WHMS Blog

Local-fifth grader is heading to D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Thu, 29 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

From our region, fifth-grader Krrisha Agrawal from Woodland Hill Montessori School will be heading to D.C. to compete.

WHMS Fifth Grader Heading to DC To Compete

Day 4 Reflections: MS Civil Rights Intercession

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Today was our fourth day on our intercession trip and our last day in Memphis. We started the day with a two-hour drive to the Lorraine Motel, home to the National Civil Rights Museum and the site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The drive was well worth the experience.

At the museum, we learned about 400 years of Black history and the journey for civil rights. A few key events we explored included the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Brown v. Board of Education, Ruby Bridges, and the Little Rock Nine. The museum concluded in the very motel room where Dr. King was staying on the day he was assassinated.

After leaving the museum, we headed to the Arcade Restaurant, a family-owned establishment that has been running for four generations. The restaurant has been visited by many influential people, including Elvis Presley.

Next, we boarded a Memphis riverboat for an educational cruise on the Mississippi River. We learned about the history of Memphis and the river, which runs through 10 states! The river was also the site of a historic shipping disaster and played a crucial role during the Civil War. Toward the end of the cruise, we took a break from history and had a quick dance party to Turn Down for What and Uptown Funk on the lower deck.

Our last activity of the day was visiting Beale Street to shop and pick up souvenirs. Along the way, we met a street performer who could flip over 5-6 people at a time, and we all took turns participating.

To end the day, we went to Loflin Yard, an outdoor restaurant where we had fun and played cornhole. Our last day in Memphis was an amazing experience, and we got to explore so many exciting places!

By: Zeta and Maeve

Day 3 Reflections: MS Civil Rights Intercession

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Today on our Civil Rights trip, we visited many amazing and interesting places. One of them was the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. This memorial was created by Bryan Stevenson, who is also the founder of EJI. It honors Black people who were lynched, and it was very moving. There were also many statues honoring the lives of people who were unjustly taken from this world. Everyone was deeply moved by the experience, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to visit.

By: Adeline

Today, we also went to the EJI Legacy Museum. This museum was founded by Bryan Stevenson and depicts the struggle from slavery to civil rights. EJI presents a deeply emotional and complex assortment of information, art, and installations. It helped us better understand the horrors of racism and the lasting impact of slavery.

America has a long history of discrimination and violence. The EJI Legacy Museum is important because it provides people with access to educate themselves on our country's past mistakes so that humanity will not repeat them. It also raises awareness that racism remains a problem today. I believe this museum is a torch in the darkness during difficult times.

By: Indy

Today, we visited the Holt Street Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached and which served as the epicenter of the Civil Rights Movement. When Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, over 5,000 people gathered there the following Sunday to decide what to do next. They eventually chose to organize a bus boycott, which lasted for 381 days.

I think it was incredible to walk around the historic building. It was also interesting to listen to an MLK Jr. speech in the very room where it was originally delivered when they decided to hold the boycott.

By: Daniel

Day 2 Reflections: MS Civil Rights Intercession

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

After a wonderful first day, we started the second day by gathering on the bus around 8:30 for a 1.5-hour ride to Selma, Alabama. During our drive, we experienced a one-hour time zone change backward. On our way, we made a short stop at Buc-ee's rest stop.

Once we arrived in Selma, we went on a tour with the organization Journeys for the Soul, where we learned about Bloody Sunday through an organization started by Joanne Bland, who was only 11 years old on the bridge that day. In Selma, we also walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Walking on this bridge was very moving and impactful especially after learning about its history.

We then got back on the bus and traveled the historic route to Montgomery, where we visited the Southern Poverty Law Center. There, we learned about the 40 individuals, ages 11 to 67, who were killed by the KKK and are honored at the center. We were also given the opportunity to put our names on a wall, pledging to stand up against injustice whenever we see it in the world.

From there, we walked to the state capitol, where we had some journal time. Afterward, we hopped on the bus and headed to dinner at Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q. Once our bellies were full, we got on the bus for the last time that day and headed to the hotel, where we enjoyed some downtime—hanging out in the lobby, swimming in the pool, or relaxing in our rooms. One by one, we drifted off to sleep, getting a good rest for the next day's adventure.

