head of Newtown Montessori School.

Thirty-one years ago, Newtown Montessori School was founded by a group of parents, with 20 children in a single preschool class. The mission was to create an educational environment where children might discover learning as an exciting lifelong experience.

 Today, under the guidance of the Head Myriam Woods, the original mission is still valid with the enrollment of 120 boys and girls in preschool through sixth grade, plus before-and after-school programs.

Once established on the new campus, enrollment will gradually expand to 265.