Sarasota University

January Colloquium w/ Elena Rosemond (FREE)
2024-01-16 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Our January 16th (7 p.m ET) colloquium features Elena Rosemond, queer Montessorian and graduate of Sarasota University’s Masters of Arts in Montessori Leadership. Elena will be discussing how school administrators and teachers can make their schools and classrooms inclusive for LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and parents. In this discussion, we will specifically focus on the process of creating and implementing a gender support plan for transgender and non-binary students. Our conversation will also touch on strategies for supporting and celebrating LGBTQIA+ students in public and private schools across the country.
Please register in advance for this meeting, and feel free to share the registration link with your friends and colleagues:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tduqgqDIqHdBKhZDbWq9RRWXCGNZyZlL0
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

2023-12-15 12:00 - 17:00
LEARN MORE ABOUT SARASOTA UNIVERSITY!
Join us on Friday, December 15th at 12:00 p.m. or 7 p.m. ET for a virtual information session about our graduate degree programs in Montessori Education and Montessori Leadership.
You’ll meet with member of our Administrative team who will discuss:

The history of Sarasota University
Our current program offerings and how to pick the best one for you based on your current position and future goals.
What strengths-based learning is, and how we incorporate this philosophy into our curriculum to ensure each student has the opportunity to develop their skills based on their own strengths.
Our faculty and staff, who bring research, experience, and passion into the virtual classroom.
The application process and the next steps on enrolling.

To register, please visit https://bit.ly/3uk7tSy. The info session will be held on Zoom and a confirmation email will be sent to you with the link!

Virtual Information Session (FREE)
2023-11-20 10:00 - 18:00
LEARN MORE ABOUT SARASOTA UNIVERSITY!
Join us on Monday, November 20th at 10:00am or 6 p.m CT for a virtual information session about our graduate degree programs in Montessori Education and Montessori Leadership.
You’ll meet with member of our Administrative team who will discuss:

The history of Sarasota University
Our current program offerings and how to pick the best one for you based on your current position and future goals.
What strengths-based learning is, and how we incorporate this philosophy into our curriculum to ensure each student has the opportunity to develop their skills based on their own strengths.
Our faculty and staff, who bring research, experience, and passion into the virtual classroom.
The application process and the next steps on enrolling.

To register, please visit https://bit.ly/3uk7tSy. The info session will be held on Zoom and a confirmation email will be sent to you with the link!

November Colloquium w/ Dr. Lorenz (FREE)
2023-11-15 19:00 - 20:00
We are thrilled to announce that on November 15th, at 7 p.m. ET, Dr. Lorenz, a tenured professor of education studies and educator in human development and early education, will be honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Maria Montessori at this month’s colloquium. As Dr. Lorenz prepares to delve into the profound impact of Dr. Montessori’s innovative methods we invite you to join us for an enlightening and engaging exploration of Dr. Maria Montessori’s remarkable journey and influence on the world of education.
Please register in advance for this meeting, and feel free to share the registration link with your friends and colleagues:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tduqgqDIqHdBKhZDbWq9RRWXCGNZyZlL0
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Dr. Lorenz
Dr. Norman Lorenz is a tenured Professor of Education Studies, teaches Human Development and early education, and is a faculty cohort member of the First Year Seminar for freshman college student success at Sacramento City College in Sacramento, CA. With over 40 years of education and experience within school systems, including 26 years of direct service in Montessori primary and elementary education, the direction of a postsecondary Montessori teacher education accredited institution, and a combined part-time and full-time faculty dedication of 25 years with the California community college system incorporating Montessori into higher education pedagogy for student success, Dr. Lorenz brings a sense of expertise, leadership, and commitment to the Montessori education world.

