Dedication of Historic Schoolhouse Building at Moore Montessori Community School
On April 11, 2024, Moore Montessori Community School will dedicate its recently renovated building along with five classrooms in a community ceremony. The building will be named Voss Hall, in honor of the Voss family’s multi-generational legacy of education and generosity.
Originally dedicated in 1947, Voss Hall was designed by school architect William H. Deitrick of Raleigh. The Pilot newspaper wrote at the time: “The one-story building, whose external architecture is Georgian Colonial, is on a large wooded lot, its beautiful entrance shaded by the longleaf pines and magnolia trees which are distinctively Southern Pines. The columned porch, with wide steps and wrought iron railing, is floored in light tan ‘crab orchard’ flagstone; above it soars a weather-vaned cupola reminiscent of the New England from which the community’s founders came.”
The building, the article continued, “combines beauty with practical ideas,” designed as it was for “health, learning and safety” while being hailed as “one of the most modern and beautiful schools in the country*.”
In 2021, Moore Montessori Community School (MMCS) purchased the campus from Moore County Schools. Over the past three years, MMCS has invested in historic renovations of “B Building,” led by architect Tim Martin of Raleigh. MMCS prioritized three design principles: quality learning environments, historic authenticity, and environmental compatibility. The work has included restoring the original Buckingham slate roof and copper cupola and removing the dropped ceilings which obscured the full impact of the original 9-foot windows. The classrooms now feature abundant natural light, high quality air filtration systems, and easy access to the outdoors. Voss Hall houses primary and elementary Montessori classrooms, an art studio, administration offices, and a beautiful library for MMCS students.
In addition to the building renovations, teams of community and parent volunteers have been restoring the landscaping of the 12-acre campus to complement the beauty of its five buildings. Future projects include creating world-class outdoor learning environments and restoring the cafeteria and gymnasium. If you would like to support MMCS and its continued efforts to preserve and transform this incredible campus, please contact Katherine Rucker, Head of School.
* Historical information from 2011 Southern Pines Landmark Ornament: The Southern Pines Elementary School; Sponsored by Friends of the Southern Pines Public Library
Local Leaders Build with Habitat
BY ANA RISANO || Staff Writer ana@thepilot.com Oct 2, 2023
Local leaders donned hard hats and swung hammers last Friday during Habitat for Humanity of the Sandhills’ annual CEO Build day.
Sandhills Habitat Executive Director Amie Fraley said CEO day is an important build because it shows local leadership who Habitat builds for.
“If they think, let’s say, if we give our houses away to people who are jobless and homeless, and just looking for a handout, they’re never thinking about their own staff and colleagues as potential buyers for habitat homes,” Fraley said.
“And especially in today’s climate where affordable housing is getting so challenging for people, we know that our employers want to help find those solutions for their employees, especially really good employees that you want to keep, and so we always say a great employee makes a great Habitat homeowner.”
The Habitat model has homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Homeowners give 300 hours of sweat equity and are guaranteed a mortgage that is no more than 30 percent of their income.
Those at CEO day helped to “raise the walls” of Porsche Hollis’ house. She is a teacher’s assistant at Moore Montessori School. She’s lived in the Sandhills area for over 15 years. Hollis said it’s a “complete dream come true” for her and her son, Brayden.
“I’m so grateful for all the support, learning how to maintain my future home and for introducing me to such amazing people in my community,” Hollis said. “Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, my dream of becoming a homeowner is finally coming true. This means the world to myself and my son.”
Fraley said it’s important for the local leaders to not only know the Habitat demographics but also be able to encourage their employees to apply and become homeowners. She said great Habitat homeowners are those who “show up early” and “members of your team that you want to make sure you can keep around for years and years.”
“It’s also just nice for our community to see, we think, those local leaders out swinging hammers and doing something a little normal guyish and girlish,” she said. “And so we think it’s fun.”
Moore Montessori’s Head of School Katie Rucker attended CEO Day, saying she’s excited to partner with Habitat and “make sure people who work in the education sector” have affordable housing. She’s worked with Hollis for five years, calling her an “important part of our team.”
