High Five!

We did it — week one!

There is something about the first week of school that asks a lot of everyone. New routines, new classrooms, new friends, new grown-ups, new expectations, new drop-offs, and lots and lots of transitions.

And this week, I have found myself feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the people who make up this little school.

I want to give a giant high five to our teachers, who met this first week with so much flexibility, humor, patience, and care. The beginning of a school year never goes exactly according to plan — and that is okay. Our teachers adjusted, supported one another, followed the children, changed course when something wasn't working, and kept showing up with warmth and joy.

A high five to our parents, too. Thank you for trusting us, for keeping goodbyes steady even when they were hard, for rolling with the inevitable first-week adjustments, and for partnering with us as your children find their footing. That steadiness matters enormously.

And the biggest high five to our students.

They have been brave. They have been curious. They have missed their grown-ups and then found something wonderful to do. They have made new friends, learned new routines, explored new spaces, gotten dirty, laughed, cried, tried again, and brought so much resilient joy into Willow this week.

Watching them begin to make this year's Willow their own has been pretty wonderful.

And while we are celebrating new beginnings, I also want to officially welcome two wonderful educators to our Willow community: Ms. Haley and Ms. Callie!

Welcome, Ms. Haley!

I hope that by now every Toddler family has had the opportunity to meet Ms. Haley. Welcoming Haley to Willow feels particularly special to me because our story together started long before Willow existed.

Haley and I met before either of us got married, before we had children of our own, and long before I could have imagined that I would one day be writing this from a little school in Cumberland. We went through our Montessori teacher training together while working at Winfield Children's House, and Haley was one of the people I would sit with and daydream about what we wished our Montessori practice could look and feel like.

We talked about children spending more time outside. About making room for play alongside beautiful, intentional Montessori work. About trusting children, following their interests, being joyful with them, and creating a school where childhood could feel expansive.

And now, somehow, here we are.

It is an absolute pleasure to welcome Haley to Willow. She is a joyful, silly, deeply instinctive teacher who genuinely delights in young children. I am so excited for our families to get to know her and for our Toddlers to benefit from the warmth, humor, experience, and Montessori practice she brings into their classroom each day.

Welcome to Willow, Ms. Haley. I am so very glad you are here.

Welcome, Ms. Callie!

We are also so happy to welcome Ms. Callie, who is joining Ms. Sara in our afternoons and helping make those later hours feel like a thoughtful extension of the Willow day.

Callie comes to us with a deep well of experience working with young children. She has taught nature-based education at Maine Audubon and has spent years teaching in the Falmouth public schools, where she currently works as a preschool teacher.

Her background feels like such a natural fit for Willow. Callie understands both early childhood education and the incredible learning that happens when children are given the opportunity to explore, wonder, move, and build relationships with the natural world.

We are so lucky to have her bringing that experience to our afternoons, and I am excited for children and families across the school to get to know her.

Welcome, Ms. Callie! We are so happy you're here.

One of my favorite things about this season at Willow is watching our community take shape again.

Every year is different because the people are different. New children arrive. Returning children come back a little taller and a little more confident. New teachers bring their own gifts. Returning teachers deepen their practice. Families begin to know one another. Slowly, all of those individual people become us.

And after this first week, I already have the feeling that this is going to be a really special year.

So, high fives all around — to our teachers for their flexibility, to our parents for their steadiness, and to our children for their incredible resilience and joy.

We are going to have an amazing year. I am so thankful and excited to be a part of it all. We are so lucky.

Happy first week, Willow.