About Us

Realized in 2004, Cayuga House Montessori House already existed in the form of a dream for its Director Ailish.  Growing up in Dublin Ireland, Ailish attended Sion Hill Convent (high school). Tiny students from a nearby Montessori school regularly paraded past her school windows, holding hands as they embarked on their spring walks.  Struck by the simple beauty of this picture,  Ailish hoped that she would someday have a Montessori classroom of her own, custom built for children, with huge almost  “floor to ceiling” windows.
 
Cayuga Heights Montessori House opened its doors in September 2004, using the living room and sunroom of Ailish’s home. The dream really took wings in November of 2005, with the construction of the classroom that was to house her   traditional Montessori program, and its many tiny future students.
Custom designed to invoke the essence of Maria Montessori’s original Casa Dei Bambini, the classroom was fitted with large child height windows, golden oak hardwood floors, and child sized bathroom, kitchen and furniture.  With the first step of tiny feet past the front door into the vestibule, the dream was realized.

For more information contact Ailish by email or call 607.257.5399.

Watch the CHMS video (WMV, 50.3 Mb, 3:53 minutes) and slide show (MWV, 25 Mb, 4:37 minutes).

Our Mission

To provide the children of our community, ages 3 to 6 years, with a Montessori program that instills a strong sense of self, a deep respect for others and the world around them, the virtues of peace and dignity, and to awaken in them a lifelong excitement for learning and discovery

Meet our Faculty

Director and Head Teacher, Ailish McKeever, was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She attended Sion Hill Montessori College in Dublin, where she completed a three year intensive training course and received her A.M.I. certification for the Montessori education of children from the ages of three to six years, six to nine years, and nine to twelve years of age. She also holds the Benin Casa Diploma for Special Education. Ailish has 16 years of teaching experience in both Primary and Elementary environments, as well as a year in the Special Children's Center in Ithaca.

Ailish lives in Ithaca with her husband, Neil, and their three children: Conor, Declan, and Emma.

Associate Teacher, Karen A. McCaffery, grew up in Geneseo, NY and graduated from SUNY Oswego with a B.S. in Psychology in 1987. She moved to Senegal in 1988, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. She returned to the USA in 1995 to pursue graduate studies at Cornell University. She earned an M.S. in Horticulture and a Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Science for work in Agroforestry conducted in the Brazilian Amazon. She begins her fourth year at CHMH where she began as school mother, then Teacher's Assistant. She recently completed her Early Childhood Montessori Certification (AMS) through the Northeast Montessori Institute. She loves trees, water, birds, children and school! She lives in Ithaca with her husband and two sons.

Art Teacher, Tara Reimer, a native Ithacan and the mother of a CHMH graduate and a current CHMH student. She has earned a Bachelors degree in Art, with minors in Education and Psychology. With a passion for art and a love of children, she enjoys bringing to life our environment with the many techniques of art education. And who better to teach than a wonderful group of Montessori children! When not teaching art, she owns and operates a local boutique shop and event and wedding planning business, Terra Rosa.

She lives in Ithaca with her husband Nathan and their two children, Alexander and Ainslie.

Music Teacher, Jeffra Ruesink has over ten years experience singing and dancing with young children. She has studied music since she was a child, plays the guitar and the piano, and dabbles in lots of other instruments from the accordion to the didgeridoo. She is also a trained and certified Montessorian, and recently left a position as a lead classroom teacher at the Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School to focus on expanding Music Together of Ithaca. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees at EACMSI. Some of her other interests include organic gardening, home cooking, and visual art. She relishes any chance to be in the natural environment and loves to ski, hike, paddle, sail, bike, swim, and forage for mushrooms. Jeffra lives in Ithaca with her husband, two musical sons, and their magnificent companion Freyja, a German Shepherd Dog.

Positions Available:

• Afternoon Assistant with possible after school hours.
• Substitute Teachers

Please contact Ailish for more details.