Mater Amoris Montessori School

I joined Mater Amoris in around 1970. The school was fairly new and we were in a church by a huge park, not far from where my family and I lived. I have never ever forgotten Charlotte Shea - then Mrs. Charlotte Kovach. She loved each and every one of us fiercely and her character was larger than life. I absolutely adored her - still do - and I feel that so much of who I am now was shaped by being an early student at Mater Amoris - even without all the bells and whistles, it has today. I live in Kenya (my family went back in December 1974) and was so grateful to visit Charlotte about ten years ago around 2010. Charlotte, still such a large and force-filled character took me and Elizabeth Berry to lunch and then took me to see the school. I was absolutely blown away by the "new" school set on 13 beautiful acres - what a vision she had had back then. Even more amazingly, she recalled me and my two brothers perfectly as well as both my parents - including things my dad had told her before we left America to head back home to East Africa. I hope to bring my husband and son to visit someday! I'm an "older" parent, our boy is nine. I feel part of why we got the guts to start a little micro-school in Kenya has something to do with seeing what Charlotte did, what her dream became. If you see this Charlotte, I just emailed you through the school email with pictures! Much love, Judy

Mater Amoris is an amazing school. The traditional Montessori curriculum is the center piece of this lovely school especially in regards to the education of the whole child. The parent community is warm and inviting with many opportunities to volunteer. My communication with teachers has been wonderful. The children of Mater Amoris graduate with a deep love of learning, independence, compassion for others and our planet, and strong sense of self. They are also able to advocate for themselves. This school is a treasure on 13 acres in Ashton, Maryland.

After sending our son to one of the perennial "Best of Howard County" preschools and finding ourselves extremely disappointed, we started exploring our options. We were lucky enough to have this quiet little gem of a school recommended to us by neighbors whose children had attended there years and years ago. I truly cannot say enough good things about this school and the love and education that our son receives there. The primary program, where children ages 2 1/2 to 6 are together in the classroom, has been extraordinary, and the children in the older classes (the school runs through age 12) are a testament to the type of person that the school produces. We feel so very blessed to have stumbled upon this extraordinary school and now have every intention of keeping our son there through age 12.