Moving Outdoors
Campaign Introduction:
The Montessori Schoolhouse Outdoor Classroom Project
- Our Story
- Contributors
- Updates
- Discussion
Campaign Story
About Us:
The Montessori Schoolhouse, founded in 1989, moved to its current location on Hurricane Road in Keene, NH in 2015. As a Montessori School, we embrace the unique facets of Montessori education that continue to remain relevant in our modern world, including a strong focus on grace, courtesy, peace education, independence, and wonder at the natural world.
Our Project:
Currently the Montessori Schoolhouse’s primary curriculum is indoors. A growing concern in education is counteracting the effect of technology on children. Research demonstrates that time spent outdoors will facilitate this. With that in mind, we aim to provide areas in our outdoor classroom that will inspire our children to enjoy and appreciate nature.
Dr. Maria Montessori said, “The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the earth.” With your help, this can be achieved.
We endeavor to create an Outdoor Classroom that will ignite our children’s imagination. We seek to transform our outside space into a place that will connect our students to nature while instilling in them an appreciation for art, gardening, and community. By designing thoughtful outdoor spaces, we hope to emphasize social-emotional and physical development, which leads to better attention and focus for academic learning.
Through the community’s support, we will broaden our educational offering in order to appeal to more students and to offer an enriched preschool experience. We will seek to open our space to other schools as a model for what nature based education can offer. Connecting young children to the outside to interact with nature has tangible benefits to growth and development in early childhood. This kind of connection is clearly needed in our technology-focused lives.
Campaign Contributions
Name | Location | Date |
---|---|---|
Jennifer & Jason Gardner | Chesterfield, NH | May 01, 2018 |
Deborah Ganley | Keene, NH | April 26, 2018 |
Lisa Putnam | Walpole, NH | April 25, 2018 |
, | April 22, 2018 | |
Kim Vincent | Laramie, WY | April 20, 2018 |
Jamie White | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Diptanil Paul | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Chris Mills | Keene, New Hampshire | April 19, 2018 |
Cuilin Sheridan | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Paula Lennerton | Winchendon, MA | April 19, 2018 |
Jennifer Risley | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Sara Valego | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Josef Hanlon | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Iselin Family | Keene, NH | April 19, 2018 |
Julia Bean | Spofford, NH | April 18, 2018 |
Jason Veith | Keene, NH | April 18, 2018 |
emily mills | Keene, NH | April 18, 2018 |
Emily Goldsmith | Keene, NH | April 17, 2018 |
Peter Cashman | Shelton, CT | April 17, 2018 |
Sue Greene | Lancaster , NH | April 16, 2018 |
Lisa Budzik | Swanzey, NH | April 12, 2018 |
Christine Curtis | Keene, NH | April 11, 2018 |
Linda Bean | Nelson, NH | April 10, 2018 |
Mark Fryberger | Chesterfield, NH | April 10, 2018 |
Castine Clerkin | Keene, NH | April 10, 2018 |
Michael Klueh | Indianapolis, IN | April 10, 2018 |
Jaime McGuigan | Marlow, NH | April 10, 2018 |
Matt Vestal | Keene, NH | April 10, 2018 |
Nick Glimenakis | New York, NY | April 09, 2018 |
Stephanie Connell | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Kate Gomarlo | West Swanzey, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Lisa Gray | Alstead, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Marisa Bond | Washington, DC | April 09, 2018 |
Priyanka Choudhary | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Danielle Rix | Royalston , MA | April 09, 2018 |
Maryann Rowell | North Salem, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Lisa LeBlanc | Sullivan, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Sarah Hudon | Hinsdale, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Daniel Rote | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Lysa Wilder | The Villages, FL | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Brenna Iselin | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Rebecca Baldini | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Nicole Ebbighausen | Hinsdale, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Stacie Hixson | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Brian McDermott | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Carl & Tricia Gildemeister | Spofford, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Anonymous | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Lauren Parker | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Mary Connell | Danbury, CT | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Melanie Johnstone | Fitzwilliam, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Kathy Glimenakis | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 | |
Laxmi Velchala | Keene, NH | April 09, 2018 |
Julie Webster | Natick, MA | April 08, 2018 |
Russ and Judy Florenz | Paris, ME | April 07, 2018 |
Irene Friedrichs | Swarthmore , PA | April 07, 2018 |
Sandra Gaspardino | North Walpole, NH | April 07, 2018 |
Warren Steinberg | Keene, NH | April 07, 2018 |
elaine mazgelis | melrose, MA | April 07, 2018 |
Anonymous | Newport , RI | April 06, 2018 |
Sarah Florenz | Medford, MA | April 06, 2018 |
Helaine Iris | Spofford, NH | April 05, 2018 |
Allison Wyatt | Spofford, NH | April 03, 2018 |
Mark & Alona Florenz | Keene, NH | April 02, 2018 |
Kelly Sosa | West Chesterfield, NH | April 02, 2018 |
Bond Family | Keene, NH | April 01, 2018 |
Victoria Leighton | Lilburn, GA | April 01, 2018 |
Emily Mills | Keene, NH | April 01, 2018 |
C&S Wholesale Grocers | , NH | March 16, 2018 |
Campaign Updates
-
03-04-2018
Our first 48 hours
In our first 48 hours we have received more than $1900! Thank you for you efforts in getting the word out and your donations! We appreciate all of the backers for our campaign!
