Celebrating our 50 Year Anniversary

Rachel Cordaro created this special painting to commemorate WMS's 50th Anniversary.

Our Roots Run Deep

Webster Montessori School is celebrating its 50th Anniversary! We have roots in the community and in the lives of families, and they run deep.  We have educated hundreds of children. We have touched the lives of thousands of children, families, parents, grandparents, staff, and community members. We have children enrolled here whose parents attended Webster Montessori School a generation ago.  The roots of our school family are deep and that is something to celebrate!

Our Branches are Strong

Our roots are our legacy.  They support the branches of our tree.  Those branches are strong.  We are bigger than ever.  We have more students, more families, and more staff in our community than we have had in 50 years.  Our branches reach wide as our alumni spread all over this state, nation, and world.  Our branches represent our school.

Our Leaves are Abundant

It is our deep roots and our strong branches that give us the most important part of our tree: its leaves.  This tender new growth appears each year.  It is those new leaves that rely on the rest of the tree.  They are vibrant and tender and seem as a small miracle.  They start so fragile and tiny and unfurl themselves majestic and glorious.  They are like our children; ready to learn and grow and follow their path.  And like the leaves on a tree that require strong branches and deep roots, our children require parents, and schools, and communities to help them grow.  They are the most important part of the tree.

It is all these parts that make the whole. Our roots and our branches are our legacy. They can help us shape and guide the next 50 years. Our leaves are our future. Together we will support the next generations of children. Together we celebrate their growth and development. Together we celebrate their opportunities. Together we look to the next 50 years.

Our Roots Run Deep -- Our Future is Unlimited

To our community, our students and families, and our staff, we say, “Thank you for all your support!”

It's a New School Year!

The 2016-2017 school year is off to a great start!! 

You may have noticed your children are more tired in the afternoon and evening.  This is to be expected as they now spend their days actively meeting new friends, trying out new work, and growing their independence.  It will be an exciting year for them!

It is also an exciting year for Webster Montessori School.  We will begin celebrating our 50th anniversary!  To start, we have updated our school logo to include recognition of this important milestone. We have a number of other exciting events being planned to help us celebrate our 50th anniversary.  You'll hear about these over the next year.

Another exciting project we are working on this year is our playground. We are thrilled to be working with Bears Playgrounds to design a new playground for the children. We will need to spend this year raising money to support this wonderful project. We plan to continue with our usual fundraising events including Dinners Out, Square 1 Art, and Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. 

There may be some additional fundraisers planned so that we can achieve our goal.  If things go according to plan, we expect to have the new playground in place in time for the Year End picnic.  You will see some details of this effort displayed in the school lobby shortly.

All in all, this is such an exciting time in the lives of your children and the school. Thanks for all of your support.

Just a Handshake?

It all started with a handshake; your Webster Montessori School experience.

We greeted you for a tour, welcomed you for a visit, and congratulated you upon your decision to enroll. Your children have started and ended each day with a handshake. In fact, Montessori children around the world shake hands.

But, what is a handshake? Did you know people have been shaking hands for thousands of years? Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that handshaking was practiced in ancient Greece as far back as the 5th century BC. The handshake is thought by some to have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hand holds no weapon.

Did you know you would have to shake nearly 20,000 hands in one day to break a world record?  On August 31, 1987 Stephen Potter from St Albans shook 19,550 hands at the St Albans Carnival to take the World record for shaking most hands verified by the Guinness Book of records. The record has since been exceeded but has been retired from the book. Stephen Potter still holds the British and European record.

And, you’ll need to put in a lot of time to break the world record for longest handshake?  At 8pm on January 14, 2011 the latest attempt at the longest hand-shake commenced in New York Times Square and the existing record was smashed by semi-professional world record-breaker Alastair Galpin and Don Purdon from New Zealand and Nepalese brothers Rohit and Santosh Timilsina who agreed to share the new record after 33 hours and 3 minutes.

My search of the internet shows most cultures across the globe are hand-shakers. Some cultures prefer a firm grip; others a weak one. Some offer a short shake; others continue on and on. Some add in a kiss to the cheek and others include the hug-handshake by using the other hand too. The Boy Scouts shake with their left hands and other groups have developed secret handshakes to help identify one another. The handshake comes in many varieties. It’s global, like our own community here.

Our children understand the grace and courtesy associated with a handshake. They offer their right hand (mostly). They achieve a grip. They make eye contact. Some even smile. And, while this is most often seem as charming and cute coming from a two or three year old, a handshake is an important part of our culture.

Coming from a teenager or 20-something, a handshake is impressive. It should be expected, but these days it’s impressive. As adults, we utilize a handshake to greet those we know and those we are just meeting. It can signal the start of a relationship, the agreement of a deal, and the end of a meeting.

Certainly, around this building we shake a lot of hands. Has your child been here three years?  They have shaken hands nearly 2,000 times. I’d venture to guess many of us adults have not shaken hands that many times in three years. We have some expert hand shakers here.

Seriously, a handshake. It’s our custom and tradition. It started with a greeting. It became our daily welcome. And now, for some, it’s a goodbye.