“Experiencing Montessori with all the senses” – Children's House and school celebrated 30 years
Under clear skies on Sunday 13 September 2026, the grounds of the Montessori Children's House and School Kronberg at Le-Lavandou-Straße 2 became a lively meeting place: some 250 to 300 guests – Montessori families, former pupils, neighbours and the simply curious – came together to celebrate thirty years of the school. Under the motto “30 years – experience it with all your senses”, there was celebrating, marvelling and trying things out from 11 am until 3:30 pm.
The welcome alone showed how strongly many people feel attached to “their” Children's House and school: numerous former pupils used the day to catch up with their old teachers and friends, while the youngest guests were already eyeing the sensory trail and the barefoot path. A welcome song from the Children's House, led by choir director Margarita Kopp, set the tone before managing director Julia Weerda welcomed the Montessori family, former pupils and the official guests.
The speeches that followed made it clear how much heart has gone into the school over the years. Children's House director Sandra Spörl looked back to the beginnings, and to how a small idea grew over three decades into today's Children's House and school. The ukulele group, led by Sabine Heinze, accompanied the morning with warm sounds, and when the school choir struck up the Montessori round together, more than one guest was visibly moved. Head teacher Marie-Liesel von Korff closed the formal part with a short but memorable reflection on “Montessori with all the senses” – and in doing so opened the door to the celebration itself.
What followed was an afternoon that delivered exactly what Maria Montessori must have meant by grasping the world through the senses: children walked barefoot over changing surfaces, felt and smelled their way along the sensory trail, cheered at the wheel of fortune and raced down the roller track. In the classrooms there was tinkering and experimenting, soap bubbles rose into the air in the playground, and anyone not competing at bottle bowling was patiently having their face painted or being decorated with glitter tattoos. Cameras flashed again and again at the photo booth – a clear sign of how many people wanted to hold on to the day.
In between, many parents took the chance to join head teacher Marie-Liesel von Korff on a tour, look inside the “Bergkristall” class and learn more about everyday school life. Friends met for a chat at the cake buffet and hot dog stand in the hall and at the drinks stand in the playground, while children ran back and forth between the stalls. The smell of freshly baked cake mingled with laughter across the playground – a celebration that was clearly carried by everyone.
The afternoon closed with a children's magic show that held the youngest visitors spellbound one last time before the official programme ended at 3:30 pm. Afterwards, many hands helped to tidy up – a final picture of community that rounded off the afternoon fittingly.
What remained was the sense of a celebration that was far more than a look back at thirty years of history: a day on which you could feel how much closeness and warmth have shaped Montessori Kronberg over three decades – and which showed that this community is still lived, very much alive, “with all the senses” today.