October Colloquium w/ Dan Dominguez (FREE)
2023-10-18 19:00 - 20:00
Discover Your WHY: A Journey into Strengths-Based Learning with Dan Dominguez
Our October 18th (7pm Eastern) Colloquium features Dan Dominguez, Chief Growth Officer of the WHY Institute who will be sharing with us the importance of knowing your WHY and the connections to strengths-based learning.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and grow with us.
Please register in advance for this meeting and feel free to share the registration link with your friends and colleagues:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tduqgqDIqHdBKhZDbWq9RRWXCGNZyZlL0
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Dan Dominguez
WHY – Contribute – HOW – Challenge – WHAT Make Sense Chief Growth Officer – WHY Institute
Dan Dominguez is currently the Chief Growth Officer at the WHY Institute. He is spearheading the international growth of the WHY Institute and the WHY Discovery as the First Step in Self-Awareness for coaches, consultants, creatives, and forward-thinking companies that believe in the power of WHY.

Dan believes that success happens when we make a positive impact on the lives of others. How he does that is by constantly challenging the status quo, thinking outside the box, and bringing fresh ideas and perspectives to everything he does. And what you can count on from Dan are solutions that make sense and help others move forward faster.

In 2019, Dan was a National Sales Director who had ascended quickly through the ranks at Baxter Healthcare and was responsible for billions of dollars in sales. In September of that year, spurred by a journal entry from his then 7-year-old daughter, he made the decision to leave his corporate job and find something that allowed him to make a difference in the world while maintaining connections.

September Colloquium w/ Julia Volkman (FREE)
2023-09-20 19:00 - 20:00
The Neuroscience of Learning in Montessori
Is the Montessori approach aligned with the teachings of neuroscience? How can we use the teachings of neuroscience and Montessori to make learning inherently enjoyable and accessible for all our students? This interactive, lively session will connect educational practice with the science behind plasticity, dynamic development of skill, stress, emotions, and more. This information is applicable to lifelong brain health as well as learning.
There is no fee to attend this event. Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tduqgqDIqHdBKhZDbWq9RRWXCGNZyZlL0#/registration
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About Julia Volkman
Julia Volkman has been teaching children and mentoring teachers in private and public schools since 1997. She is a Faculty Member of the Brain Health Initiative (a joint initiative with Massachusetts General Hospital), guest lecturer for Harvard University’s Neuroscience of Learning course, a Montessori teacher mentor, and the founder and president of the educational project Maitri Learning. She has worked as a primary consultant for the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS), a columnist for the Public School Montessorian (now Montessori Public), and as the teacher’s representative on the Advisory Panel for the Annenberg Foundation’s course Neuroscience & the Classroom (developed in conjunction with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). Ms. Volkman earned her AMI 3 to 6+ diploma from the Montreal Montessori Training Centre (a bilingual program) and her Master’s degree from Harvard University. Her graduate research on early literacy (the Montessori movable alphabet) earned her the Dean’s prize for outstanding thesis. Her work focuses on transforming education into a transdisciplinary, scientific pedagogy grounded in mind, brain, and education (aka, Montessori education). Ms. Volkman is the mother of two (one by birth and one by adoption) and married to a biochemist/MBA. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, yoga, meditation, singing, and conversation at the dinner table.

Fall Term Classes Begin
2023-08-29

Info Session
2023-08-10 11:00 - 12:00
Expand your knowledge of Montessori, education, children, life, leadership, and learning this August!
Join us on August 10 at 11am ET for an information session on our programs. You’ll meet our Provost and Admissions team to learn more about the history of SU, our programs, approach to strengths-based learning, and how to apply.
To register, click here. If you have any questions in the meantime, send us an email at info@sarasotauniversity.edu and we’ll be in touch!

Info Session
2023-08-02 19:00 - 20:00
Expand your knowledge of Montessori, education, children, life, leadership, and learning this August!
Join us on August 2 at 7pm ET for an information session on our programs. You’ll meet our Provost and Admissions team to learn more about the history of SU, our programs, approach to strengths-based learning, and how to apply.
To register, click here. If you have any questions in the meantime, send us an email at info@sarasotauniversity.edu and we’ll be in touch!

Info Session
2023-06-29 19:00 - 20:00
Expand your knowledge of Montessori, education, children, life, leadership, and learning this August!
Join us on June 29 at 7pm ET for an information session on our programs. You’ll meet with our Admissions Director, Ellyn Lastinger, and learn more about the history of SU, our programs, approach to strengths-based learning, and how to apply.
To register, click here. If you have any questions in the meantime, send us an email at info@sarasotauniversity.edu and we’ll be in touch!

