Hudson Country Montessori School is celebrating its 40th anniversary this school year..

Photo Credit: Justin Stock

Maria LaRocca currently has four children at Hudson Country Montessori School.

Photo Credit: Justin Stock

Maura LaRocca is a fourth grade student at Hudson Country Montessori School.

Photo Credit: Justin Stock

Ray Carofano has been a student at Hudson Country Montessori School since he was two.

Photo Credit: Justin Stock

Anna Carofano has had a son at Hudson Country Montessori School since 2002.

Photo Credit: Justin Stock

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Hudson Country Montessori School student Ray Carofano said he thinks his school has lasted for 40 years because of the familiarity students have with teachers.

“I feel it’s a good way that we’re surrounded as a community,” said Carofano, a sixth grader at the school. “You know that they care about you."

Ray's mother Anna said she appreciates the education her son gets at Hudson Montessori.
"It's a very nurturing environment for children," said Anna Carofano. "I think that that's pretty unique to this school."

The school will commemorate its 40th anniversary with extra festivities at its annual May show by adding a reunion with an international theme. The school is working to find and notify its alumni, especially those who now live overseas.


Located on Quaker Ridge Road in the North End of New Rochelle, the original Hudson Montessori school started in 1972 with just five students and was housed in the carriage house of the Robert B. Ward estate. It has had to get creative as the student body expanded, according to information from its website, hudsoncountry.org. Classes were held in a nearby church, then a temple and finally an elementary school building was added next to the original building in 2004. The next challenge is to add more parking.

 “It just grew very organically year by year,” said Musya Meyer, the owner and founder of the school.

Today, the school has 200 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and has seen 10,000 students graduate since it began.

“It’s worked for the last 40 years and I’m hoping it works for the next 40 years,” Meyer said.

Teacher Mary Ann Cook, who has taught at Hudson Country for 25 years, said Meyer and the school have succeeded for so long because of the dedication of the teachers, students and parents.
“We teach what benefits the child,” Cook said of the school's hands-on approach. “It’s a good way of teaching.”