Fast Facts
- School Founder
- Year started at MDS: 1981
Margaret “Peg” Huffman
In the 1970’s I was teaching at Georgia State University when I read a book (Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work) that brought me to tears and provided a life-changing career course. Years of Montessori training (0 – 6, 6 – 9, 9 – 12) led ultimately, with Ed Huffman, my life partner, to the creation of Montessori Day Schools.
Ed’s and my shared love of music and the arts resulted in Mountainside’s Arts/Music/Gym building – a total luxury for a small Montessori school, but one we considered essential. Our shared love of the natural world and of science led to the garden-like grounds of the school. (How many kinds of plants will grow here? Shall we have a greenhouse? How about goats?)
With Ed’s passing in ’20, amid the chaos of COVID, I necessarily assumed the business office functions of the school, leaving daily program direction in Pat Freeman’s adept and caring hands. Together with our amazingly talented, diverse and dedicated staff we continue to create, each day, a Montessori family of joyful learners of all ages.