Fifty years ago three women started Montview Community Preschool and Kindergarten. They were Bea Romer, Ludmilla Glascock, and June Wood. They became lifelong friends and created the legacy of the school we all enjoy so much now.
June was born in 1932 during the height of the depression. She received an undergraduate degree in child development and family relationships at Cornell. Then she worked to earn a master’s degree from Indiana University.
When the women’s college closed and became Johnson and Wales University, the neighborhood had a great need for a preschool. The women’s college had housed a preschool, and when it shut down all three founding mothers had daughters ready for preschool with nowhere to go. The solution was to work hard and set up Montview Cooperative Preschool. From the beginning, it was a school devoted to supporting the community and the belief that all children are individuals, have talent, and are to be valued.
June’s husband built the first sandbox at Montview which was in the same play yard that we use now. June also remembers taking students to the west side of the building to ride tricycles on the sidewalks and ramps of the church. In the early years, the sanctuary and the church building were not connected by the commons room we use today.
June remembers that parents and students have always seemed to enjoy lingering after school so that the parents could talk and the kids could play more. A funny memory is that the helping child always seemed a little clingy with the helping parent on their special days. What healthy snack to bring was a big decision.
June created the Denver Cooperative which was originally located in Denver University. The coworkers at Montview helped her and considered it an expansion of Montview.
After her experiences with both cooperatives, June returned to school and became a certified reading specialist. June encourages all current families to continue reading aloud to their children. One of her most treasured memories is her mother reading Bambi aloud to her. The time parents have reading, snuggling, and talking are precious!
