Every School Has a Beginning: The JMA Story
Jefferson Montessori Academy is a school in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The school has had a long history that began when two ladies had an idea to create a different type of school. These women held a public meeting in the school’s current building to show the town what Montessori education is. Montessori education focuses on teaching children the way they naturally learn. Freedom of expression in learning is key.
A few interviews around the school helped our team learn more about the past; now we get to share our findings with you.
In the year 2000, Dr. Patricia Verch and Arlene Standiford came together to start a new school. They learned a new way of learning called the Montessori method. It was created by a woman named Dr. Maria Montessori and has been proven to work. At a town meeting, both women shared their hopes for the school they wanted to provide to the community. Another woman named Cathrynn Brown attended the meeting which was held at the old Eisenhower Middle School’s band room (the school’s current campus.) She happened to live right across the alleyway from the school. Once she heard of the Montessori method she said she was “really intrigued.” Standiford and Verch asked her to volunteer a few hours, which would lead to her involvement in co-founding the school. Since she is an attorney, she said she would review the drafted application for a charter.
Although it may seem easy to create a school in a small town, the public school system was reluctant. The school board, according to Brown, was un-conforming to the mere idea of a charter school that was not of their making. She says she wasn’t in the initial meetings so “The rocky start is still a bit of a mystery to me.” Standiford says that the school board finally released their tensions and cooperated with them. Once Brown joined the team of locals to write a charter, it took nine months to create and revise the final product. She says that it took exactly nine months because “someone observed that it took nine months to create JMA, the same length it takes for a baby to be born.”
Our school’s founders all share a deep-seated love for learning. Our team asked why they chose “Jefferson Montessori Academy” as the school’s name. Standiford says that they all loved the Montessori method and that “Thomas Jefferson was the draftsman of the Declaration of Independence.” The team was inspired by one of his quotes.
“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” -Thomas Jefferson
Our school has a wonderful history that started many years ago. A few women shared their ideas and began an alternative education system. Besides three women founding a school, what good is a school without a staff? Three women, one of whom being Standiford, have been working here since the very start. Tammi Dutton is the office manager at the school and Jean Appell is the reading coach for students. Appell began working as a kindergarten teacher as soon as the doors to the school were opened. At the time, the school was at a different and smaller location. Many of the teachers, including Appell, did not know anything about Montessori. The school was run by the first principal who was not mentioned by name for two years until Standiford became the second principal. In 2003 Miss Dutton joined the office staff. She says the school is unique and is a different setting from other public schools.
Jefferson Montessori Academy is a wonderful, small school with a very beautiful history. Once you look around the school’s campus, you see that a lot of hard work really pays off. Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. We must remember that every school does have a beginning, and each of them has a story to be told.
