Judy McCartin Schiede, 1937–2023
Judy McCartin Scheide, the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector’s original visionary and supporter, passed away on December 23, 2023.
Judy was a longtime supporter of Montessori as a parent, teacher, AMS board member, and philanthropist. Judy was a thoughtful and generous fighter for Montessori and equity, and she knew how to combine these two passions.
In 2012, Judy gave AMS, under the leadership of then Executive Director Richard Ungerer, a significant three-year gift of $500,000 to investigate the needs of public Montessori schools and develop an approach to serving them. This original and an additional subsequent grant launched the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS).
Judy’s gift allowed NCMPS’ co-founders, Jackie Cossentino and Keith Whitescarver, to visit public Montessori schools nationwide. It made it possible for Jackie and Keith to bring on NCMPS’ current Executive Director, Sara Suchman, to develop NCMPS’ first school services. It launched the multi-organization partnership that was the basis for both the Montessori Census and Teach Montessori.
The philanthropic world talks about “catalytic investments,” those gifts that catalyze movement and lead to outcomes far more substantial than what the gift on its own afforded. Judy’s foresight and gift epitomized a catalytic investment for the public Montessori ecosystem. It was the first significant gift specifically earmarked to support public Montessori schools, and it seeded an organization that would grow and connect the community, building a robust and resourceful ecosystem of schools.
Judy’s memory and legacy live on in the lives of the children and families we touch. On behalf of the public Montessori ecosystem, thank you, Judy, for seeing a need and stepping up to meet it.
David worked in private Montessori for more than twenty years as a parent, three-to-six year-old and adolescent teacher, administrator, writer, speaker, and advocate. In 2016 he began working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. David lives in Portland, Oregon.