Camino de Paz School
At Camino de Paz, the farm provides a broad context for the students’ applied learning and for the development of the whole personality. Math, science, reading, writing, history, arts and crafts come alive as these skills are used daily in a real, practical way. The farm presents the possibility for students to create a real, working community at a time in life when there is a driving need to be with peers, to be valued and accepted for who they are and to form mentoring relationships with adults who are not their parents.
The daily work required on a farm also supports social, emotional and character-building skills such as cooperation, compassion, honesty, integrity, problem-solving, creative thinking, listening, observation and pride in a job well done. These experiences promote an understanding of the natural and social world that make possible a different kind of moral discernment. Students come to see that every issue has many aspects, considerations and points of view, often reflecting a complex set of relationships. There is the expectation that each student will be prepared for high school, college, and any profession that students choose.
Of course, none of this work is possible without teachers and guides that create the environment for students to learn and teach themselves and others. Our outstanding faculty and staff are listed below.
Meet Our Faculty and Staff
Education Director, has AMI training on the Primary and Elementary levels and a BA in Sociology from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. She studied and taught in Tokyo, Japan, for 2 years before teaching Montessori pre-school in 1975. She spent 12 years at the elementary level in both public and private schools. She became Middle School Coordinator at the St. Alcuin Montessori School in Dallas in 1991and has worked with adolescents ever since. Patricia is an AMI Montessori Adolescent trainer, and has worked at training centers in Cleveland, Sweden and Mexico. She believes strongly in the power of linking the adolescent to the real world.
Has a BA in Philosophy from University of Notre Dame, MA in Economics from Catholic University and MBA from University of Texas at Dallas. He is the Camino de Paz Farm Director, coordinating the students’ work with the farm tasks. He teaches anatomy, plant and soil science, machine mechanics, animal husbandry, draft horse driving, marketing and accounting. He completed his NAMTA-AMI Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies in Chihuahua in 2015. He was a member of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Board of Directors served as a board member of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute.
Chris is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology with BS degrees in Physics and Philosophy. He teaches mathematics, literature and creative writing at the High School. He served as a tutor at MIT, and continues with private students in Santa Fe. He also works as a freelance copy editor and is a published poet.
Petra graduated from the University of St. Andrew's in Scotland with a major in chemistry, math and philosophy, having done research into Creative Chemistry Education. She spent time working on a permaculture farm and is fluent in German and French. She is also an avid artist working in drawing and painting.