MONTESSORI PARENT SPEAKS

News & Commentary

MONTESSORI PARENT SPEAKS

By ATTY. KELLY KASHETA
Special To The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Sept. 7, 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

My son is just 3 1/2, soon to be 4, and I hope he is able to attend Enfield Montessori School for the next eight years.

It is a tremendous program, run by some of the most dedicated and compelling educators you would ever want to teach your children.

I drive north on Route 5 from South Windsor, completely NOT in the direction I need to go, then battle the traffic south on Route 91 to Rocky Hill every morning. It easily adds an hour to my morning commute.

My husband leaves his work every afternoon to pick our son up and bring him back to South Windsor.

We do this because of the tremendous program offered by these nuns. They have dedicated their lives to this school, and it can be seen in all they say and do. This is not only their job, it is their mission. They aren't looking for any kind of monetary compensation or supreme recognition. They are as humble and as innocent as can be. They do what they do because it is what they believe, and they are completely devoted to the 'complete education' of the children in the program.

We feel so fortunate that our child is a part of their program. While I am not an Enfield resident, this school has brought me to Enfield. I buy my gas at the Mobil station right by the exit ramp. I run over to the Enfield Mall to shop. I stop at the Enfield Shaw's for groceries. I recently had to have some surgery done on my finger and I asked for a referral to a doctor in Enfield because it was easy for me to schedule 8:30 appointments and then go on my way. So while I am not an Enfield taxpayer, I can personally vouch for the school bringing non-Enfield residents into the community to do business.

I am appalled at what these women have been made to endure because of this ridiculous charade. Some of us are unfortunately subject to the hostile and acrimonious nature of our profession on a daily basis. It's a fact of life.

During our meetings the nuns often get an innocent and somewhat naive look about themselves, wondering how these things can really happen. It is the stuff you see on TV, not happening to the most innocent of beings with probably the purest of designs. But as you know, naiveté aside, all three of them have incredible backbone and real fortitude. The kind we all wish we had. They are not going to take it, and they are not going to let anything happen to their children or their school. They are their hearts and souls. We need to help them. And we need to protect them from the bullies who are trying to scare and intimidate them. It is completely ridiculous. The Town officials should be ashamed of themselves.

Atty. Kelly Kasheta, of the firm Glass Lebovitz Kasheta & Brenn LLC, practices in Rocky Hill.