Fraley said each CEO Build is by invitation-only, with Habitat choosing leaders from different sectors that have some tie to the particular home. This year the focus was on education and healthcare, with many familiar faces in attendance.
Aberdeen Mayor Robbie Farrell said Habitat is “filling a void” by building in Aberdeen because there are many people “who can’t afford the current housing projects, housing costs.”
It’s great for the neighborhood,” Farrell said. “It’s great for the people who can afford these new homes. It’s building a community. It’s great to have this many volunteers come out to do this. If it wasn’t for the volunteers, this could not happen. It would not happen. It’s filling a need in this area for affordable homes. It’s difficult for young, single or couples to find affordable housing in this area, and this is a way to alleviate some of that.”
FirstHealth CEO Mickey Foster said he’s been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for nearly two decades.
“Every community I’ve lived in, I think it’s about giving back to your community, and it’s really important to me to give back and volunteer and help people out. Our core purpose is to care for people at FirstHealth, and this is a prime example of that.”
Sandhills Community College Vice President for Continuing Education and Workforce Development Fallon Brewington said it’s her “favorite event of the year.”
“I like to get to build with all of the movers and shakers in Moore County,” Brewington said.
SCC President Sandy Stewart said he is “honored to be with this group here because this is an example of a community coming together that really makes a difference.”
Mid Carolina Regional Association of Realtors CEO Sandra Barnhardt said building with Habitat is special.
“It’s a chance for us to get out,” Barnhardt said. “And see what’s going on — give back. Anytime we can give back as realtors we try to do that.”
She later added, “There’s a desperate need for affordable housing, and a housing shortage overall. So Moore County’s experiencing a housing shortage not just in affordable but any houses. Our inventory’s super, super low.”
The day kicked off with a tiny home dedication for Tytonia McRae, right down the street. The build was completed in partnership with a Sandhills Community College class. Fraley said it’s nice to start the day with a visual of a finished product for those helping on the build.
Since its inception, the local Habitat has housed 319 local families as of last year. It also helped about 300 people through the repair program and partnered to build 319 homes internationally. Fraley anticipates reaching 1,000 families this year.
Sandhills Habitat’s goal for this fiscal year is to build another 12 homes across the three counties it serves, Moore, Hoke and Richmond. Fraley said the organization received 95 complete homeowner applications during this year’s submission period.
She said Habitat has picked about 15 applicants to move forward with next steps, which include a volunteer committee visiting the home of each applicant and then “triageing” based on need.
“Because we may end up with more people than we can financially build for,” Fraley said. “So we just take whoever has the greatest need.”
She said the potential homebuyers should know by mid-October if they were selected this year.
Sandhills Habitat also just wrapped up its application period for home repairs through its Aging in Place program, which provides home repairs for individuals over 55 years old or with disabilities.
Fraley said it is now matching up applications with the close to $500,000 awarded for this year’s repairs. For most, the program operates with the homeowner paying 25 percent and Habitat covering 75 percent of the cost of the repair.
For further questions, Amie Fraley can be reached at (910) 295-1934 ext. 2310 or afraley@sandhillshabitat.org. Visit sandhillshabitat.org to learn more, or sign up to volunteer.
https://www.thepilot.com/news/local-leaders-build-with-habitat/article_c00677a6-6142-11ee-8708-a7d42f69de87.html
Father Capodanno Gains Home Field Advantage Through Montessori School PartnershiP
Contributed Aug 1, 2023
Sports as an extension of the learning environment took on new meaning as the Grunts from Father Vincent Capodanno High School tackled a grueling obstacle course on the school’s new property in Vass, off NC 690. The weeklong football camp ended this past Friday and saw 23 Grunt football players push themselves to new limits and grow as a cohesive team.
“I did not want to get into that pond,” said senior team captain Sam Attar. “But it’s about being a team and sticking together through hard challenges for the win.”