By: Leila and Hannah

Day 1 Reflections : MS Civil Rights Intercession

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

March 24, 2025

Today was the first day of our trip! We started off really early, arriving at the airport at 4:45 a.m. The flights passed quickly, and then we jumped into our activities.

We visited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Students shared information they had researched about our destinations. We also had the opportunity to participate in a church talk at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Later in the day, we climbed Stone Mountain, which was a lot of fun and had an amazing view! To conclude the day, we had a really good dinner and enjoyed the bus ride to our hotel.

We are looking forward to what tomorrow will bring!

By: Sky

Today was fun and impactful, but tiring. We all woke up very early in the morning to meet at the Albany Airport. We went through security and boarded our flight at 6:45 AM.

We flew to Chicago first and then had a connecting flight to Atlanta, GA. Once we arrived, we got on the bus and drove to the King Center. We walked up Auburn Ave to Dr. King’s house, but we couldn’t go inside because it was under construction. Then, we walked to his and Coretta’s tomb and had a moment of silence to remember and honor everything they have done for our country.

We looked at the eternal flame, which represents how Dr. King's legacy will always carry on. After that, we walked through the World Peace Garden and saw many meaningful poems written by school children about peace. We then entered the visitor center, where we took notes in our journals and learned about Dr. King’s legacy and how he fought for equal rights.

Next, we went to the Ebenezer Baptist Church and listened to a park ranger tell a very detailed story about MLK Jr. and his family's life centered around the church. His grandfather and father were both pastors there, and MLK Jr. served as co-pastor until his death.

After that, we drove to Stone Mountain and hiked to the top! We enjoyed a beautiful view of Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains. Then, we climbed down and drove to dinner. After dinner, we went to our first hotel and went to bed to prepare for the next day's adventures.

By: Savanna

Cultural Lessons in Montessori: A Journey Through Time, Place, and Experience

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Cultural lessons are a cornerstone of the Montessori curriculum, offering students a deep and meaningful connection to the world around them. From Primary through Middle School, these lessons are designed to foster an appreciation for history, geography, and global perspectives, while also developing critical thinking, empathy, and social responsibility. More than just acquiring knowledge, Montessori students engage in hands-on experiences that bring history and culture to life.

A Continuum of Learning

Cultural studies in a Montessori classroom begin in the earliest years with concrete, sensory-based experiences. Primary students explore geography through puzzle maps and hands-on materials, learning about continents, landforms, and diverse cultures. They hear stories from around the world, engage in celebrations of different traditions, and begin to understand their place in a larger, interconnected world.

As students move into Elementary, cultural studies expand to include the Montessori Great Lessons, a series of impressionistic stories that ignite curiosity about the universe, life on Earth, and human civilizations. Students delve into history, anthropology, and geography through research projects, hands-on experiments, and storytelling, making abstract concepts tangible. Their studies emphasize human ingenuity, resilience, and interdependence, helping them see themselves as part of a larger historical and cultural narrative.

By Middle School, students apply their learning in increasingly complex and real-world ways. They study social movements, governance, and the forces that shape societies, analyzing primary sources and discussing real-world issues. These lessons don’t just stay in the classroom—they become immersive, transformative experiences.

Learning Beyond the Classroom: The Civil Rights Intercession

A defining feature of Montessori education is its emphasis on real-world learning. Rather than simply reading about history, students engage with it firsthand. This is exemplified in the Middle School Civil Rights Intercession, where students travel through the Southern United States to visit key landmarks and historic sites related to the Civil Rights Movement.

Walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, standing in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, or exploring the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis gives students a profound and personal connection to history. These experiences deepen their understanding of activism, justice, and the ongoing struggle for equality, aligning with Montessori’s goal of preparing students to be engaged, compassionate citizens.

Let's hear from Shema, a soon to be graduate of WHMS, about his anticipation of the trip occurring this week, March 24 - 28, 2025. We will be sharing reflections and photos all week long.

