It’s a cheerful song, and one that Montessori saves solely for birthday celebrations:

“The earth goes around the sun, the sun, the earth goes around the sun.

The earth goes around the sun, the sun, and now Montessori Country School is 30.”

That was the chorus sounded by a hundred voices last Saturday as the county’s oldest Montessori school celebrated three decades in existence, and honored the school co-founder, Dorothy King.

“We (invited)…people that have attended back from 1972, anyone who has ever been a part (of the school),” said the school’s current director and King’s daughter, Patty Christensen.

After the open house – a chance for school alumni to take a stroll down memory lane – the group gathered for the dedication of the school’s new flower garden, which was planted to honor King.

Adorning the flower garden are decorative stones with words inscribed in them, each picked out by a different faculty member.

Also gracing the space is a handmade cedar bench, created by local artist Kristine Tollefson. Carved into the wood are the words, “follow the child” – an expression of the Montessori teaching method, which Christensen says is to “believe in the children and give them the opportunity to make choices for themselves.”

Kids first

It was this philosophy that originally spurred King to co-found Montessori Country School with Julie Rynearson in 1972.

King was no stranger to working with children or creating a business, having helped start the Children’s Activity Center of Seattle, the Neighborhood House and the Milk Fund, as well as Helpline House.

But King was not ready to retire, and at the age of 55, she helped create the first branch of Montessori schools in Kitsap County.

“When the school was first started, they ran it out of Julie’s living room,” Christensen said. “Shelves were turned in for school time and out again once everyone went home.

“We have certainly come a long way.”

Three decades later, Montessori Country School continues to flourish, with 106 students currently enrolled.

“As a parent, what originally attracted me to the Montessori teaching method was the idea that the individual is what matters,” said Ken Ragsdale, whose son Albert is a kindergartner at the school. “I am an educator myself, and at this school their main focus is really about the kids.

“They have made us feel so welcome and comfortable, it is like being drawn into a family.”

Community is what has kept MCS around for so long, Christensen agreed. “We feel really blessed,” she said, “because by living in a small community the family just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

A large part of that ever-growing family was gathered Saturday evening at Battle Point Park to share food and music – and to sing the famous birthday song for their school and their honorary mom.

In a visit to the school before the party, King, who currently resides in the Madison Avenue Retirement Center, beamed as she sat in the new garden and watched the children playing around her.

“There is no question,” she said, “that I did the right thing in starting this school.”