My journey began nearly 20 years after high school graduation with an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Massasoit Community College, followed by a bachelor’s degree while completing a dual certification program in elementary and special needs education at Curry College. It was at Curry that I first heard Dr. Maria Montessori’s name mentioned, albeit ever so briefly. After one dissatisfying year in public education, I took a teacher’s assistant position in a local Montessori school and was instantly impressed. The children (all between 2.9 and 6 years old) were calm, capable, confident, kind, courteous, respectful, AND they tidied things up and put them back where they belonged when they were done using them! I had never seen anything like it…and I fell in love.