"Today is the last day of school before our trip! We’re so excited—we can’t believe we will visit some of the most important places in American History. Although some of the history makes us sad, we’re still so excited to get to see all of these new places. It’s so cool to be on the grounds where people who participated in the Civil Rights Movement marched, like MLK who we learned a lot about and we’re going to visit a museum based on him. The process it took to get here was very grueling but very worth it. It’s kind of like hiking a mountain. It's tiring at first but the view is all worth it. Speaking of mountains, when we get to Georgia, we are going to hike up Stone Mountain. Everyone is so excited about that; the hotels we’ve looked at are also awesome, they are all so cool and we can’t wait to spend time with these amazing people. We are so grateful to all of the generous people who put this together, especially the teachers. They have worked so hard to achieve this for us and to make this possible and we couldn’t thank them enough for it.

Weekdays are usually somewhat boring but this isn’t the case for the trip though, I feel as if weekdays are the most lively and fun day out of all the days of the trip because we’re now used to everything and excited for the rest of the week. We also get a lot of valuable information on this day that we can use to reflect on the future and better our understanding of history. Also, we will be going to Journey of the Soul in Selma, Alabama. Journey of the Soul is a non-profit organization created by JoAnne Bland, who marched on Bloody Sunday at the age of 11. There is so much we are going to learn on this trip and we are so excited about that.

Weekends are usually the best, we get to be home and have a break but weekends during the trip week are saddening to us, those learning opportunities will be gone and we wouldn’t get to have those experiences. That’s why we are all so excited to treasure these limited moments and live in the moment."

“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of [the person], the enhancement of [their] value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.” - Maria Montessori

By integrating real-world experiences with academic learning, we ensure that students don’t just learn about history—they live it, reflect on it, and feel empowered to shape the future.

We will be sharing blogs written from the students all week long as well as photographs of their experiences. Stay tuned for more!

Nurturing Future Leaders

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000

One of the absolute best parts of my job is reconnecting with our alumni. I get a front-row seat to their incredible journeys of watching them grow, thrive, and launch into the world as compassionate, curious global citizens. It’s like having a lifetime subscription to an inspiring story series!

Last year, at EMPAC, I had a moment. Picture this: our community gathered in this stunning space, celebrating Moving Up and Graduation. The energy was lively and hopeful, and the setting? Pure magic. Watching our students confidently walk across that stage, I couldn’t help but feel it in my bones that they were ready. Ready for whatever educational journey awaited them next.

Lately, I have been reflecting on my early career days as an ELA middle school teacher in Queens, NY. During those years, I was also pursuing my master’s in education and school counseling, which eventually led me to a high school counseling role in Brooklyn. I had seen different educational methods in action and that time in my life had me wondering: What else is out there in education? When life brought me upstate, I discovered Woodland Hill. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Montessori education isn’t just about academics; it’s about educating the whole child. It’s thoughtful, intentional, and it works! Seeing the long-term impact on our alumni, from their confidence to their ability to navigate the world with curiosity and empathy, has been wonderful. Connecting with families and students post-graduation only reinforces what I already know. Montessori builds a solid foundation for life.

With our upcoming WHMS Outcomes: Parent and Alumni Panel, I’m excited to share some of the incredible insights from recent graduates. Their responses to our post-graduate survey are a testament to the lasting impact of their time here at Woodland Hill.

When asked, "Looking back on your child’s WHMS education and experience, in which areas did we assist your child to grow the most?" Here are some of my favorite answers:

“As a kind, confident, peaceful human being who loves to learn! He has become a strong self-advocate who respects education and the learning process.”

“WHMS helped our daughter grow into a confident and persistent learner. Even when she's struggling to learn a concept in math or biology, she won't give up. In both WHMS History and English, she was taught to read complex documents or novels and write about the key points. This gave her a foundation from which she's been able to adapt according to the expectations of her high school teachers. We were also impressed by her strong core sense of self, empathy toward others, and ability to respectfully communicate with her peers. These traits, which Woodland Hill helped her develop, have enabled her to look past high school drama and focus on building respectful friendships.”

“Developing more willingness to engage in academic activities, more willingness to put forth genuine effort on academic pursuits, and improved ability to connect academic pursuits to future goals. The experience at WHMS improved our child's school experience, outlook on school in general, and future academic and social prospects. The faculty, administration, and staff represent the best of what educators can, and should, be. We cannot say enough good things about WHMS. Our only regret is that we didn't discover WHMS when our child was younger!”

These are just a few quotes from our parents, but the overall sentiment is clear: Woodland Hill graduates are prepared for life in high school, college, and beyond.