June Colloquium w/ Tammy Oesting M.Ed. (FREE)
2023-06-21 19:00 - 20:00
“Becoming Awestruck: Expanding Our Practices”

Join Montessori researcher, speaker, and teacher educator Tammy Oesting, M.Ed., in an inspirational and interactive colloquia that promises to awaken your awe and wonder. Discover how new research divulges how awe is a universal force for transformation in learning and aligns with the essence of Montessori pedagogy. Our time together promises to cultivate your connectivity with others and to expand your practices by igniting your sense of awe and cultivating this universal prosocial emotion in your practice. Tammy reveals her research into the science of awe and how it is an essential feature of a well-prepared educator while weaving her decades of awe-inspired adventures that illustrate how you too can cultivate a disposition towards awe and its companion emotion of wonder to expand your Montessori practices.

There is no fee to attend this event. Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOmuqzksHtX-JeuDHy8o9xMCmnij4GjD
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Tammy:

Tammy Oesting M.Ed. (she/her) describes her upbringing as free range: her childhood immersed in nature and adventure emerged into a deep sense of interconnectivity with all things and continues to spark her awe in the cosmos. As a young adult, she was introduced to Montessori through her position as the director of a Nature Day Camp, a pathway that sparked her passion in optimal learning and a rich career in Montessori that now spans three decades. She has spent the last twenty years delivering professional development workshops, consulting schools, and educating new Montessori teachers and the last 8 years speaking globally through her consultation business ClassrooMechanics. Her passions include issues of social justice, educating support staff, life sciences, neuroscience as applied to educational practices, and exploring the magnificence of the world. Tammy is widely published and is a founding member of Montessori Everywhere receiving the 2021 American Montessori Society Community Service Award. She is a faculty member of The Institute for Educational Studies graduate program, and she cultivates content creators for Trillium Montessori. After almost 9 years traveling the world full time, she has recently put down roots in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she enjoys making and appreciating art and design, reading, and experiencing nature. (AMS 3-6, 6-12)

May Colloquium w/ Jonathan Wolff (FREE)
2023-05-17 19:00 - 20:00
How Appreciation, Celebration, and Encouragement Supports Learning and Transformation – in Children and Adults.

Current research in the fields of psychology, education, and leadership strongly suggest that learning communities – classrooms and schools – function better when there is a high level of expressed appreciation, celebration, acknowledgment, and encouragement – among students, staff, families, and school leaders. In this colloquia, Jonathan Wolff, international Montessori consultant and leadership coach will discuss the many wonderful forms positive feedback can take in the Montessori classroom and school community.

There is no fee to attend this event. Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOmuqzksHtX-JeuDHy8o9xMCmnij4GjD
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Jonathan:

Jonathan is a consultant, trainer, speaker and author who infuses his work in leadership development with 30 years experience as an educator and administrator.
Jonathan provides retreats, workshops, and consultations, along with coaching for parents, educators, leaders, Boards of Directors, community organizations, and learning communities around the globe.
The best-practice leadership retreats and workshops he leads facilitate community building, strategic planning and improved organizational effectiveness.
After earning his B.A. degree in Secondary Education from Temple University, Jonathan began teaching at-risk youth in Philadelphia. Early in his career, he read several books on the Montessori philosophy and quickly recognized the power her work in human development had to effect transformation not only within the young child, but within adults as well. He went on to study with Mother Isabelle Eugenie, one of Dr. Montessori’s first students, earned his Early Childhood Credential through the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), and began his career as a Montessori educator at one of the first Head Start Montessori Centers in the United States.
Jonathan’s incisive ability to apply Dr. Montessori’s educational constructs to training adults led him to positions as a teacher trainer, as the director of education and training for various education and business organizations, and as the administrator for several nationally recognized schools. Thirty years in the field have provided him with solid first-hand experience in leading and managing rapidly growing for-profit and not-for-profit schools, education institutions and business organizations.
Today, the primary focus of his consulting practice is on leadership development – designing best practices and writing books and articles that enhance individual and organizational performance. His creative, interactive programs, his humorous and inspiring teaching style, and his deep insight into the needs of people and organizations are in demand by organizations around the world.

