Dear Family and Friends,
Guiding Light Montessori is a small family-owned preschool, led by Justina Staley, a trained Montessori teacher with over 15 years of experience. Teaching is a passion of hers and she has built this program from the ground up over the past 6 years. GLM is a place where children ages 2.5 years to 6 are encouraged to let their light shine. Their spirits are nurtured by providing them a safe environment that promotes academic, social, practical, and emotional skills.
On April 21st, 2019, Guiding Light Montessori was subject to a fire that caused a significant amount of damage. Fortunately, the fire happened in the middle of the night with no staff or children on sight. The damage was all internal, burning a hole into the floor and one wall completely down. This sounds minimal, however, the fire burned for hours filing the environment with smoke. The aftermath of this event has been more significant than imagined, not only dealing with the reconstruction of part of the property, but cleaning and assessing the damage the water and smoke caused to all the contents inside. GLM has been closed since the fire for the reconstruction and cleaning of the contents. The goal is to reopen by late summer to help provide care for families once again.
Unfortunately, due to a loophole, insurance is only covering the structural reconstruction and not the contents in the school. Many learning materials, as well as furniture, could not be sufficiently cleaned of smoke damage to be considered safe for the kids to use again, and therefore had to be discarded. We are starting this campaign as a means to help rebuild the learning environment. We have included a list of items to give you an idea of the loss GLM suffered; this is not comprehensive, but a starting place so GLM can welcome back the children.
Our goal is to raise $3,000 to purchase new, clean, smoke-free materials for the children. It is imperative that we replenish and rebuild our environment with safe and clean materials. With your help, we can rebuild our school environment and GLM can continue contributing to our community by encouraging children to explore and ignite their curiosity, imagination and a love for learning.
Thank you for your generosity, GLM is truly a special place!
We continue to shine our light through the darkness.
In Peace,
Justina Staley
Directress/Owner
Guiding Light Montessori is a small family-owned preschool, led by Justina Staley, a trained Montessori teacher with over 15 years of experience. Teaching is a passion of hers and she has built this program from the ground up over the past 6 years. GLM is a place where children ages 2.5 years to 6 are encouraged to let their light shine. Their spirits are nurtured by providing them a safe environment that promotes academic, social, practical, and emotional skills.
On April 21st, 2019, Guiding Light Montessori was subject to a fire that caused a significant amount of damage. Fortunately, the fire happened in the middle of the night with no staff or children on sight. The damage was all internal, burning a hole into the floor and one wall completely down. This sounds minimal, however, the fire burned for hours filing the environment with smoke. The aftermath of this event has been more significant than imagined, not only dealing with the reconstruction of part of the property, but cleaning and assessing the damage the water and smoke caused to all the contents inside. GLM has been closed since the fire for the reconstruction and cleaning of the contents. The goal is to reopen by late summer to help provide care for families once again.
Unfortunately, due to a loophole, insurance is only covering the structural reconstruction and not the contents in the school. Many learning materials, as well as furniture, could not be sufficiently cleaned of smoke damage to be considered safe for the kids to use again, and therefore had to be discarded. We are starting this campaign as a means to help rebuild the learning environment. We have included a list of items to give you an idea of the loss GLM suffered; this is not comprehensive, but a starting place so GLM can welcome back the children.
Our goal is to raise $3,000 to purchase new, clean, smoke-free materials for the children. It is imperative that we replenish and rebuild our environment with safe and clean materials. With your help, we can rebuild our school environment and GLM can continue contributing to our community by encouraging children to explore and ignite their curiosity, imagination and a love for learning.
Thank you for your generosity, GLM is truly a special place!
We continue to shine our light through the darkness.
In Peace,
Justina Staley
Directress/Owner
Organizer and beneficiary
Justina Staley
Beneficiary