“This camp culminates a summer of intense weight training and positions us for a highly competitive season,” said head coach Aaron Hartley. “We’ve brought in some talented coaches with a combined 70 years of experience. We’re entering the North Carolina Independent School Athletics Association’s Big Eight Conference with a very real chance for a playoff berth and maybe even advance well into the postseason.”
The Grunts will play their five regular season home games in downtown Southern Pines this year.
“We’ve entered into a valuable partnership with Moore Montessori Community School,” said Capodanno’s director of development and leadership instructor Joshe Raetz. “We’re eager to team with Montessori teachers and students in a variety of mutually beneficial ways. We’re planning to run obstacle courses and various outdoor activities, as well as provide in-class mentorship between our students. Montessori is providing Capodanno use of their football field and gymnasium for home volleyball and basketball. Friday night lights in downtown Southern Pines and leadership interactions between Capodanno and Montessori students is a win-win.”
Father Capodanno’s volleyball starts the season off Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. with a home game at Moore Montessori versus Fayetteville’s Northwest Baptist Academy.
“Our volleyball team and girls and boys basketball teams will be competing this year in the Central Carolina Christian Conference,” said Capodanno athletic director Andy Attar. “What a great opportunity to now have all our team sports eligible for postseason play.”
Father Capodanno’s football season kicks off with a 1 p.m. matinee home opener Aug. 18 against Bellhaven’s Pungo Christian Academy at Moore Montessori Community School.
https://www.thepilot.com/sports/father-capodanno-gains-home-field-advantage-through-montessori-school-partnership/article_eb985ce0-3082-11ee-a47c-fffc7600b7c6.html
New Middle School Program Teaches Lessons of Life
The Pilot By MARY KATE MURPHY || mkmurphy@thepilot.com June 4, 2023
Seed packets, potting soil and chicken feed aren’t usually included on the typical sixth-grader’s back-to-school shopping list.
But in one school where students choose their own learning adventure day to day, a group of middle schoolers is following their interests into entrepreneurship.
Moore Montessori Community School has received about $15,000 worth of grants to provide them with equipment to start an “urban agriculture” program on its campus.
The Southern Pines charter school is adding a middle school program in the next school year and plans to top out at eighth grade in 2024. Montessori education prioritizes student-driven, hands-on learning in all subjects throughout the grade levels.
Moore Montessori’s seventh and eighth grade program — sixth grade is part of Upper Elementary in its mixed-age classrooms — will be designed as a bridge between elementary Montessori education and traditional high school.
But putting new concepts, quite literally, in students’ grasp will extend to basic financial principles in the expanded middle school microeconomic program.
Current sixth-graders have already gotten started raising chickens and planting seeds for their future enterprise. It will all happen on an unlikely patch of pavement behind the main school building.
That’s thanks to a set of hydroponic gardening systems with space to grow 440 plants without the use of soil. Teacher Rebecca Few secured a grant worth $10,000 from Green Our Planet, a nonprofit conservation organization that supports school gardening programs nationwide.
A second grant from the N.C. Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council funded a greenhouse where sunflowers, zinnias and pumpkins are already beginning to sprout.
Teacher Rebecca Few outside the chicken structure. Students Eli Burgin, Harmonee Rosario Liam Buis and Josef Pfannkuch with their chickens at Moore Montessori Community School in Southern Pines. Ted Fitzgerald/The Pilot
Moore Montessori’s own funds have gone toward a chicken coop and eggs. Students put in their share of planning and sweat equity, spending a Saturday last month assembling the coop from a kit.
Students came up with a project budget and presented it to the school’s board of directors, realizing that the kit was a more economical option than buying raw materials.
“One person would list the materials and how much it cost and one would kind of write a letter and tell them what we were going to do with it,” said Malia Young, a rising seventh-grader.
“We looked up all the materials we needed online. That was excruciating. It took such a long time.”
Field trips have abounded: to hardware stores, LadyBug Farm in Pinebluff for fertilized eggs. Aberdeen Supply threw in some seeds when students went shopping for chicken feed and heat lamps.
