A young child is thrilled and excited to show the visitor the miracle of a butterfly entering the world. A room is filled with astounding animal masks heralding the culminating activities to a meaningful learning activity. Children are so engaged that the visitor’s sudden presence cannot distract. Students perform their version of a Shakespearean play with confidence, humor, and total joy. I was that visitor. I have gratefully had my visit extended and I shall serve the Montclair Cooperative School as its Interim Head of School for the 2009 -2010 school year.

The Montclair Coope rative School is exactly what the world of learning should be for children. In a world where we often ask children to check their creativity, joy, and curiosity at the school door, the Montclair Co-op demonstrates that authentic learning is alive and well at the corner of Chestnut and Forest Streets. Education through experience is the essence of the school’s philosophy and it works! The faculty inspire the whole child each day, making connection to ideas, community, family, and friends. The students welcome the Montclair Co-op’s respectful environment where their minds are challenged and stimulated.

I feel privileged and honored to be a member of a community where children, parents, and faculty work hand in hand. I believe strongly in the mission of the Co-op which includes the commitment “to prepare children for a life of self-directed learning, intellectual curiosity, and healthy interdependence…in a safe, supportive community.”

Summer break has begun just as I have officially become a part of the Montclair Cooperative School community. I have been warmly welcomed, but I expected nothing less from this nurturing and caring community. I look forward to getting to know the members of the Co-op. I am also going to be available during the summer months to everyone who would like to visit and consider the school for their children. Your child has but one opportunity to journey through school. His or her travels should be filled with dreams, imagination, new destinations, and accomplishments and with the knowledge that they will always be safe, respected, respectful, happy, and educated for today’s and tomorrow’s world. I invite parents and children to visit and discover the value of this extraordinary school. After all, I was just a visitor and, now, here I am.

Respectfully,

Pamela R. Bloom