If you have been on campus in the past two weeks, you may have seen a very exciting change – the east side of our Multipurpose Building has been demolished! Much to the delight of our children, the excavator began taking down the building in the morning last week. Children gathered in the center island to watch the entire process.
Since then, the construction workers have been busy clearing the rubble from the area and continuing the soft demolition of the rest of the Multipurpose Building. The spaces formally known as the Multipurpose Room and the Blue Room will be completely renovated to make way for a Toddler and Children’s House Village. Once the debris from the east side is removed, the foundation and framing will begin for additional classrooms.
We are excited to see such progress on our busy campus!
It has been a couple of months since we have started construction at Greenspring Montessori School. While much of the work still remains behind the scenes (interior demolition of the Multipurpose Building, relocation of wiring, new water pipes for the Student Activity Center, finishing up the storm water management pond), there are still many very real signs of construction on campus!
Classes have ventured to get a closer look at the jack hammer breaking up the underlying rock behind the Student Activity Center (and there is a lot of rock to break!). Toddlers have been learning the names of construction vehicles and tools. Children’s House students have been practicing their own construction skills in the classrooms with hammering, sawing, drilling, and safety lessons. Our play spaces and outdoor environments are getting new rocks and greenery that we have repurposed from the construction area.
In addition, we are looking ahead excitedly for the newly renovated classrooms. We have selected our tile and carpet samples, along with our wall colors! Our staff are also meeting to discuss the fixtures in our kitchens, restrooms, and classrooms. With this, we can begin to paint a picture in our minds of what the new buildings will look like.
Just imagine walking into the Toddler and Children’s House Village East (currently the Multipurpose Building), where the classrooms are all a buzz with activity. Large windows let natural light pour in on to the many Montessori materials neatly placed on the shelves. This building is completely new, but it fits in with the historic charm of the rest of campus. Clean cream walls and neutral flooring allows the room to fade away, so that the child’s work becomes the primary focus.
In all of the rooms, children move freely in between the indoor and outdoor environments. Outside, there is even more space for the children to garden, work with materials, and observe the great world around them.
The communal kitchens in each building will allow for all of our children and our faculty to bake and cook regularly, incorporating more fresh foods into their daily snacks.
All in all, these new villages will provide an immersive and fully-Montessori space for our children to grow and flourish.
In the coming weeks and months, we will begin to truly see this vision take shape. Once the interior demolition of the Multipurpose Building is complete and the storm water management pond is in place, the external demolition will begin. After that is cleaned up and hauled away, workers will start the framing of the new Village. We look forward to sharing more of this journey with our community this spring!
Just some of the presenters at the first annual Baltimore Montessori Conference.
On Saturday, April 1, 2017, Greenspring Montessori School opened it’s campus to the greater Montessori community for our first annual Baltimore Montessori Conference. The conference was created by the Maryland Center for Montessori Studies – the Montessori training center at Greenspring Montessori School. Our mission is inspiring and cultivating strong Montessori advocates and leaders as champions for the human spirit. To learn more about our Early Childhood Teacher Credential, please click here.
To all of our Participants, Presenters, and Volunteers who helped make the inaugural Baltimore Montessori Conference a huge success – THANK YOU!
Keynote speaker Jaqueline Cossentino presenting to an audience of more than 120 at Greenspring Montessori School.
Over 100 Montessori teachers, administrators, and parents from 6 states joined us for a day of workshops focusing around continuing our own education and understanding of Montessori practices. There were many workshops to choose from, with sessions led by inspiring life-long Montessorians including Marie Conti, Kathy Minardi, and Jen Cort!
The Director of Training for the Maryland Center for Montessori Studies, Lee Lanou, poses with two of our presenters.
To those who attended, we hope that you all enjoyed a day to refresh yourself and your Montessori practice, gain valuable theoretical insight, and practical information and ideas. We also hope that you were able to meet and connect with some new Montessori colleagues from other schools.
Be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, April 7, 2018. We hope to see you there!
It has been a very busy month of construction at Greenspring Montessori School!
We are finally beginning to see the signs that our extensive project is underway. It is a great feeling for all those involved in planning and preparation for this project over the past two years. We have worked very hard to get to this point and this is a major accomplishment to celebrate!
To recap, our construction team created a temporary access road across the back of the soccer field, installed safety fencing around the Multipurpose building, and began the excavation of the stone water management area behind the Student Activity Center.
Many of the rocks were repurposed for our outdoor environments.
The last task proved to be the most tricky, as we found massive rock slabs that needed to be removed. For three days now, there has been a constant drone of a jack hammer across campus, but they have finally been able to remove most of the rock! This has also been a blessing in disguise, as we have been able to use many of the “scrap” rocks in our outdoor environments and decorative garden beds across campus.
Also, a team did safety walk-throughs in the Multipurpose Building, to assure that the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical are all prepared for demolition in the coming weeks. Workers will be doing the demo from the inside out, so to speak. They will be tearing down cabinets, drywall, and all non-structural elements before moving to the major demolition outside. Keep a look out for the first signs of demolition of the Multipurpose Building! While there will not be any theatricals or wrecking balls, it is still sure to be an interesting sight.
We are looking forward to see what exciting construction news we will have in March! Stay tuned for our latest updates.
Greenspring Montessori School hosted a ceremonial Groundbreaking on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 for a building project to renovate nearly 30,000 square feet and construct 7,500 square feet of additional classroom space on its historic seven-acre campus. Head of School, Tamara Balis, spoke to the community about our progress, and our Chair of the Board of Trustees, Fred Brown, and Councilwoman Vicki Almond shared their support. Students, parents, and staff dug in with their shovels, ceremoniously marking the beginning of this transformation.
Originally known as Emerson Dairy Farm, the iconic white barns and silos have been an important part of the Greenspring history since the 1920’s. Currently home to over 250 children, toddler through grade 8, Greenspring Montessori School is committed to its mission of “igniting purpose and voice in a fully engaged learning community.”
True to the Montessori philosophy, the upcoming building project will provide thoughtfully designed classrooms with free access to outdoor space, community kitchens, and child-sized features such as cabinets, sinks, toilets, and more.
The school is compelled to complete this renovation to improve its beloved but aging facilities to be safer, healthier, and more environmentally-friendly, with buildings reimagined to fit the school’s growing needs. This collaborative effort will provide lasting benefits – social, developmental, academic, physical, and financial – that touch every member of Greenspring Montessori School’s community.
Learn more about our Building Project.