Students have already learned that in business, things don’t always go to plan. Their initial purchase of 22 eggs resulted in four live chicks after a power outage interrupted incubation.
Whether Blurg, Maverick, Smoky and Squirt will be female and lay eggs won’t be clear until the chicks mature. So another set of eggs is now incubating in the hope of ending up with a large group of profitable producers.
“Our goal is education. We spent some money and we lost some money in that learning process,” said Few, who will be one of two middle school teachers at Moore Montessori.
“Even if we lose money in the endeavor, we still were successful if we learned.”
Produce from the greenhouse and hydroponic lettuces will be sold at a school farmer’s market and in-house. At a school where every classroom has a pet guinea pig, rabbit or reptile, the students will have their work cut out for them out-producing their own demand.
Landon Andrews and David Phillips tend to the plants in the green house at Moore Montessori Community School in Southern Pines. Ted Fitzgerald/The Pilot
“We’re going to be breeding some mealworms to feed to the reptiles: we have lots of leopard geckos and a bearded dragon,” said sixth-grader Bethany Bolyard. “The chickens will eat them too.”
The students already have big plans for their eventual proceeds: funding a field trip to Washington, D.C. by the end of their eighth-grade year.
“We’re hopefully not having to ask parents to pay,” said Haley Martin. “We’re going to use the money from the plants, and the chicken eggs and making the food and whatever we’re going to do next year to raise enough money to go.”
By then they might realize, too, the intangible lessons they’ve already started to learn: dealing with setbacks, getting their hands dirty, and coming to agreement with 20 of their closest friends.
“After we talk through everything,” Few said. “They are usually pretty much on the same page.”
https://www.thepilot.com/news/new-middle-school-program-teaches-lessons-of-life/article_bd7f6de8-02ed-11ee-ae06-9b1cfca86018.html
Education NC Perspective
For North Carolina parents seeking innovative education models, one option is public Montessori. Montessori is a hands-on, individualized approach that fosters a student’s love of learning while developing academic and executive function skills. National research has demonstrated the long-term benefits of a Montessori education, which include elevated psychological health and well-being for children, higher ACT scores, and a diminished opportunity gap.
In the past, this premier education model has been out of reach for working and middle class families, as over 90% of Montessori programs were in private, tuition-based schools. Today in North Carolina however, we have almost 20 public programs offering Montessori at no cost to families. Students in these schools perform at or above local and state academic outcomes on end-of-grade standardized testing. And families want more: for every one available public charter Montessori seat, ten North Carolina families remain on waitlists.
Public Montessori schools deliver strong student outcomes in part because their teachers are trained in intensive, Montessori-specific teacher preparation programs. To complete Montessori training, teachers must have a bachelor’s degree and successfully finish Montessori coursework — including observation, practice teaching, and exams —typically over a span of 12 to 24 months, and a cost of $10,000 or more.
Yet public Montessori schools in districts across our state are not able to hire an already highly trained Montessori teacher, unless that teacher has also completed a traditional teacher preparation program, which is designed for a different pedagogical approach.
In other words, to obtain a North Carolina teaching license, an already trained Montessori teacher has to take costly, redundant coursework.
The current licensure requirements are actively discouraging these otherwise qualified, classroom-ready teachers from entering existing public Montessori classrooms across North Carolina at a time when parental demand greatly exceeds supply. In fact, we are at risk of losing these qualified teachers to nearby states like South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Maryland, where legislators have already updated their licensure processes to create a pathway for public Montessori teachers.
Fortunately, there is a solution already at hand: promising legislation is included in the North Carolina House Budget, as an amendment introduced by Representative John Bradford, which passed overwhelmingly by 107 to 8. This legislation would allow teachers who have a bachelor's degree and Montessori credentials and have completed State Board of Education examination requirements to obtain a North Carolina teaching license to teach in Montessori-specific classrooms within our public school system.
