Thank you to those who were able to join us!
Prepare to elevate your professional journey as you join us for an extraordinary professional development opportunity featuring the remarkable
Charles Terranova, AMS’s Living Legacy 2025!
Lunch included as well a chance to win prizes from Waseca & Neinhuis!
Charles Terranova
During his five decades of service to Montessori, Charles has served as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, director of teacher education programs, school administrator and founder, and internationally-acclaimed speaker. He has worked in independent and public schools and has consulted with boards of trustees, heads of schools, adult learners, and countless teachers.
Gretchen B. Courage
Gretchen holds AMS credentials in Early Childhood and Administration and an MA in Early Childhood Education. In the course of her career spanning more than fifty years, she has served in both public and independent Montessori schools in a variety of roles, including primary Montessori guide, school founder, head of school, director of education, teacher educator, Montessori coach, and school consultant. In part due to Charles’ encouragement, Gretchen is the founder of The Children’s House of Park Slope (now The Rivendell School) and served as Head of School for 21 years. In addition to this amazing experience of starting a school “from scratch,” another highlight of her career was the opportunity to return to India, where she had lived with her family for a portion of her impressionable high school and college years. Gretchen joined other AMS school leaders and traveled to several Indian cities to observe in Montessori schools, watch Kaybee Montessori materials being created, learn about the influence of India on Dr. Montessori’s writings, and visit places of importance during her years in India. She served as a co-facilitator in the American Montessori Society’s Instructor Academy (2021-23). Gretchen is currently a Montessori consultant at two Massachusetts Montessori schools ~ Summit and Amherst.
Austin Matte
After receiving a B.S. in Business Administration, Austin moved to Nicaragua to work as a Small Business Development Advisor with the Peace Corps. His curiosity in early childhood learning and development led him to work on research projects at the Education Development Center in Waltham, MA. He continued working in research at Stephanie Jones’ EASEL Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he also received an Ed.M. Austin has an early childhood credential from New England Montessori Teacher Education Center, in Newton, MA. He currently is the Head of School at Upstone Montessori School in Nashua, NH, and he also runs The Connected Montessorian, an online community for Montessorians.
