PACHÉ MONTESSORIBrooklyn, New York

HEAD OF SCHOOLStart Date: July 2022pachemontessori.com

OVERVIEW

Located in the idyllic neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, New York, Paché Montessori is a community-oriented, value-driven Montessori school serving children from birth (3 months) through Kindergarten with an option for Spanish Immersion. Comprised of three programs – Infant, Toddler, and Primary – Paché promotes “Education for Peace” as expert faculty and staff respectfully guide each student on their unique academic journey of discovery and growth in a specially prepared environment designed to foster independence, curiosity, and autonomy. Utilizing time-tested pedagogy developed over 100 years ago by Maria Montessori and backed by scientific research, the school provides a Montessori education that helps children to reach their full potential and become creative, empathetic, and joyful learners.

Paché Montessori seeks a dynamic leader as its next Head of School to start in July 2022. The successful candidate will be a highly experienced educator who has the capacity and vision to build on an impressive level of success and take the school to even greater heights. The Head of School serves as the school’s leader, responsible for fostering a community commitment to quality education, a climate of care, and ethical growth among students, faculty, and staff. This is an exceptional opportunity to lead a forward-thinking school with an unwavering commitment to fostering each child’s “inner light,” and a passion to build a more peaceful and equitable world.

MissionWe follow the Montessori Method honoring each child, preparing our spirit to identify and leverage our individual and collective strengths through continual personal reflection and transformation empowered by our shared values.

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VisionWe are a passionate community focused on facilitating the process of self-construction for individuals to realize their true potential, becoming positive change-makers locally and globally, contributing to a more just, equitable and peaceful world.

SCHOOL HISTORY

Founded by Dr. Peter LePort with a mission to provide a progressive, meaningful education to his children, the vision of Paché Montessori began 18 years ago in Southern California. It was here that LePort found a group of teachers to set up homeschool for his children which later evolved into the first LePort Montessori School. After a couple of years of operating this first school, his passion grew and several additional campuses were opened which led to a growth of the Montessori School network eventually stretching all the way to Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2015, a temporary school location was opened on Atlantic Avenue so that students could start their Montessori education while awaiting completion of the campus construction. Finally, in January 2017, students and families attended their first day of school in the beautifully prepared environment on Court Street, where the school still resides today.

After moving into the new facility, the original Board of Directors had realized their time managing a large organization of Montessori schools was coming to a close. After closing the sale on all the other 20 schools, Paché Montessori in Cobble Hill was the final and single school owned by Dr. LePort. With a successful and capable school staff of teachers and administrators, Dr. LePort decided to maintain ownership of the school, fully committed to watching the entire school community grow and thrive.

In order to create a culture and identity that properly reflects the Brooklyn community, the school has rebranded as Paché Montessori. The name derives from the Italian word for peace, “pace”, spelled phonetically as Paché as the school offers education for peace, following Dr. Montessori’s true intentions for her pedagogy.

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At a GlanceFounded: 2015Total students approximately: 94 (capacity for 132)

Students of color: 24

Total faculty: 33

Faculty of color: 17

Faculty with advanced degrees: 10

Student/teacher ratio: 1:4

Financial aid budget: approximately $230,000

Students receiving aid: 16

THE SCHOOL

Paché Montessori transforms the way students learn. Here, children are immersed in a diverse community of young learners, where each individual develops at their own pace and according to their own choice of activities, promoting creative thinking, boosting self-esteem, and increasing motivation. At Paché, learning is an exciting process of discovery. The school provides a holistic curriculum and enrichment opportunities designed to develop open-minded, empathetic learners with global perspectives. Expert faculty nurtures students’ intellectual curiosity and instills a love for life-long learning.

Teaching and learning are grounded in the school’s seven core values and guiding principles. Each individual understands their responsibility to the collective to uphold the shared values as the school guides the next generation of change-makers. Paché Montessori is committed to antiracist education, actions, and consciousness and is dedicated to inspiring children to act with kindness and carry themselves with grace. The school strives to build a more just, peaceful, and equitable world through its actions and rejects racism, sexism, classism, and colonialism. Each family, educator, student, friend, and administrator at Paché is a role model, acting with purpose and dedication, understanding their great responsibility to one another.

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A passion for lifelong learning is exemplified by the teachers at Paché, who have completed an accredited Montessori training program, participate in ongoing professional development workshops, attend the annual Montessori refresher course, and have Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees in education. Each classroom has a Lead and Associate Guide who work together to role-model, observe, and connect the child to the environment so learning happens organically and spontaneously rather than handed from adult to child.