The Montessori Association of North Carolina is heartened by this support from the North Carolina House of Representatives. Parents, teachers, and administrators from across North Carolina are now working alongside the Montessori Association of North Carolina and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Montessori Parent Advocacy Group to build support for this provision to ensure it is included in the final state budget later this year.
If included in the final budget, this provision would place additional passionate, qualified teachers in North Carolina classrooms as soon as August of this year. This is a smart, no-cost solution to address parental demand for public Montessori education, and the statewide teacher shortage.
This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Moore Montessori Expanding Middle School
By MARY KATE MURPHY || mkmurphy@thepilot.com. Jan 22, 2023 Updated Jan 23, 2023
Moore Montessori Community School might be the most recent addition to the charter school scene locally, but it has steadily gained ground toward filling its educational niche.
Now, in its second full year on its historic May Street campus, the school has grown into its original vision of a K-6 school. It originally opened on Pennsylvania Avenue with kindergarten through second grade in 2018 before buying the former Southern Pines Elementary from Moore County Schools.
In the next two years, the school’s leaders plan to expand that original vision to add seventh and eighth grades.
“We feel like there's an opportunity in the community for a small middle school program that is really designed for self-motivated and curious children who want to learn not only the (state) Standard Course of Study, but beyond that,” said Head of School Katherine Rucker.
“It’s an ideal fit for students who want to take an active role in their education and have real-world learning experiences.”
Moore Montessori currently enrolls just over 200 K-6 charter school students as well as private preschool students. Like a typical Montessori program, classrooms incorporate mixed-age groups: pre-K3 through kindergarten in Primary, grades one through three in Lower Elementary and grades four through six in Upper Elementary.
Addition of seventh and eighth grade will bring the school to 250 public school students in 2025. Current sixth-graders have priority for next year’s seventh-grade class, but about 15 spaces will be open for new students.
“We've always, from our founding here, had a small group of, I think they were second graders when they started with us,” Rucker said. “So we're in a position to add children whose families think they would benefit from a Montessori middle school program next year.”
The Montessori program for early childhood strives to develop each student’s intrinsic motivation for discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. So learning is largely self-guided based on each child’s individual interests, with support from a lead teacher and assistant.
Rebecca Few is taking the lead in developing Moore Montessori’s middle school program. Few has been an Upper Elementary classroom assistant at the charter school for the last two years, and previously taught at New Century Middle School in Carthage.
She will be the humanities teacher for the new seventh-grade class this fall, as well as for eighth grade when it’s added next year. The school is currently scouting for a middle school math and science teacher.
Few has observed middle school programs at other Montessori schools in preparation for expanding Moore Montessori’s program.
“Having that middle school mindset and education background, I feel like the way they do middle school at the Montessori schools was the way middle school was meant to be taught and I feel like it’s the way children learn,” she said.
She said that the middle school will be a “hybrid” between the relaxed structure of a Montessori classroom and the more focused instruction of a traditional middle or high school.
The interdisciplinary approach to learning will still be in place, but instead of mixed-age classrooms instruction will be tailored specific to grade level.
“Some of the Montessori elements of choice and freedom of movement will still be in place. Students learn best and become invested in their education when they are put in charge of it, so that will still be an element of our middle school program,” Few said.
“We really feel like this would be a good time for students to join who haven’t had that Montessori background. Because it’s kind of a hybrid and we’re preparing them for high school this would be a good time to bring in some new families.”
An element of middle school Montessori education that will be new to the school is the “microeconomy:” a student-led small business endeavor that Maria Montessori envisioned as a real-world way for preteens to learn basic economic principles.
The current class of sixth graders has already begun brainstorming ideas for what will probably be an agriculturally-based business. Students will also have to work together to decide how to spend any proceeds: into program materials, expansion, or to cover costs for a field trip to Washington, D.C.
“I love middle school because 12-to-14-year-olds are the perfect age. They’re young enough to still have fun, but they’re old enough to really have mature, intellectual conversations,” she said.
“They’re ready for that, they're eager to be taken seriously. Also I feel like it’s such a malleable time in their lives and if you can set them on the right trajectory they’re going to be set for life.”
