Notes to Ms. McWeeney on her retirement

 "Thank you for being a key member of the village that helped me to become the man that  I am today."   Winston Williams

What do people think about their time at VI Montessori or VIMSIA? 

Eugene "Gene" Reilly, class of '82, Trauma Surgeon, Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania

"I still remember with great fondness and clarity my time at VI Montessori, even though it was almost 30 years ago. I can't believe going through the class photos on the web site how many of my classmates names I remember! Ms. Keating is the role-model I use to teach my own kids and residents in the quintessential Montessori way: go at your own pace, learning by doing. I have never entered a learning environment that had the same impact on me as did Montessori, and I can only hope that in my academic practice I can provide a similar experience. I'm very proud of the time I spent at VI Montessori."

 Melissa Bump (Cofelt), Teacher, Eudora Kean High School

"When I think back on my Montessori education, the first description that comes to mind is “hands-on”.  I think the first time I was truly struck by the value of my early education was when I was sitting in a 10th grade geometry class (one of only three ninth graders in the class).  I realized that while most of my classmates were lost, I had a pretty good handle on the material being presented.  I firmly believe that grasp (excuse the pun) came from the geometric materials in our Montessori classrooms."

Maxine Emerich, Robotics Engineer working for General Atomics at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

VI Montessori... "allowed me to excel and expand my interest in the sciences as much as I wanted. Made me an independent thinker and confident in my work, I believe this is due to the ability to work on your own to learn the material at your own pace. Having the open classroom setting really allowed you to seek the teachers help when you needed it, I know this has allowed me to have open communication between myself, college professors and now my supervisors. Having this open communication has opened doors."

Nydia Lewis, IA/IB Graduating Class of 2011, currently at Bennet College majoring in Education:

At VIMSIA I was able to... "learn more about other countries and global/community issues: mostly in the area of science.  (I) know ...about issues most people don't seem to know anything about. In regards to history, because of things done in MMUN, UNICEF/80/20Lunch, but mostly in the Science, Math, and Spanish areas....I enjoy doing Math and I was able to skip 1st semester freshman year of the Math class required."