Summer Term Classes Begin
2023-05-02

April Colloquium w/ Ann Winkler (FREE)
2023-04-19 19:00 - 20:00
Join Ann Winkler on Wednesday, 4/19 at 7pm ET for a discussion of the role of Cosmic Education in the Montessori elementary classroom. We will examine how and why Cosmic Education is the foundation of the elementary curriculum. We’ll focus on the chart of interdependencies and the relationships and connections that are evident within it. We can see how these relationships can lead us to plan creative impressionistic lessons that meet the needs of our learners. Projects, collaborative learning and unit study development will be part of the discussion.
There is no fee to attend this event. Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOmuqzksHtX-JeuDHy8o9xMCmnij4GjD
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About Ann Winkler
Ann has worked in Montessori education for over forty years. She began the journey when her children enrolled at the Barrie School in Maryland and she became the Registered Nurse there.
Ann has been the director and developer of CGMS Elementary since inception and has been a residential instructor at every residency since 2009. As the owner of Beach Park School in Tampa, Florida, Ann taught the EL 2 (9-12) level, and continues now as Director of Education at the school. Ann holds a Montessori credential in Primary (3–6) and Elementary (6-12) through AMS. She has an R.N. degree, a Bachelor of Arts degree, and a Masters in Education.
Ann enjoys making Montessori materials and books in her spare time.

Graduate Program Information Session
2023-04-13 20:00 - 21:00
Sarasota University, a true Montessori-focused institution of higher education, is reshaping the direction of Montessori higher education. We invite you join us on April 13 at 8pm ET to find out about the school’s Masters programs designed for Montessori Educators!

Our Director of College, Dr. Robin Howe, will lead the meeting and discuss:

The history of Sarasota University.

Our current program offerings and how to pick the best one for you based on your current position and future goals.

What strengths-based learning is, and how we incorporate this philosophy into our curriculum to ensure each student has the opportunity to develop their skills based on their own strengths.

Our faculty and staff, who bring research, experience, and passion into the virtual classroom.

The application process and the next steps on enrolling.

To register for the info session, register HERE!
You will receive an email with additional information. Please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t receive a message.
Questions? Please reach out to info@sarasotauniversity.edu!

FREE Montessori Colloquium
2023-03-15 19:00 - 20:00
We are excited to share that Ms. Lorna McGrath will be the month of March’s speaker for the Sarasota University Montessori Colloquium on March 15th @7PM EDT. Lorna McGrath, M.Ed. is the Program Director for the Montessori Family Alliance at the Montessori Foundation as well as the host of the Montessori Family Life Webinar Series. She creates online courses for parents and teachers and presents workshops in North America and Asia.

Lorna has been in the field of education since 1974. She has taught children from 18 months through 6 years old and from 12 through 18 years old in both public and independent schools. She holds an AMS Early Childhood teacher credential as well as RIE Infant certification and INCAF Parenting Instructor Certification.
Lorna has spent many years as an adult educator, working with Montessori teachers in Training.

Her latest accomplishment is as a co-author with Tim Seldin in their recently published book – Montessori for Every Family: a practical guide to living, loving, and learning.

During this month’s discussion, Ms. Lorna will be addressing three Important topics for adults working with children at home or at school – 1. A “go-to” place for reliable information concerning relationships with children, 2. A Montessori-inspired environment for children, and 3. A reference book for all ages.

During this discussion, attendees will get a compressed version of each which will include the following:

The Montessori Family Alliance – resources you can count on,
Refocusing Power Struggles – building respectful relationships,
Montessori for Every Family: a practical parenting guide for living, loving, and learning – a book for home life during the parenting years.

This is a great discussion for parents, teachers, and administrators. I would strongly suggest sharing this with your school communities as a possible way to learn more about Montessori and how to implement Montessori practices outside of the classroom as well as inside the classroom.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOmuqzksHtX-JeuDHy8o9xMCmnij4GjD

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Spring Term 2 Classes Begin!
2023-02-28

Spring Term 1 Classes Begin!
2023-01-03
