Thirteen current and former GMS students participated in the 2015 Summer Film Camp.

GMS Summer Film Camp 2015 - Movie Poster

Their feature length film entitled Gestalt debuted at local movie theater RED Cinemas on Monday, July 27 at 7pm. Special thanks to the Kotis family, proprietors of RED Cinemas, for dedicating two of their theaters for the showing and then also opening a third to accommodate all of the guests. It was standing room only!!

The students, led by Middle School teacher, Jonathan McLean, spent four weeks learning all that basics needed to make a high quality film - script and screenplay writing, scoring a sound track, sound and video editing, pre- and post-production, location and studio shoots, etc.

Check out their film trailer below.


The GMS Board of Trustees made its top priority the complete renovation of the Lower Elementary wing this summer as the next stage of facilities modernization. This renovation ties to the development of a complete site master plan for our campus.

Since we had such a tight window of time and wanted everything ready and in place for the children on the first day of school, construction started the Monday after the last day of school in June.

With everyone working together, we are proud to report that we are on schedule and within budget and will be ready for Back to School Night on Monday, August 17.

The new configuration showcases two large and airy classrooms that lead out to the gardens, have maximum natural light, brand new bathrooms and kitchenettes, and flexible floor plans for open circulation. We achieved our goal of using environmentally friendly materials in the construction, and selected fixtures and fittings with high standards for energy and water efficiency. We can’t wait for you to see the finished product on August 17.

The Lower El renovation is clearly consistent with the goals of the Vision 2020 Strategic Plan. Funding for the project comes from Vision 2020 donations and capital reserves.Tuition is not funding these improvements to the campus.

Lower El Renovation - 2015 Lower El Renovation - Summer 2015

Lower El Renovation - Summer 2015 Lower El Renovation - Summer 2015

This summer, two of our Middle School faculty, Deirdre Kearney and Jenny Kimmel, attended Montessori teacher training at the reknowned AMI Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies located in Huntsburg, OH on the campus of the Hershey Farm School.

Deirdre joined GMS in 2007 and teaches Humanities in the Middle School. Jenny joined our faculty as an intern with our gardening program in 2003. She is the director of the environmental education curriculum at GMS and oversees the GMS Land program in Oak Ridge.

Kearney, Deirdre  Kimmel, Jenny

The AMI Orientation to Adolescent Studies offers an overview of Dr. Montessori’s approach to adolescents within the whole framework of human development. By exploring Montessori theory in depth, the participants will come to understand the contribution of the third plane of development (12-18 years of age) as crucial to the development of the individual and will be significantly prepared to aid development during this important time of life.

An important part of the orientation is to experience the life of the adolescent: their studies, their practical work, their community life, their growing need for independence, and their need to work side-by-side with adults. Through time spent in the prepared environment of the farm, participants explore this need for independence and an awareness of human interdependence, both of which become concretely realized and internalized in Montessori adolescent communities that genuinely provide a “school of experience in the elements of social life.”