AllOtsego.com: 'Follow the Child'

'Follow the Child'

11/6/09

Brookwood Strives To Apply ‘Montessori Method’

By LAURA COX

TODDSVILLE

A couple starting a family has a lot of decisions to make: Names, nursery colors, childcare and – foremost, perhaps – education, to set a child up for success later in life.
In places like Otsego County, where the schools are generally good and safe, public education is the prevailing choice, and the price is right.
But if a child simply isn’t thriving, parents starting looking at other options, and Otsego County offers several.
In Oneonta, there’s St. Mary’s Catholic School; in Cooperstown, the new Ith Education Center, and then, in Toddsville, The Brookwood School.
“Not every school is for every student and not every student is for every school,” said Gina Reeves, in the middle of her first term as Brookwood head of school. “Brookwood offers an option.”
Founded in 1981 by Ann Weinke as the Christian Hill Montessori School for Preschoolers, Brookwood was formally chartered as a nonprofit independent day school in 1996.
Once run out of a doublewide prefabricated building, it was expanded into Phase I of the current facility in 2000. Phase II opened in 2007.
From preschool, Brookwood added childcare, then K-6.
As a Montessori school, Brookwood’s mission is to “promote a love of learning in a community that embraces intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm and trust,” while recognizing individual learning styles and fostering each child’s self-esteem.
“The Brookwood School uses hands-on activities, experiential learning, and the region’s many cultural resources in its endeavor to develop the full potential of each child,” according to the mission statement.For Janine Sabella and her husband Jeff Woeppel, the decision to send their children to Brookwood was a personal one, one they have reassessed at multiple points of their children’s education.
When Sabella was first pregnant with Alexander, now 7, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do for childcare.
The couple were both full time professionals – at Bassett; she is a physician, he an administrator – and at 8 months pregnant she was beginning to worry. On a treadmill at the gym, she heard about Brookwood piloting a childcare program.
“I decided I better go check it out,” she said.
Woeppel’s older daughter Teddy, now 24, went to preschool at Christian Hill, so the couple thought they would give Brookwood a try.
“It was nice, safe, easily accessible and a stimulating place for the kids to be while we were working,” said Sabella.When they had their second child, Gabrielle, 5, they brought her to Brookwood too.
“The thing I like about it is it is more than just childcare. They were learning and happy, and my active test was that they would run inside in the morning and I would have to struggle to get them to leave at the end of day. I knew things going well.”
Some of Alexander’s first words were in French. As a toddler his grandparents were babysitting him and heard him climbing the stairs counting them, “une, deux, trois.” The kids transitioned into preschool there, but when it came time for Alexander to advance to Kindergarten his parents reassessed the family’s choice. Alexander attended Cooperstown schools for kindergarten and first grades, but went to Brookwood for after-school care and vacation days. His sister Gabrielle stayed in preschool at Brookwood.
“For us it was the right choice at the time,” said Sabella, “It really is a personal decision.”
As second grade approached the couple reassessed, learned more about Montessori methods, sat down with a teacher, and decided to reenroll Alexander.
Cooperstown schools were a little less flexible in allowing Sabella to sit in on a class, and she said that influenced her decision on Alexander.
And mom joined the Brookwood board to continue focusing on what she feels is best for their children by trying to do what’s best for their school.

Labels: 11-13-09, Frontpage

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM

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