Our Story
Samantha Wright, Founder of Maine Mountain Children’s House
Maine Mountain Children’s House was established in 2006 by its original Director and Lead Teacher Samantha Wright. Sam built the school’s foundation, putting years of effort into offering a Montessori educational experience with an emphasis on fostering the growth of the whole child and creating a connection to the natural world that surrounds them. The first class consisted of eight children in the basement of the Methodist church Kingfield. But Sam’s dream was to find a permanent location for the school so that it would become a sustainable and integral part of the community. In 2011, Sam hired Bethany Mahar to be the Lead Teacher in the classroom as she focused more on the Director role for the school.
In 2014, MMCH experienced a terrible tragedy when Sam Wright was killed in a car accident. With such a great loss, the community rallied together to support our beloved school. Bethany stepped into the Lead Teacher/Director role and carried on the mantle that Sam had begun. In 2015, MMCH found a permanent home in downtown Kingfield with a fresh start and room to grow. From there, Maine Mountain Children’s House has become stronger than ever to ensure that Sam’s legacy can live on and the school can continue to serve the children of our area.
The school is now thriving with two bustling classrooms for toddler and primary students, seven staff members, and a very active Board of Directors. We serve children from a significant portion of Franklin County and parts of Somerset County, including the towns of Carrabassett Valley, Kingfield, Phillips, Strong, Madison, Embden, New Portland, New Vineyard and Farmington. We have an established gardening program for our school and community gardens have been planted throughout the town of Kingfield, fondly named “Sam's Gardens.” There is a well attended After School Care program serving children from 18 months through eight years old. Each year we continue to grow but stay true to offering a Montessori educational experience that encourages each child to grow academically, emotionally and socially while fostering independence, respect and responsibility to self, others and the Earth.