Hagerstown Children's School is a private Preschool and Kindergarten with a supporting Extended Day Childcare Program and Preprimary Program for Two Year Olds. Our goals are to foster self-confident and self-reliant learners, good work habits, creative thinking and problem solving skills, and to nurture each child's own sense of wonder and joy of learning.

"Education for Life"

Hagerstown children's School was Founded by a group of parents and teachers to provide an excellent nontraditional education for their own children, using Montessori learning materials to support the curriculum.

School Credentials • Staff Credentials • Parent Accolades

School Credentials
Hagerstown Children's School is a not-for-profit organization, licensed by the Maryland Child Care Administration and approved by the State Department of Education as a nonpublic school. All of our staff meet the licensing requirements of those agencies. We are affiliate members of the International Montessori Society and the National Center for Montessori Education.

Staff Credentials

• Kimberly Hicks, Administrator
  • B.A Business Administration Management, National Administrator Credential, CPR and First Aid Certified, Montessori Teacher Certification
• Heather Tosten, Director/Teacher- Pre-primary Child Care Program
  • A.A. Early Childhood Education,  Montessori Assistant Certificate, Montessori Teacher Certificate, CPR and First Aid Certified

HCS Staff

• Jamie Yingling, Teacher - Primary Program
  • M.S. Early Childhood Education, B.A. Sociology/Social Service Specialization, CPR and First Aid Certified, Montessori Teacher Certification
• Sue Schaeffer, Teacher - Primary Program
  • B.A. Sociology, Certification in Social Work,  Montessori Teacher Certification, CPR and First Aid Certified
• Gina Magee, Assistant - Primary Classroom
  • OCC Senior Staff Qualified, Montessori Assistant Certificate, Montessori Teacher Certificate, Montessori Assistant Certificate, CPR and First Aid Certified
• Alieta Dodson, Senior Child Care Staff - Extended Care Classroom
  • OCC Senior Staff Qualified, Early Childhood Professions Program at Washington County Technical High school, Montessori Assistant Certificate, CPR and First Aid Certified
• Ashley Cunningham, Child Care Staff - Primary Classroom Assistant
  • OCC Aide Qualified, Washington County Tech High School Early Childhood Professions Program, Montessori Assistant Certificate, CPR can First Aid Certified
• Penny Weagly, Child Care Staff - Pre-Primary Child Care Program Assistant and Teacher
  •  Montessori Assistant Certificate, CPR and First Aid Certified
• Laura Kefauver, Primary I Classroom
  • OCC Senior Staff Qualified, BS in Liberal Arts, MS Elementary Education, CPR and First Aid Certified
    
• Samantha Early, Child Care Staff - Extended Care Classroom
  • OCC Assistant Teacher, Early Childhood Professions Program at Washington County, Preschool Child Care Certification, CPR and First Aid Certified
• Patricia Jacobs, Child Care Staff - All Programs
  • OCC Aide Qualified, Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• Kaelin Smith, Child Care Staff - Extended Care Classroom
  • OCC Aide Qualified
    

Parents Accolades
"The quality of the staff, specialized learning materials, and home-like atmosphere are reasons we have chosen HCS for our Child. We are very pleased with and highly recommend the program."

"The children thrive in this quiet, respectful environment, and I love to be there myself. Even greater than the learning of facts and concepts is the reverence for learning itself that children experience here."