Nikki Garrett, Founder Maria's Garden Montessori...
...her career began in 1997 in rural Thailand, where she developed an English program for students from kindergarten through eighth grade, using the arts as a vehicle to teach in a culturally isolated area. She returned to the U.S. in 1998, where she joined The Academy of New Paltz, an alternative middle/high school.
At The Academy, Garrett built a holistic education for at-risk teens which included practical life experiences, wilderness expeditions, independent study, and internships. In 2002, Ms. Garrett began her study of the Montessori approach. In 2003, she founded Maria’s Garden Montessori School, a school for students age three through third grade. Here, using the Montessori model as a foundation, she explored other approaches to education such as Waldorf, Reggio-Emilia, and Bank Street, incorporating elements of them into her own program.
She also brought digital technology into the classroom as a documentation tool, communicating the vibrancy of their learning to parents in a blog which included photographs, child artwork, and transcribed conversations. Ms. Garrett is currently researching and writing on connections between Montessori’s schema of child development and those of other methods, tutoring privately, and working in diverse educational settings. Ms. Garrett is certified by the Center for Montessori Teacher Education, an American Montessori Society accredited program. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Purchase College.
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