Magazine

collage of photos from the school's 60-year history

Welcome to the second issue of Roots, the magazine of The Post Oak School, celebrating 60 years of high-fidelity Montessori education in Houston.

Post Oak students and their families belong to a group of individuals who come together on their learning journeys for the good of others. Dive into their stories, and if you have one to share about your time at Post Oak or your child’s experience, we’d love to hear it. Please email us at development@postoakschool.org.

The Magazine, Roots, is produced in-house by the Development and Communications Office at Post Oak and is distributed to current families, employees, alumni, and friends. 

(Special Note: P after a name indicates they are a Post Oak parent along with their child’s graduation year.)

The Development & Communications Team
Christina Kopanidis-Cantu, P ’22 & ’24, Development Director
Elaine Schweizer, Senior Communications Specialist
Sarah Gifford, Communications Associate
Juliette Casas, Development Assistant

Featured Articles

60 Years!
collage of photos from the school's 60-year history
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Montessori
  • Parents
  • Students
Communications Office

Since its founding, The Post Oak School has grown and evolved just as have the children entrusted to its care. From its humble beginnings of three students to its current status as a nationally recognized premier Montessori school, Post Oak has a storied history that reflects the passion, dedication, and hard work of countless individuals who have contributed to its success.

Read More about 60 Years!
Montessori & Mindfulness
Middle school students in yoga class
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Montessori
  • Parents
  • Students
Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, P ’18, ’20, & ’25, Faculty

As we get older and our brain and body develop, we can grow in our capacity to self-regulate and self-control; this does not necessarily happen on its own, and mindfulness education at all levels helps scaffold the building of these critical life skills.

Read More about Montessori & Mindfulness

Articles from the August 2023 Issue

Creating Connections with the Parents Association
Parents and staff gathered for the Parents Association Welcome Event
  • Parents
Sabina Walia, Vareen Cunningham, and Rhian McKinney, 2022–2024 POPA Chairs

What a tremendous 2022–2023 year we had! If it felt full and busy from start to finish, that’s because it was. We had the joy of connecting and reconnecting more often than in years past with the introduction of class-level family socials in the fall and a sprinkling of POPA morning and evening socials throughout the year.

Read More about Creating Connections with the Parents Association
Philanthropy at Post Oak
Whitney Walsh
  • Board
  • Fundraising
Whitney Walsh, P ’22, ’23, & ’28, Board of Trustees

It has become a tradition for the senior class to coordinate a senior prank... The Class of 2023 chose to write uplifting quotes on the sidewalks in chalk throughout the Bissonnet Campus as encouragement to the younger students. Be proud, Post Oak. These are your kids, your future, and your investment at work.

Read More about Philanthropy at Post Oak
MMUN in NYC
MMUN in NYC
  • Student Voices
  • Trips & Travel
Anya K. ’28, Middle School Reporter

The Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) is a program for Upper Elementary through 10th-grade students centered around the experience of being a delegate in the United Nations (UN).

Read More about MMUN in NYC
Lunar New Year MDC Celebration
Gala
Emma, L. ’27

Sunday, January 22, marked the start of the New Year for many East Asian cultures across the globe. The Museum District Campus (MDC) celebrated the occasion on Thursday, January 26, with food, dances, and games! This year marks the inaugural Lunar New Year celebration organized by both Middle School (MS) and High School (HS) students.

Read More about Lunar New Year MDC Celebration
Students Raise $1,600+ Dollars for Team Trees
Students Raise $1,600+ Dollars for Team Trees
by Sofia C.E. ’30, Elizabeth C. ’29, Amina M. ’30, Mia S. ’30, Quinn T. ’30, and Tori ’29, Upper Elementary students

Trees being cut down and dying of forest fires are great threats to our environment. We, six children from Mrs. Xu’s class (Amina, Sofia, Mia, Tori, Elizabeth, and Quinn), wanted to help address this problem. We found an international non-profit organization called Team Trees, which plants trees all around the world. For each dollar donated, one tree is planted. We decided to hold a fundraiser to support this organization.

