In Memoriam
This spring, we learned of the passing of a beloved Milwaukee public Montessori teacher. Joan Peifer passed away on April 2, 2023. Her friends in the Milwaukee public Montessori community shared this remembrance.
Joan Peifer was a beloved Montessori guide who dedicated her life to students of the Milwaukee Public Schools. She worked in many positions and was both primary and elementary Montessori trained.
Ms. Peifer began her career in the 1970s as a primary guide. After working with the three-, four-, and five-year-old students, she became the school implementor. In the early 1980s, Ms. Peifer moved schools and taught in a lower elementary (first, second, and third grade) classroom. After that experience, she used her ever-growing knowledge guiding upper elementary (fourth, fifth, and sixth grade) students.
Ms. Peifer wisely realized that adolescent students would benefit greatly by continuing with their Montessori education. In 1994 she took a leadership role in establishing and writing curriculum for a middle school program at MacDowell Montessori School. Her first class of 8th grade students graduated in 1999.
Ms. Peifer’s former middle school students remember her fondly for her patience and her positive, supportive, and loving attitude.
After guiding the 7th and 8th grade students for many years, Ms. Peifer became the math teacher leader and specialized in teaching mathematics and geometry to students of all ages—PK3 through 8th grade.
After Ms. Peifer retired from Milwaukee Public Schools, she did not stop working. She mentored Montessori teachers for years. Those teachers and their students benefitted greatly from Joan Peifer’s many years of Montessori experience and knowledge.
Joan Peifer was Montessori through and through.