Highlights and News from HMEI

High Fidelity: Montessori Past, Present, Future

Hope Montessori Educational Institute’s Midwest Regional 2023 Conference For All Montessori Educators, Administrators and Parents
October 6-7 2023
Double Tree Hotel and Conference Center
16625 Swingley Ridge Road
Chesterfield, MO 63017 


FRIDAY
'The Spiral Curriculum'
Intensive with Mandi Franz

Movie Screening
Mix and Mingle
Welcome Address
by Uniit Carruyo

SATURDAY
Continental Breakfast
Keynote by Molly O'Shaughnessy
Four Breakout Sessions
Lunchtime conversation with Donohue
'Our Montessori Journey'
Reception Hosted by HMEI (Dinner & Drinks Included)

Click Here to Register!




Keynote Speakers

Presenter: Mandi Franz

Friday October 6th
9:00 to 3:00

"The Spiral Curriculum"
Target Audience: All

Mandi Franz
About Mandi Franz (Click to View)

Mandi Franz, M.Ed., was a Montessori student from age 18 months through Upper Elementary. She is the teaching coach at Ross Montessori Charter School in Carbondale, Colorado. She has 14 years of experience as an elementary Montessori guide in the public sector and has been coaching since 2016. She is an instructor at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies in Denver, Colorado in the Elementary and Administration programs. Mandi volunteers as a member of the AMS Teacher Education Action Commission (TEAC). Credentials: AMS Elementary 1 and Administration.

Presenter: Uniit Carruyo

Friday October 6th
6:00-7:15

""The Prepared Envrionment is an Aspirational Microcosm: Belonging and Longing to Be in a Montessori Community"
Target Audience: All

Uniit Carruyo
About Uniit Carruyo (Click to View)

Uniit Carruyo is an artist, author, and educator. She has over 25 years of experience working with 0-6 children and their families. Ms. Carruyo is a Montessori teacher trainer passionate about the transformation possible through brave self-awareness. Ms. Carruyo’s publications include Team Teaching in Early Childhood Settings: Leadership Tools for Reflective Practice, Clarice, and Montessori Life, among others.

Presenter: Molly O'Shaughnessy

Saturday October 7th
8:00-9:15

"Montessori for Social Change: Returning to the Roots"
Target Audience: All

Molly O'Shaughnessy
About Molly O'Shaughnessy (Click to View)

Molly O’Shaughnessy is an accomplished AMI trainer as well as a consultant and lecturer. She has led the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota (MCM) for 20 years of expansion, growing a teacher training center into a movement to bring high-quality Montessori education to hundreds of underserved children. In 2008 O’Shaughnessy opened MCM’s campus in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood in East St. Paul.  The campus includes an early childhood center, a teacher training center, and a one-of-a-kind Montessori museum. Additionally, MCM partners with Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School, a separate charter serving children kindergarten through sixth grade. The campus features much natural life, wood and stone materials, art, a greenhouse and a wetland.  

Through a pilot program called Montessori Partners Serving All Children (MPSAC), O’Shaughnessy helped launch ten Montessori schools in under-resourced neighborhoods. Through the MPSAC initiative, MCM forms partnerships with local communities to increase their access to high-fidelity Montessori early childhood education. These partnerships include community-rooted schools as well as less conventional educational settings, with a goal to strengthen bonds between home, school, and community in a culturally responsive way. The program also provides ongoing support and guidance. 

A noted authority in the field of Montessori training, she has served on the board of the Association of Montessori Internationale in Amsterdam, was a long-time member of the AMI Trainers Group, chairs the board of the MM75 fund which provides assistance for future AMI teacher trainers, and was a member of the Montessori Leaders Collaborative. She is in demand as a speaker nationally and internationally and has presented keynotes and workshops across the United States as well as Canada, Australia, Mexico, China and Europe. She has consulted on several Montessori projects nationally and internationally.   She has a Master’s degree in Education from Loyola University in Maryland and a Bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Scholastica.  She serves as Community Faculty for Metropolitan State University and served as an adjunct faculty for St. Catherine University for several years. 

In June 2016 she was given the Early Childhood Honors Award by the Start Early Funders Coalition for her “unwavering dedication to improving the lives of young children and their families. She also received the Wisdom of the Elders Award granted by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) in recognition of leadership throughout the Montessori community as an educator, writer, and innovator (2015-2016).

Presenter: P Shortridge Donohue

Saturday October 7th
12:25-1:25

"A Conversation with Donohue: Reflections, Reminders, Renewal"
Target Audience: Fans of Donohue
Bring your lunch or buy a sack lunch from the hotel

P Shortridge Donohue
About P Shortridge Donohue (Click to View)

Donohue, now semi-retired, has been a Montessorian for over 40 years, serving in multiple capacities starting as classroom assistant to lead teacher to teacher educator to conference presenter and writer. She holds AMS credentials at both the I/T and EC levels. Have lunch and hear from Donohue as you consider the challenges and possibilities of what Montessori can mean IRL.

Click Here to Register!