We have seen this campaign spread all the way to Georgia, and we hope that we will continue to see the support of our community grow even further to reach our goal.
Thank you for your support by donation, and we are really looking forward to seeing us reach our final goal!
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10-04-2018
4/9 Monday Madness Success!
We did it – wait – YOU DID IT!
A huge thank you to each of you who donated during Monday Madness – we far surpassed our goal! We received $2025.00 donated by you, and that was matched with the $1000.00 from Wyatt & Associates to give us a total of $3025.00 donated in 24 hours!
We are now at 76% of our goal – Whahoo!
I am continued to be amazed by this community. I know that we will hit our goal, and hope that you all will continue to share our mission and goal with others in your community.
Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
The Staff and Board of Montessori Schoolhouse, and all the children!
-
17-04-2018
A Humble Beginning
The Montessori Schoolhouse of Cheshire County, Inc. was founded in July 1989 by a group of parents who wanted the best possible education for their preschoolers. They wanted their children to learn in a loving, relaxed, and nurturing environment, and they felt the Montessori teaching method was the best choice to achieve that goal. They proceeded to incorporate and register MSHOCC as a 501(c)3 non-profit school and licensed childcare provider with the state of New Hampshire. This dedicated group of parents formed the first Board of Directors.
We had a quite a large preschool class our second year!
The work was daunting, but the founding group of parents located industrial space in Westmoreland and completely renovated it for MSHOCC’s first “home.” The school started with one small preschool class and, after relocating to the Keene Unitarian Church on Washington Street in 1991, expanded to include a toddler class. The new location provided a better outdoor playground, convenient downtown location, and additional rooms for school activities and events. Pre and After-care were now offered, and in the summer of 1995, the school added four weeks of 3-day camp for current students.
Celebrating our 10th Anniversary!
In 2004 camp was expanded to 8 full weeks and opened up to non-students.
By 2012 we were experiencing growing pains.
We needed more classrooms, more outdoor space, more parking… more of everything! The dream was a home of our own, something more befitting of a Montessori school. A place that would provide a “home-like” environment and lots of green space, so the search began!
We found a beautiful large homestead on 1.74 acres in West Keene, and fell in love. It offered gorgeous well-lit rooms, a large sun porch, and lots of outdoor space with endless possibilities. So in July 2014, exactly 25 years later, we closed on the property at 28 Hurricane Road.
Over the next year the property underwent remodeling and preparations… rooms were opened up, handicap entrance and parking lots were added, sprinkler and fire system were installed, and parents and staff worked nights and weekends painting, installing fencing, and laboring to get it ready for inspections and the big move. Finally, in May 2015, it was ready and we moved in!
This May marks our third full year at 28 Hurricane Road. It has been a busy three years, and both enrollment and staff have been steadily growing as we work towards achieving all that we envision for the school.
The next step in our journey is to make the most of the green space surrounding the school. A huge thank you to each of you who have already donated to make this dream come true!
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20-04-2018
We did it!
We called on you, and YOU ANSWERED!
We want to express the deepest gratitude to each of you who donated and has supported this campaign. It is a huge representation of the generosity of this community and we are so grateful for your support.
We hit our goal of $8000.00 only 19 days in to the month long campaign!
The campaign will continue on through the end of the month, with April 30 as the last day. And we hope that we will continue to see support.
This means so much to the children of the Montessori Schoolhouse, and I know that as we begin to purchase the items in our budget they will reap all the nature play benefits of your support.
We truly can’t do it without such a powerful and generous community of parents, relatives, alumni, and friends.
We thank each of you from the very tip of our toes to the top of our heads, with full hearts.THANK YOU!
On behalf of the Montessori Schoolhouse Staff and Board, and all the grateful children,
Christina Klueh
Board VP
Campaign Discussion
Rewards
$100
Library Bag
A nicely designed 100% cotton tote designed with the Montessori Schoolhouse logo will help you carry library books, groceries or everyday items, a Special Montessori Logo Magnet for your fridge, an Elegantly Designed Montessori School Pen, and Child Designed Thank You Note

$250
Naming Rights to a Part of the Outdoor Classroom
We will be able to put up your name or family on a plaque in a specific part of our outdoor classroom. Including picnic tables, planter boxes, the labyrinth, peace garden and orchard.
This will also include a nicely designed 100% cotton tote with the Montessori Schoolhouse Logo to carry books, groceries or everyday items, a Special Montessori Logo Magnet for your fridge, an Elegantly Designed Montessori School Pen, and Child Designed Thank You Note

$500
Engraved Stone in the Pathway
Put your name on an beautifully engraved stone that will forever be in the new walkway.
This will also include a nicely designed 100% cotton tote with Montessori Schoolhouse Logo to carry books, groceries or everyday items, a Special Montessori Logo Magnet for your fridge, an Elegantly Designed Montessori School Pen, and Child Designed Thank You Note

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