Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/meet-christine-simonson-and-trie-smith-co-directors-countryside-montesori-kirkland-washington/5013235/
Based on a commitment to partnership and a determination to make things happen, the story of Countryside Montessori is filled with laughter, respect, and serendipity.Trie Smith brought her newborn son to work at a Montessori school in North Seattle, but when he became a toddler she knew she needed a different plan. "None of the programs I visited were good enough for my son! What I really wanted was to open my own school, so when I met a woman ready to finance the venture, we became partners. That was in the days when banks were reluctant to lend money to women; but after many rejections, we found our way to a female banker with a young child - and got the SBA loan. I knew this was the right thing to do; I just couldn't give up until it happened. We bought three acres and a wrecked building in an area where the need for child care was high, and opened our program in September 1983.
Christine Simonson: "Six months later, I came rather reluctantly to the scene. I was home with my children and needed something, but I didn't think child care would be it. Trie called so many times ...