We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Catalina Murcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Catalina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

This is a funny story as we were not quite open. I. Went to make pamphlets at Staples and apparently I dropped one there. The next day as I was at home, a woman knocked on my door asking me if this was School. I said it will be and she asked for a tour. I told her we were not ready yet so to come back the next day. We spent the entire day and evening, painting shelves which were repurposed kitchen cabinets, and putting our first beautiful little children’s Montessori house together. This was a special time with my infant daughter and my ex partner. I remember a lot of family members coming and we are up till 12 or 1 AM preparing our home to be a beautiful and inviting Montessori environment. The family who toured loved it and she enrolled her two sweet boys. Because of her family, we had enough students with my daughter and two relatives to open the doors to the first Casa de Paz in 2008.

Catalina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got started in a small house serving five children with the capacity of 12. After many years in education and studying psychology and child development, I opened my very own Montessori school to families. My goal was to serve south Dallas families and be affordable and accessible to the community that I grew up in, Oak Cliff. As a young mom and student of Montessori, I was very passionate about children’s rights, about providing children with the utmost respect, dignity, and real meaningful work, meaningful activity, creativity, and plenty of space to develop and become who they are. Being in Nature, organic gardening, consuming real whole foods and having chickens and rabbits was incorporated into the framework of our school from the beginning. As Casa de Paz began to grow, I then got acquainted with many of our amazing community leaders, artist, and started inviting chefs, nutritionist, doctors musicians, coaches, and people who are passionate about their field to come share that joy with our children. For the last 16 years, I have grown and provide so many amazing services to be able to include everything here, but I feel like some of the most important things that we are able to provide to our families are community, a sense of belonging and a place where families feel comfortable to share and grow and learn together with their children. Providing amazing Montessori education, Spanish education, peaceful discipline, parenting support, community events, and celebrations that honor the diversity within our families have created many beautiful bonds and a strong Casa de Paz community.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The year 2020 put many of us under hard circumstances. After months of being closed and uncertainty, I told my staff that I was going to close the school and they could just file for unemployment. It was a very emotional meeting where we were all crying.. There was a pause and one my teacher said, “no we’re not closing.” I was confused. I explained again, I don’t have money to pay you guys. And all teachers then chimed in and said the school was going to be OK, Wed get through this. They said even if you have to pay us less for now, we can live with that, but we cannot close the school. The school is a special place, it is an important part of our community and we have all worked so hard to let it go. And they said Miss Cat, go home and rest and let’s talk on Monday. And that’s when I realized that the school was much bigger than me and that I was not really the only driving force. I realize that God had plans for this community to thrive and to continue to grow to support the Oak Cliff and surrounding areas. By some miracle, we were able to not only stay open, but thrive and grow even with all of the hardships those years brought. We have gotten to where we are because of our amazing teachers and the love and dedication they poured into their craft and because of our beautiful families who continue to support The Casa De Paz vision.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

In this field of education, specifically early childhood education, which was how we started, word of mouth is really the only way to get clients. Starting a new school in a small house in Oak cliff was a challenge. We didn’t have testimonials or families to vouch for us yet. But after the first few months of being open, thankfully people started to hear about the school through local magazine advertisements, and it so happens that in the neighborhood lives one of the best Montessorians in the Dallas Fort Worth area, Miss Paula Craig. She happened to have opened one of the best Montessori schools in Dallas and she came by to visit the school to either give her approval or not, she called me and told me that she saw the advertisement on Oak Cliff magazine, and that was the most beautiful description of a school She had read and she wanted to stop by and observe. So Ms. Paula spent a morning observing my little home-based children’s house ,she expressed her interest in our school and wanted to support and coach me. We began a lifelong friendship and I am so very grateful for her seeing my passion and for giving Casa de Paz her seal of approval.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Casadepazmontessori.com
• Instagram: @casadepazmontessori
• Facebook: Casa de Paz Montessoei
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@casadepazmontessori9236?si=iPY5I-9m5cRrBcQW

Image Credits

Menary Studio photography for the first 2 professional pictures