2019-20 Wilmington Montessori School Annual Report

A MESSAGE FROM
Lisa A. Lalama & Ann Hriciga
Dear WMS Families and Friends,
Strategic planning retreat - June 2019
Montessori Model U.N. conference - February 2020
Family Woods Walk - November 2019
As our 2019 fiscal year ended, we gathered a group of faculty,
staff, board members, past and current parents, alumni and
other educators to begin planning the future direction of
Wilmington Montessori School. Using a design thinking
approach, we began to work in smaller groups to test the ideas
that were presented by the larger group, and we were ready to
fully embrace the new strategic direction for our school. Then,
along with the rest of the world, we faced the unimaginable
challenge of COVID-19, and we learned a great deal as our focus
shifted to preserving the health and safety of our community,
within WMS and beyond.
What we may ultimately remember about 2020 may not be
directly related to school, although we had many wonderful
experiences brought about through our deep connections to
our Montessori roots and our WMS community. During the
2019-20 school year, our sixth- through eighth-grade students
participated in the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN)
for the first time. Preparations for this conference began early
in the school year, as students learned more about the world
and a variety of global issues. In late February, several weeks
before the world began to shut down due to the pandemic, the
group traveled to New York City for the conference, where they
collaborated and negotiated with representatives from other
Montessori schools throughout the world to create solutions
to these global issues from the perspective of their chosen
country. This experience furthered Dr. Montessori’s vision of
giving children a view of the world, working toward peace.
During that fall and winter, our parents, who share so many
of their talents with us through their work in the WMS Co-op
Program, strengthened the connections within our community
by hosting a community cultural celebration and led groups
of parents and their children throughout the WMS campus to
explore our woods and other outdoor spaces.
annual report 2019-20 • 1