Open seventh-grade seats, as well as seats for the incoming kindergarten class and any available seats in first through sixth grade will be filled through Moore Montessori’s enrollment lottery.
Interested families can enter the lottery through Jan. 31. To enter, visit mooremontessori.org or call the school for more information at (910) 636-1325.
Sandhills Magazine
By Ray Owens
Life is stirring at the old Southern Pines Elementary on May Street as it transitions to the new home of Moore Montessori Community School (MMCS). Founded in 2018 as our region’s first and only public Montessori, MMCS recently acquired the campus after the former elementary school moved to a larger facility.
MMCS is a vibrant learning community, its method of teaching developed in the early 1900s by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. The program utilizes hands-on learning, collaborative work and self-directed activity, with individualized curriculum supporting the needs of each child.
“There are four elements to our mission,” says Katie Rucker, MMCS Founder and Head of School. “We build strong academic foundations, executive function skills and teach children to trust in their abilities, in preparation for lives of joy and purpose in the 21st century.”
Rucker, a Southern Pines native, describes Montessori classrooms as beautiful, ordered and inviting. From child-sized chairs to brightly colored materials arranged on low shelves, classroom elements are designed to build a sense of independence. Working within a peaceful environment, students practice concentration, self-discipline and respect for others.
“It is a rich and dynamic model,” explains Rucker. “You won’t find a teacher at a desk commanding the attention of 30 students at the same time. Children are given one-on-one or small group lessons and then they’re invited to work with material until they master it – learning by doing.”
When Rucker’s oldest son got into a public Montessori program in Washington, D.C., she became intrigued by this comprehensive form of education. She encountered children doing different things with focus and purpose – calm, happy, hard at work. It felt more like a science lab than a traditional classroom.
“My sister and I wrote a charter application to open the school,” says Rucker. “The state unanimously approved it, and we were able to open it in just a few years. My family came back to Southern Pines, my husband and two children, and we live in downtown. I am so excited to move into this campus and see what we can do with it.”
As a public school, it’s free to attend MMCS, which serves an economically diverse student body, grades K-5. The school offers free and reduced lunch to families that qualify as well as transportation to school.
Families interested in enrolling their children sign them up through an online lottery registration that opens every January 1st to 31st. Demand for the school is high and there are usually 100 families on the waitlist at the end of the enrollment period.
“This is a monumental moment,” says Rucker. “We’re moving out of our first campus into a big beautiful 12-acre location in downtown Southern Pines. It’s opening so many opportunities for us to serve students and families in this community.”
“We have an incredible staff and that is what makes it. The founding staff and those we’ve added are what make this a special place – we built this school together. I’m proud of our diversity and how our teachers reflect the students that we’re serving.”
The new MMCS campus is an important community landmark, significant for its educational legacy. The site was first occupied by a structure designed by architect Aymar Embury II, completed during the 1922-23 school year. This first building was replaced in the 1950s to accommodate the growing student body.
At the back of the property is a full athletic field. Coming down the campus, there is a one-story building constructed in the 1940s with a slate roof and incredible architectural details. There’s also a 500-seat auditorium and a full-size gymnasium built in the late 40s, early 50s. The main building on May Street is the largest, built in the 1950s.
“I really want to be able to restore the campus,” says Rucker. “I believe that within five years, we’ll be able to bring this to its full potential. We are in the early stages of our capital campaign. As we get into the buildings and understand the need – the bones and structures of the campus are incredible but there are things that need to be updated.”
“I would love to have a Montessori teacher training center on the campus. I do think we’ll be a regional hub for Montessori and within five years we will be a leading public program in the South. I also want to be a space for the community and wrap-around services for our students – there are so many possibilities.”
“Learning is fun,” says Rucker. “Children are designed to understand the world around them, and we’re preparing an environment that allows them to do just that. Montessori allows children to come to that ‘aha moment’ on their own and to get that sense of accomplishment when they figured it out. That’s really what makes all the hard work worth it.”
For more information, visit mooremontessori.org.