— Debbie Roust(Mother of Hailey ‘96, Paige ‘98, Jill ‘00, Brooke ‘02, and Kiki ’04)

“Luke had a great year as an Extended Dayer.  He learned a lot about himself, working in community, and how to be a leader as well as academic basics. His basic understanding of base 10, shapes, and grammar will take him far as will the love of history and geography that he developed. He has been very well prepared for 1st grade both socially and academically and both Stuart and I are grateful to the Garden of Hope staff for a wonderful year."    

— Cathy and Stuart Dalton (Parents of Luke, Class of ’07)

If you are looking for a school that will support your child in learning and provide a safe environment, then you and your family need GHM! We learned of GHM from our neighbor and quickly attended a parent information night. The Montessori philosophy inspired us with age appropriate learning, individualized guidance and creative exploration. The community location of the school was also very convenient. We completed an application for our three-year-old daughter and little did we know, we had just begun our new journey.     

As struggling parents of “an only child,” my husband and I learned communication tools for better parenting. Once unified, we used suggested phrases, provided by GHM, to improve our communication and discipline with Abigail. We learned to provide structure and security for Abigail with a consistent routine and by saying, “No”, as well as offering fewer choices. We have learned that less is always more! As a working mother, I received regular updates on her progress, including individualized support for those tearful “drop off’s” and was invited to participate at the school if I chose. I felt secure in knowing my daughter was in safe hands.

I was completely amazed by her exposure to the various creative arts and health sciences being offered by the school and community of parents and professional talents that were shared such as Spanish, piano playing and learning about dental care on “Career Day.” Abigail still talks about, “sewing” as one of her best memories at GHM. I remember seeing the look of confidence and sense of accomplishment displayed on her proud face as she highly held her perfectly stitched book bag or globe for all to see. She also liked the various camps offered during summer to learn about weather and gardening. She desires to go back and visit GHM when her new schedule allows.

Now in first grade, Abigail has the privilege of attending a private classical academy and shares a classroom with two of her friends from GHM. Although it has not been easy to weather the challenges during this change, the transition to the new school has gone fairly well. Abigail was academically prepared, yet still very challenged. When Abigail began GHM, she was afraid to speak up in front of an audience. Now, in first grade she recited a poem in front of an audience at her new school. She is reading a book daily because of learned love of reading that began at GHM. Now today, once we arrived our daughters school this morning, she quickly reminds me to drive away after saying goodbye instead of having a tearful “drop off.” The love of the journey continues.

We believe our new school community will continue to nurture the core values or seeds of high academics, respect (faith) and community service (peace) that were so nicely planted at GHM. Our treasured experiences at Garden of Hope Montessori have changed us greatly.  The young years (3-5) were but a blink of an eye and better we expect greatness and receive great, than to expect nothing and receive nothing. Our family receives more from the GHM community than we ever could have imagined. We will be forever grateful for the GHM Community and your many continued gifts.

 Thank you all!

~Melanie A Carpenter & Family  (Parent of Abigail, Class of ’09)
 

"I cannot say enough great things about Garden of Hope's Extended Day program. The things that Kyle learned during that year were astounding. Not only did he learn all the states in alphabetical order AND the presidents from Washington to Obama, but his reading and math skills grew by leaps and bounds. He is excelling in reading, spelling, and math as a first grader. The social structure and environment Kyle experienced helped him flawlessly transition into his new school. He has many friends and is excited each morning to go to school. His teacher has dubbed him one of the most confident kids in his classroom! Confident is NOT a word that would have been used to describe Kyle as a 3 year old starting out at GHM. I attribute so much of that to the incredible teachers who guided and encouraged him throughout his career, but particularly through their focus that final year on careful and thoughtful preparation for what they knew was to come for Kyle in his future life as a student. I am beyond grateful for all the years Kyle spent at GHM, and his experience would not have been complete without his year as an “Extended dayer."

                        Heidi Zwart- (Parent of Kyle-Class of ‘09)

We spent four years at Garden of Hope.  We heard about it when we were living in Minneapolis and my husband drove every morning to WBL to attend.  So our hopes were high.  Every need we wanted for our children was met and exceeded. Ms. Patty and Ms. Debbie nurtured our children like they were their very own.  They even taught us skills in raising children.  Without question, my children got an advantage and a good start when starting 1st grade. Both children were reading in Extended Day and now in 1st grade reading chapter books. The teachings of safety and respect are still in heads today.  Both are proud that they are one of the few children in class who have never been sent to the principle’s office.  It met every need and hope in a Montessori environment.

         -Ed Vant and Wendy Gulden

         (Parents of Esteban, ‘08 and Savannah, ‘09)

 “After nearly three and a half years as a GHM participant, Extended day gave Robinson the opportunity for leadership, greater responsibility and raised the bar for him. While Robinson has faced academic challenges, the staff at GHM gave him an opportunity to participate in Extended Day to the extent he was able, true to the spirit of the Montessori philosophy, and met him where he was.  We will forever be grateful for the consistent and loving hands of the GHM staff who continually pushed Robinson to reach higher.”
— Kenneth Fritsch and Ellen Murphy-Fritsch (Parents of Robinson, Class of ’07)  

         Extended Day at GHM is not just kindergarten; Extended Day is kindergarten to the max! The day each of my boys announced, “I’m an Extended dayer now!” were among the best days of their young lives…and mine too! They were thrilled with the increased responsibilities and respect their new status gave them among their younger GHM friends.  I was thrilled to know that they would be challenged and taught academic skills to abilities that reached well beyond their years.  All this while also being nurtured and gently guided towards developing important social skills. These academic skills and life lessons continue to serve them well in their 1st, 2nd, & 4th grade classrooms and undoubtedly will help shape them into wonderful young men in the years to come.  We believe the Extended Day program gave our three sons an opportunity to learn and grow academically and socially in ways that would not have happened in a larger traditional kindergarten classroom with blessedly positive results.  Thanks to Ms. Patty and Ms. Debbie we now have three delightful, happy, well adjusted boys navigating the waters of public school with more confidence, poise and skill we ever imagined possible. 

       Anne Schwab-Parent of J.D.-‘05, Reggie- ‘07 and Louie- ‘08          

Garden of Hope’s Extended Day program.. There is simply no other place like it!  The benefits of Extended Day are:

*Individualized education

*One to one lessons and small group instruction

*Warm, supportive learning environment

*Allows opportunity to satisfy a child’s “hunger” for knowledge in a specific area-a child can work as far into a subject as they want. Look at what readers come out of that classroom!

*The children have collaborative versus. competitive learning-helping young children build self-confidence in new skill areas of reading and math.

*My child developed so much confidence in his ability to be a learner and has so much competency in reading along with many other subjects.

Garden of Hope’s Extended Day program.. There is simply no other place like it!  It’s such a warm, supportive environment offering individualized student attention. What more can a parent want for their child?  To have a child confident in his ability to learn-this profound preparation stages him for the learning for the rest of his life.  I cannot imagine having made a better investment our child’s future.                       

         Bobbi Haasl-Blilie , mother of Kai  ‘08

The Garden of Hope Extended Day program nurtured John in so many ways.  It expanded and encouraged his leadership skills, his listening and empathy abilities and his compassion for others.  The academic program was superior; as a first grader this year he is reading at a 3rd grade level.  Lastly, it was a safe and warm environment, where I knew that the teachers and staff were entirely devoted to helping the children reach their highest potential.

                              Elsbeth Howe Ross