Greensboro Montessori School alumni have a built in network of support with each other, and we got a bird’s eye view of how special that network is when we welcomed our college-agedalumni back to campus for a reunion and cookout on the evening of Sunday, August 7. The spirit of belonging was palpable. As each alum walked through the door, the alums who had already arrived would call the person's name and cheer. For those of us faculty in attendance, it was heartwarming to see and feel!

Several of the alumni asked for a tour of our recently renovated classrooms and reminisced as they walked through their Toddler, Primary and Lower Elementary classrooms recalling the names of their teachers and pointing out Montessori materials that they remembered. Our director of marketing and development, Jillian Crone, commented, “They wanted to see everything and kept remarking how nice the School looked. One alum asked, 'Can we see Cathy Moses’ Lower Elementary classroom?' I had to tell them things had changed and Cathy had moved to Upper Elementary, but more importantly, I was amazed how personally invested they were in their former teachers and classroom details. They clearly relate to Greensboro Montessori School as if it were their childhood home.”

At dinner, the alumni were joined by long time Middle School faculty members Deirdre Kearney, Doug Williams and Jonathan McLean, plus former teacher Angela Cook, who taught middle school science for eight years and led the School in the founding of the our nationally acclaimed Land Program in Oak Ridge. The alumni were eager to reconnect with their mentors, and share stories of their recent adventures. International travel was a hot topic since no less than eight of our youthful dinner guests had either just returned from, or are soon departing for, an extended trip abroad; some traveling with the university and some exploring on their own. We heard stories of visits to London, Mannheim, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam and shared our well wishes for Bridget Lavender (Class of 2010) who departs very soon for a semester in Perugia, Italy. For many of our alumni, their capstone field trips in 8th grade to the United Nations in the Fall and Costa Rica in the Spring ignites a passion for experiencing life and culture around the globe.

Alumni gatherings like these are a great way for us to follow the evolution of our graduates and learn how their foundational experiences at Greensboro Montessori School continues to shape them into adulthood. As we approach our 20th graduation ceremony in June 2017, we look forward to sharing more alumni stories as a way of telling the world just how transformative a Greensboro Montessori School education can be.

At a glance - Where are they now?

Greensboro Montessori School alumni attend a variety of colleges and universities across the nation. Our Alumni Reunion on August 7, 2016 welcomed students who attend the following:

· Davidson College (Davidson, N.C.)

· East Carolina University (Greenville, N.C.)

· Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.)

· North Carolina State University

· Rice University (Houston, Texas)

· University of Chicago

· University of North Carolina at Asheville

· University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

· University of North Carolina at Greensboro

· University of South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.)

· Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, N.C.)

· Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.)