We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Govoni a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Maria , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I have been teaching in Montessori for the past 15 years, I also attended a Montessori school from ages 2-10, so I guess you could say the Montessori Method is in my bones! I truly believe it has shaped the person I am today.
After recieving my Montessori credentials in the 3-6 year age group, I began teaching on the seacost of Massachusetts, and quickly fell in love with early education, and the importance of those early years in childhood. Children are truly sponges at this age, and have such a strong desire for independence, which is why Montessori just makes so much sense. After working at a private school in MA for 4 years, I moved to Austin to help open Austin’s first public Montessori charter school on the East Side. It was here I unfortunately experienced the hardships of teaching, and witnessed lots of teacher turnover. I saw how educators were overworked/underpaid and asked to do almost impossible things on a daily basis. Teachers were leaving in droves, and after a year and a half of trying so hard to help change the system, I myself left the school. It was one of the hardest decsions I have had to make. I did not want to leave my students, their families and my co-workers, but it just wasn’t sustainable. I went back to work in the private setting, and while there was still a lot of teacher turnover each year, I enjoyed having more independence again in the classroom.
I still felt like there was more that could be done. Why were teachers leaving? I don’t really have a clear answer for this, but from my experience, when owners of schools have their own hands on experience in the classoom, they have a better understanding of what teachers need, and in turn teachers tend to be happier and feel more seen day to day.
Teaching is hard no matter what, but I definately think there are things admin/owners can do to help make it less so.
Even though I had been toying with the idea of opening my own school for many years, it was COVID that was really the catalyst to making it all happen. When the school I was working at shut down during the pandemic, I had a few families reach out to me to start a pod school. I saw the benefits of smaller class sizes and the closeness that the familes felt as well. I decided to to open The Children’s House Montessori School in 2021 and we have been proudly serving students ages 18 months to 6 years ever since!
Most of our students are attending school for the first time, so it’s important to me for school to feel like a home environment, enriched with lots of social emotional learning and Montessori’s time tested learning materials, and our sweet little bungalow is the perfect place for it!
We are a small Montessori school in South Austin, with small class sizes, a wonderful community of families, and most importantly; happy teachers and students!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Our Montessori School is fully equipped with the entire scope and sequence of Montessori materials and all of our lead guides are certified in the Montessori Method by accredited learning institutions.
We offer two programs: our Toddler Program is for children ages 18 months to 3 years and a Primary Program for ages 3-6. Both classrooms have student to teacher ratios well below the state required guidelines, and therefore children are able to recieve an exceptional level of education, attention and care!
We also offer an after school program until 5:15pm daily for our families needing extended care.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Word of mouth has been the best source of reaching new families/clients. What better marketing than a happy parent sending a happy kid off to school each day and telling their friends about us?!
Our incredible teachers have also helped build our repuation over the years. The knowledge, love and care they give to their students has quickly spread around town, and I am so grateful for how much they give to our school on a daily basis!
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Being new to a managing role, I still have a ton to learn, and feel excited to do so! So far what I have learned in managing others is you have to be able to put yourself in their shoes, understand every facet of the job, and be a great listener- like truly listen.
Give where you can- do you really need to be that punitive in this moment? If not, move on. Adults are still learning too, and I think sometimes we forget that. We all make mistakes. Give people grace, and always start with the belief that everyone has the best intentions- that is of course, unless they prove you otherwise!!
High morale comes from giving everyone a voice, you can’t do it alone, so why not empower the people working with you? When there is a collective goal that everyone has bought into, it is easier to trust that all ideas are for the greater good!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.childrenshouseatx.com/
- Instagram: thechildrenshouseatx
Image Credits
Ross Mclane
AJ Govoni