After receiving her bachelor’s degree in physics from University of Notre Dame in 2005, Becky found her calling in education. She pursued her Ohio 7th-12th grade certification in math and physical science and taught for two years in a traditional high school before taking time to focus on raising her young son. She first became aware of Montessori through her involvement in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd religious education program, and has volunteered as a catechist for the past eleven years.

The next step on Becky’s Montessori journey began with her son’s enrollment as a Montessori student at age three. She has observed him confidently navigating life’s twists and turns using the tools his Montessori education has given him, and how his passion for questioning everything as he seeks to understand the world has never dimmed.

Her experiences as a mother inspired her to return to education—this time as a Montessori educator. She enrolled in the Cincinnati Montessori Secondary Teacher Education Program (CMSTEP), and learned the art of Montessori education for adolescents from some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the Montessori world. After earning her American Montessori Society (AMS) credential for secondary Montessori, which encompasses grades 7-12, Becky completed her Masters degree in education through Xavier University. Her Masters research topic was an exploration of the interest in a Montessori high school among the residents of the Dayton region, although she was still years away from pursuing that as a goal.

While completing her certification and degree, Becky worked as a co-lead high school Montessori teacher in Springfield, Ohio for five years. She switched her focus to opening a Montessori high school in Dayton several years ago, co-founding the Valor Montessori non-profit and board of directors in pursuit of that goal. In the past few years she has also consulted with an area Montessori elementary to help them add a middle school program, visited Montessori high schools to learn about their programs, participated in the Emerging Leaders Fellowship through AMS, worked as a student teacher supervisor in Wittenberg University’s education department, co-presented at the Cincinnati Montessori Society’s conference on the topic of helping adolescents transition from traditional to Montessori schools, taken classes to earn her principal certificate through University of Dayton, and invested countless hours alongside the Valor Montessori board to make the small vision of a few individuals become reality for our community.