Montessori Miss Emily

About the Author

I wasn’t supposed to make it. The system had already written me off. But when I discovered Montessori, I learned that the system was broken, not me. And now, I’m here to make sure every child doesn’t spend decades feeling broken before they rise.

I’m Emily, and let me save you the trouble—I’m not your typical educator. Actually, I’m not even here to follow the rules. I’m here to break them, tear them up, and probably set them on fire for good measure. With 20 years of experience in early childhood education, I’ve seen all the cracks, all the mistakes, and all the ways this system fails kids—especially the ones who don’t fit the “perfect little box” we’re told they should. I’ve lived those cracks, too. And now? I’m on a mission to tear down the gates of privilege that keep Montessori locked away for only the elite. It’s time to bring the magic to the masses.

Here’s the deal: I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, and neither were the kids I’m serving. My story? It’s one of survival, not privilege. Trauma and poverty? Check. A system that couldn’t care less about the kids who were “hard to manage” or didn’t sit still enough to fit into neat little rows? Been there, lived that. But you know what? I wasn’t the problem. The system was. When I discovered Montessori, I didn’t just find a teaching method—I found a mirror that reflected the brilliance of kids like me. And that’s when everything changed.

Now, I’m the director of Pathways Early Learning Center, a tuition-free, non-profit Montessori preschool inside a women’s shelter. No, it’s not a five-star resort for kids, but it’s the first place in Birmingham to earn a five-star rating from the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Yep, you read that right. We’re the first. And no, we’re not charging $20,000 a year for the privilege to teach your child. We’re making high-quality education available to kids who actually need it—not just the ones with deep pockets. So, if you’re here to tell me about how your expensive private Montessori school is the gold standard—save it. I’m about creating real change for kids who don’t have access to it.

Photo by Tina Floersch on Unsplash

I’m not just fighting for my classroom. I’m taking this fight to the state level to expand Montessori access and make sure that the educational revolution Maria Montessori envisioned reaches every child, not just the privileged few. From my classroom to my social media, I’m working to break down the gates that surround this method of education, so it can finally be what it was always meant to be: a right, not a privilege.

If you’ve got a child or a community that the system has written off, I’m here for it. Let’s show them all that the system’s broken, not us. Because if a kid can make it out of trauma and poverty with a system that’s supposed to fail them, imagine what they could do if the system actually worked for them.

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