Area educator bringing Montessori school to Lawrence
By: Olivia Tattory
The American Montessori Society training completed over a decade ago was nothing short of a life-changing experience for Kiran Paek.
And so, 12 years after Ms. Paek began teaching at Princeton Montessori School, the Lake Drive resident is opening her own Montessori School on Whitehead Road in Lawrence Township this fall.
"It’s really a great thing to be able to help out my immediate community by opening the school here," said Ms. Paek. "I love the Montessori philosophy and feel very strongly about promoting it."
With expectations of opening Lawrence Montessori in October, Ms. Paek and her husband, Dan, have been working vigorously the last few months to renovate and organize the administrative duties for the school’s opening. After searching for a location site for nearly three years, Ms. Paek was pleased with the building at 680 Whitehead Road.
Montessori teachers are facilitators, Ms. Paek explained. Allowing children to lead the teachers in the direction of their individual interest and leaving the teachers to follow, observe and encourage is not a traditional teaching method, she said.
The Montessori philosophy was founded in 1906 when Italian physician Maria Montessori observed through clinical practice exactly how children learn and determined that environment is a key in this process. After working with 60 children of working families in Rome, Children’s House began implementing this method.
"Coming from a background in which the reason behind everything is ‘because I said so,’ this was really something that I recognized to be great for the children," said Ms. Paek, who is originally from Seoul, South Korea. "We, the teachers, need to believe the child can lead us into what they want to be."
The Lawrence Montessori School will offer three classes for the early childhood program, ages 3 to 6 years, and one class for the toddler program for children 18 months to 3 years old, Ms. Paek said. The full-day program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the morning program from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. and the afternoon program 12:15 to 3:30 p.m., each meeting Monday through Friday. Before-school hours are expected to be available for children from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and after-school hours from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Plans for a future expansion also are on the Paeks’ minds. In five years or so, Ms. Paek said she hopes to open an after-school program in Trenton for families who may not be able to afford a Montessori education. Mr. Paek, who owns and operates the Kumon Math and Reading Center on Brunswick Avenue, which specializes in after-school programs for children, will play a key role in this endeavor, Ms. Paek said.
Ms. Paek holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Sejong University, Seoul, and a master’s in fine arts, modern dance, from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She has taught physical education for elementary and early childhood for three years at Princeton Montessori School and has been working as a field consultant for the Princeton Center for Teacher Education since 2000.
In her free time Ms. Paek volunteers and works with middle and high school students in the Mercer County area choreographing, teaching and performing traditional Korean dances through Princeton Korean Dance Troupe. The troupe, which Ms. Paek founded and has served as director of since 1994, is a nonprofit organization that meets once a week for three hours.
That diverse educational background has proved a perfect fit with the Montessori career, she said.
"Surprisingly, it’s been a great match," Ms. Paek said. "I’ve been able to really teach the children about dance and movement and other ways of expressing feelings."
For more information, visit www.lawrencemontessori.com.