Our graduates continue to excel. On average, their GPA is a 94, and they are taking between two and six AP or accelerated courses. Even more impressive? They remain kind, thoughtful, and good humans.

To hear even more inspiring stories, check out last year’s Alumni Parent Panel. And don’t miss our upcoming virtual Parent and Alumni Panel - WHMS Outcomes on January 22nd at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. We’d love to see you there!

Eraena Fraites-Gonzalez

Director of Admissions

Eraena Fraites-Gonzalez joined Woodland Hill Montessori School in 2020 as the Director of Auxiliary Services and now serves as the Director of Admissions. She brings extensive experience in education and communications, having worked as a school counselor, middle school Language Arts teacher, and substitute teacher for preschool through grade 12 in New York City. Her background also includes roles in sales and marketing with The Corcoran Group, Hilton Worldwide, and The Empire State Realty Trust. Eraena holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University and a master’s degree in education and school counseling from Alfred University. As a Montessori parent and advocate, Eraena is dedicated to connecting families with the enriching opportunities at WHMS.

Fostering a Repair Culture

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Our culture is dominated by planned obsolescence. When things break, we tend to throw them away. Less and less of us know how to fix things. The Repair Club aims to fix that! This Fall, thirteen Woodland Hill 4th - 8th graders had the opportunity to take the Repair Club elective, one of several initiatives WHMS is doing as part of a larger “Fix Forward” grant we received from the organization Culture of Repair in conjunction with the Robert C.Parker School. In the Club, students learn the importance of sustainability and the idea of a circular economy, which extends the life span of objects by reusing them and recycling them.

Repairing things is important because it helps our world become more sustainable; it is also a way to preserve items that are meaningful or sentimental to us that might be damaged. In this way, we are cultivating a culture of repair at WHMS. The students quickly became the facilitators of the club: they designed flyers and intake forms, advertised their services, gathered broken objects from around the school and tried to fix them. All of these activities work to create a repair mindset in the students, one which aligns with Woodland Hill’s core values of community and sustainability as well as project-based, and child-centered learning. As the innovative resource Cultivating a Repair Mindset suggests, “A repair mindset enables and emboldens people to care more deeply about the world, the people, the objects, and the systems in which we’re all interconnected.”

Repair Club students also had the opportunity to build their repair skills by learning from a number of volunteer repair coaches from the community. Ted Riese is good at fixing electronics; in our class, he opened up a chromebook, showing students how to identify and find replacement parts to repair it. Kris Ivers is a member of the Troy Bike Rescue; he helped students use their senses to troubleshoot broken bicycles before introducing them to the tools and materials to do simple fixes. Jesse Roberts showed students how to operate a drill press and shared basic wood building skills. He brought in the pieces to construct a “Fix-It Cart” that will be stocked with tools and supplies that all students at the school will be able to use for on the spot repairs.

In addition to the Repair Club, WHMS has also hosted several Repair Cafés, and created the Rensselaer Repair Cafe in collaboration with the Parker School. Repair Cafés are free community meeting places. Community members bring broken items from their homes—clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles—and volunteers with repair skills fix them. These Cafes are part of an international organization. Founded by Martine Postma in Amsterdam in 2009, it is now a worldwide movement with pop-up repair cafes in many countries across the world. The Capital Region itself has 8 local repair cafes and there are nearly 70 in the greater Hudson Valley from Westchester County to Lake George. Hosting these Repair Cafes in K-8 schools is a great way to bring together older more experienced repairers and younger generations to cultivate a shared repair culture.

The “Fix-It Cart” Jesse helped the Rensselaer Repair Club construct is also part of the grant from the Culture of Repair. These carts will be equipped with child-friendly, age-appropriate tools and materials organized to meet the needs of children and function in a school setting. We will combine plans for the carts with tailored lesson plans, creating an environment for children to develop their interests, skills, and confidence as they become the repair champions of the next generation.

Megan Stasi

Art and Makerspace Teacher

Megan Stasi is a NYS Certified Visual Arts teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from SUNY New Paltz and an MFA in scenic design from Northwestern University. She has taught sewing at both the Albany Art Room and the Troy Arts Center, theatrical set design at Ulster County Community College, as well as Altered Book Workshops. Megan has also worked in the music business, as a theater designer, a muralist, and recently started a local non-profit community organization focused on upcycling fabric and yarns. Her own artistic practice includes fiber arts, oil paints, and printmaking. Megan joined the WHMS faculty in 2018.

