Nancy Margaret Rose passed away on June 8, 2023 at her home in Kingston, RI with her wife, Ellen Perkins, her sister-in-law, Mary Ryan, and two dear friends at her side.

Nancy was born on December 5, 1946, in California and spent much of her early years devoted to the arts, especially music and acting. She discovered Montessori in college and the rest is history.

In 1970, she received her AMI Montessori credential in Palo Alto, CA. From the start of her involvement, she advocated for children and for teachers, and was dedicated to supporting children and adults to meet their full potential. She did so with tremendous joy, enthusiasm, energy, a taste for fun, and love. She has, for years, taught us to be inclusive, diverse, and welcoming and accepting of all people, including LGBTQIA+ and those with disabilities.

Nancy served on the AMS board from 1977 – 1981. There she met Douglas Gravel who was serving his second term. She was serving her first. Nancy and Doug were known as the “shakers and rascals” because of their rambunctiousness. Nancy was responsible for adding language to the AMS non-discrimination clause based on sexual orientation. She refused to have her school, New England Early Childhood Associates (NEECA), become a member of any organization that did not provide such protection for employees. Because of Nancy’s insistence, AMS took that initial courageous step so that AMS employees would be protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since then, AMS has expanded its non-discrimination clause.

Along with Carole Wolfe Korngold (1935 – 2019) and Virginia Varga, Nancy served on the TEC committee that wrote the original document that was submitted to create ACCESS, the first accrediting body for Montessori teacher education. They were setting standards for Montessori teacher education centers to be accredited by a federal body, thus enabling students to get federal loans and opening Montessori training to increased diversity.

Nancy has presented to overflow crowds at AMS conferences (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022) often on what she called “Tender Topics.” She has been ahead of her time, presenting such topics as “Death, Divorce, and Disability,” “Helping Children Deal with Loss,” and “True Selves: Supporting Children and Staff with Gender Identity and Expression.”

She presented numerous times at national and regional conferences for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Northeast Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Rhode Island Early Childhood Conference. She also provided multiple diversity trainings for the Providence Police Academy. For her work with the Children’s Safe Schools Institute in Providence, RI, she trained teachers on how to create safe schools for LGBTQIA+ folks.

She has served as a board member of the Rhode Island Association of the Education of Young Children and The Children’s School of Providence as well as on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union and A Place for Us, a haven and outreach program for LGBTQIA+ teens, working to prevent suicide among LGBTQIA+ youth.

In 1981, Nancy was doing a field visit in New York City for the Center for Montessori Teacher Education/New York (CMTE/NY) when she learned that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could be represented at the United Nations. Nancy did the footwork to have AMS become an NGO at the U.N. and then presented to then executive director, Bretta Weiss, (1926 – 2022) that AMS should join because, “we speak for children internationally.”

Ruth Selman became the first to represent AMS to the U.N. Along with Sonnie McFarland, Marge Farmer, and Ruth, Nancy formed the AMS Peace and Social Justice Committee, setting the stage for AMS to continue to have the work of peace remain central to the mission of AMS and Montessori in the United States. That committee continues to flourish today.

At the first Pathways to a Peaceful School Conference, hosted by Center for Montessori Education|New York (CME|NY) in 2016, Nancy presented to an international crowd. Then, three years later, she traveled with CME|NY to Hanoi, Vietnam for the CME|NY Infant and Toddler training at Sakura Montessori in 2019.

Nancy Rose has been one of the most passionate, beloved Montessorians I have ever met. I have known her since I was a young girl, when she attended many Passover Seders at our home, and was the most enthusiastic when it came to reading passages about human rights and equality! She was a lifetime member of AMS, served twice on the board, and hosted the 1994 Summer Regional Conference in Breckenridge, CO.

She has published many articles, including in the early issues of the Constructive Triangle. In 1972, she founded the Montessori Teachers Association of Colorado. In 1979, she co-founded the Rocky Mountain Teacher Training Program along with Janet Gollen and Virginia Hennes, with the support of Carole Wolfe Korngold. That program is now called the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. In 1975, she founded the Montessori Early Learning Center. Then in 1989, she founded NEECA, New England Early Childhood Associates Childcare program, serving toddlers and early childhood children. In 2022, she was awarded the Nancy McCormick Rambusch Trailblazer Award from AMS.

Nancy was aware of mental health issues long before it was a hot-button phase. In 1982, she began serving as the director of stress management for CMTE/NY, providing crisis intervention and counseling, along with teaching peaceful conflict resolution techniques to adults to use with children (and each other)!

No one understood better than Nancy the power of positive thinking and visualization. Along with her many workshops and conference presentations, she has been on the faculty of numerous TEPs: Center for Montessori Teacher Education and Center for Montessori Education (CMTE/NY & CME|NY), Cambridge Montessori Institute, Northeast Montessori Institute, North Texas Montessori Institute, and Rocky Mountain Teacher Training program, presenting at the Infant/Toddler, Early Childhood, and Administrator levels.

Nancy’s commitment to and love for Montessori has been contagious and inspiring. She has touched hundreds, if not thousands of us, from Florida to Texas and Maine to Colorado. She will be dearly missed.

She is survived by her wife and partner of 25 years, Ellen Perkins.

Watch this presentation from Nancy Rose at The Montessori Event 2023.

About the Author

K.T. Korngold is the director of the Montessori Children’s Center. Nancy Rose is her Fairy Godmother.

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The opinions expressed in Montessori Life are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of AMS.