ACADEMICS

The education at Paché is rooted in helping students discover how they learn best. Through the Montessori approach, students construct their inner character, developing interests while making the independent choice to learn with grace and courtesy. The school understands the importance of providing prepared learning environments, especially in the formative developmental years. As is customary for Montessori environments, every detail is selected with the child’s whole development in mind. Students are placed in multi-age classrooms consisting of Nido (Infants 3-18 months), Toddler (18 months-3 years), and Children’s House (3-6 years), and offers Toddler and Preschool Spanish Immersion options.

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The Infant environments embody Maria Montessori’s vision of a “Nido” or nest. They are peaceful, loving spaces where babies can explore and feel secure. Fully established Infant environments have a maximum of 9 infants and 3-4 adults, one of whom is also the Room Leader. The Lower Infant classroom welcomes children as young as 12 weeks. At 12 months, infants move to the Upper Infant room which is designed to encourage the child’s natural gross motor development as well as increased levels of independence. Each Infant room supports the child’s development of the movement, independence, and capacity for active exploration. The environments offer rich opportunities for babies to learn through plenty of reading, singing, and sign language. The infant environments have several special features that also set them apart from typical daycare settings, specifically the support of breastfeeding for mothers who would like to nurse during midday visits as well as tranquil designated nap spaces.

Around 18 months, a child may begin their transition to the toddler program. Move-up ages may vary by several months as the school individualizes based on each student’s level of readiness. Children in the Toddler program benefit from a carefully and purposefully designed environment created to foster independence, develop coordination and control of movement, and support the child’s linguistic phase of language development. At this foundational age, students begin to hone problem-solving skills in a positive, non-competitive environment. Young learners benefit from psychosensorial exercises – such as bead stringing, sewing, puzzles, and stacking– to help in developing eye-hand coordination and dexterity as well as physical exercises promoting development of balance and equilibrium.

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The Montessori Primary program (Children’s House) is built upon three pillars - the student, the teacher, and the environment - as an aid to life during the period of development when a child transitions from unconsciously absorbing their environment to becoming conscious absorbers. Children’s House welcomes students from two-and-a-half to six years old, which includes their Kindergarten year, together in one classroom community. This mixed-age cohort guides and learns from each other through observing others working or receiving a lesson, helping or teaching one another with something they themselves have already mastered. This approach encourages community, collaboration, leadership, empathy, and many other important virtues that are carried throughout one’s life.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Brooklyn is one of the most soulful and exciting boroughs of New York City, a place with a special vibe and vitality. Situated at the west end of Long Island, Brooklyn is a diverse mix of urban and suburban life and offers a wealth of activities and entertainment. Brooklyn has convenient transportation access to all boroughs of New York City. This top-tier metropolis showcases everything from architecture and art to science and sports. Brooklyn is a borough that can speak anybody’s language.

NYC’s art scene is unparalleled. Starting with the Brooklyn Museum and continuing to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, and other museums that present great art from around the world. Art lovers enjoy mesmerizing galleries and engaging musical and theatric performances, while families can gaze at the plants and trees at the lush Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Additionally, Broadway, Lincoln Center, the Barclays Center, and many smaller venues mean it’s never hard to find a concert or performance.

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OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Challenges: • To help a school founded in 2015 develop sustainable systems of practice;• To marshal and balance a broad portfolio of administrative responsibilities with a small, dedicated

administrative team;• To deepen a culture of stability and identity for a young organization staffed with bright, new educators;• To uphold and reinforce school values, systems, boundaries/rules, and foster transparent,

collaborative communication across stakeholder groups.

Opportunities: • To lead a dynamic Montessori school with a mission committed to racial equity, justice, and inclusion;• To make a meaningful impact on the life of children and their families in their early years of life;• To mentor and develop a committed group of faculty and staff members; • To utilize a beautiful and historic facility in the heart of Brooklyn, equipped with two private outdoor

spaces;• To “rebuild” Paché Montessori’s sense of community post-COVID through social events, education,

and additional opportunities; • To grow the student body and continue to develop a committed and diverse community.

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DESIRED QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Deep experience in early childhood education. This experience can come as a classroom teacher or as an administrator;

• A creative problem-solver and strong administrator, able to both execute and delegate tasks;• A demonstrated commitment to anti-racism and anti-bias personally and professionally; • A culturally responsive educator; • An affinity for Montessori education. Formal training and certification in Montessori education is not

a prerequisite for this job. Paché is willing to train the appointee once hired; • A skilled relationship-builder;• An effective communicator.

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TO APPLY

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact the consultants in confidence. Candidates will ultimately need to submit the following materials as separate PDF documents:

• A cover letter expressing their interest in this particular position;• A current résumé;• A list of five professional references with name, relationship, phone number, and email address of

each (references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) to:

Allison StilesSearch Consultantallison.stiles@carneysandoe.com

Lawrence AlexanderSearch Consultantlawrence.alexander@carneysandoe.com

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