Albany Business Review-Private School Evolution

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Private schools in the Albany area have been forced to evolve in order to grow enrollment and have ongoing financial stability, all while continuing to stay true to their mission. Michelle Edwards-Panelist-shares her insights in the Albany Business Review.

Read ABR Article here

Service Learning at WHMS

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A service component has long been an integral part of a Montessori Secondary curriculum, rooted in both the writings of Maria Montessori and the observable characteristics of the young adolescent. Montessori envisioned a world where people engage harmoniously with one another and the environment, and she actively pursued this vision throughout her life, using education as the primary means to achieve it. Montessori’s call to educate students for world peace is no small task for the Montessori educator. One way to cultivate peaceful hearts in our students is by creating opportunities for them to serve others.

“The child is capable of developing and giving us tangible proof of the possibility of a better humanity. He has shown us the true process of the construction of human being. We have seen children totally change as they acquire a love for things and as their sense of order, discipline, and self-control develops within them.... The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.”

Maria Montessori | Education and Peace

Montessori referred to adolescents as ‘social newborns’. During this third plane of development, young adolescents engage in a deeper exploration of their surroundings and actively question their emerging identities and how they relate to the broader context of the world around them. Strong secondary Montessori programs expose students to the complexities of society, both past and present, and offer opportunities for the students to participate actively in the issues of the present day. When students contribute positively to society through service, they build a greater sense of independence and agency, empowering them to advocate for change and promote justice. As they begin to see themselves as active participants in their communities, they gain confidence in their ability to make a difference and shape the world around them.

During the 18 years that I have been teaching at Woodland Hill, there has always been a service component in our Middle School. This has ranged from tracking and requiring a set number of service hours, special ‘senior service projects,’ and numerous whole group endeavors. In fact, many best-practice schools around the world incorporate elements of service into their curriculum's. However, last year, we took a significant step at Woodland Hill Montessori Middle School by making service-learning a dedicated class on our weekly schedule. This means that each student in the Middle School will have the opportunity to participate in a trimester-long service learning class each year.

During this service learning course, students explore issues at the school, local, and global levels, select topics of interest, contact organizations, and initiate plans to execute their service projects. After topics are selected, the teachers establish learning objectives to align with their projects, offering lessons, learning materials, and resources for the students to meet these objectives. We aim for students to understand the background of the issues, learn more about the organization they are partnering with, and consider the work that still needs to be done. The final step of the service-learning project is reflecting on the successes and roadblocks that were encountered during the process and sharing all of these learning experiences with the broader Middle School community.

By incorporating service learning as a course in our Middle School, we demonstrate our commitment to student-initiated and student-led work, enabling our students to lead with both their hearts and minds while making a meaningful impact on the world around them. When students initiate a project at our school, they are doing more than just collecting items in a lobby or hanging a poster in the hallway. Students are researching the issues, contacting organizations, stocking shelves, witnessing inequality or injustice firsthand, and collaborating with others toward a goal. Our hope is that this work will leave a lasting impact on their ability to see themselves as changemakers and leaders in a more peaceful future. Through these experiences, we aim to inspire and guide our students to embrace Montessori's vision of peace, compassion, and social responsibility, equipping them to become agents of positive change in their communities.

“If puberty is on the physical side a transition from an infantile to an adult state, there is also, on the psychological side, a transition from the child who has to live in a family, to the adult who has to live in society. These two needs of the adolescent: for protection during the time of the difficult physical transition, and for an understanding of the society which he is about to enter to play his part as an adult. ”

Maria Montessori | From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 60

Cora Heiser

Middle School Director

Cora Heiser holds a Montessori adolescent certification from the Cincinnati Montessori Secondary Teacher Education Program (7-12). She joined WHMS in 2006 as the Middle School Head Teacher. Cora earned a bachelor's in adolescent social studies education and an M.Ed. from the University at Albany. Additionally, she serves as an Instructional Guide and Practicum Advisor for the Center for Guided Montessori Studies, supporting future Secondary Montessori educators.