Read More about Students Raise $1,600+ Dollars for Team Trees

Internship Program Spotlights

Khadijah A. ’25 | HCA Medical Center

Khadijah A. ’25 interned at the HCA Medical Center shadowing one doctor in the course of her normal routine tasks. This involved observing note taking, patient checkups (with the patient’s consent), discussing different terms, procedures, and strategies, etc., with the doctor. “I really liked going along during checkups with different patients. Most rewarding was getting to brighten up hospital patients’ days, even if it was just for a few hours.”

Kilali L. ’23 | Rice University MBA Course

Kilali L. ’23 worked as a teacher’s assistant in a Rice University MBA course. “I helped my supervisor create slides for his class presentations. We met once every two weeks to discuss a new topic and what slides I would need to create. I sat in on the class and joined group projects. This internship helped me learn more about crypto and finance and how the world is changing in those areas. I learned what a college class experience will be like, which will help me get acclimated quickly to college environments. I also improved my written communication and researching skills.”

Talulah M. ’24 | Clemente Martinez Elementary

Talulah M. ’24 was the coach of a 4–5th grade Odyssey of the Mind team from Clemente Martinez Elementary, which won first place in their regional competition. Her responsibilities included helping raise funds for their trip to Dallas for the state competition, meeting every week, guiding them through the creation of an eight-minute long skit, and helping with all homemade props, challenges, and homework. “This has been the most impactful experience of my life, and has helped me put my social situation into perspective. It not only changes the lives of these kids, but also changes your life. I loved connecting with these kids, and being a positive role model. I feel like I made a big impact in their lives, and hopefully have given them resources to become successful.”

Alexander M. ’25 | Printing Museum

Alexander M. ’25 interned with the Printing Museum. “My job was to make videos for them explaining some exhibits that they have, and giving a brief history and context to the pieces. I made six of these videos, one every two weeks, and they covered a wide variety of time periods and issues. I chose to intern at the Printing Museum because of my interest in history, so it was great researching the papers and finding out their historical meanings. I learned all about newspapers from the American Revolutionary War to the American Civil War and how they impacted the information the public received at the time.”

Veronica P. ’26 | Bellaire Nature Center

Veronica P. ’26 “I love my internship at the Bellaire Nature Center for various reasons, but the main reason is just being able to work up-close with various animal species. Since I was a child, it was always my dream to get to actually handle and feed animals. So, getting this experience preparing their food, cleaning their cages, and much more was such an exciting opportunity—the little kid in me would be squealing with joy. They have some animals there, like opossums, pigeons, snakes, turtles, and more. It is great and I’ve been learning so much that I didn’t know before.”

Ashley R. ’24 | Post Oak School

Ashley R. ’24 interned in Post Oak’s Upper Elementary. “For the first few weeks, I observed the class to get a basic understanding of what a Montessori classroom looks like for children this age. This helped me come up with ideas and fostered an understanding of the way the classroom functions, which was helpful going forward. Once I had gotten more familiar with the class and the kids, I started working more hands-on. I helped kids understand how to use technology like Google Workspace products, helped with math problems, helped with writing paragraphs, and led them in science experiments. The most successful (in my eyes) of the experiments that I did was one where we built simple circuits.”

Mateo S. ’24 | Greentown Labs

Mateo S. ’24 “Over the course of my one-year internship at the Greentown Labs startup incubator, I got to experience the management side of a startup incubator as well as get to speak to many startup founders and learn about their processes and technological developments. I spent most of my time working with Salesforce and other customer management platforms and got first hand experience helping to manage Greentown’s user records. Additionally, I spent a lot of time helping develop a program to help communicate between their two user databases.”

Gia S. ’23 | Washington Heights Veterinary Clinic

Gia S. ’23 interned at Washington Heights Veterinary Clinic. “I had a great time working alongside former Post Oak parent, Amy Garrou. While there, I observed multiple surgeries, took dogs on walks, and assisted at the front desk. It was such an amazing experience getting to know and work alongside professional veterinarians, and meeting so many cute animals was a great perk! I learned so much about the day-to-day life of a veterinarian, and will always be thankful to have experienced this internship.”

Yazzie S. ’24 | Aurora Picture Show

Yazzie S. ’24 interned at Aurora Picture Show, transferring old website data to a new website, sorting files, helping prepare for events and screenings, and working as a translator between the organization and a French artist. “I really enjoyed getting to know the staff. They were all incredibly warm, welcoming, and helpful whenever I had questions. I also really enjoyed transferring all the old event information to the new website, as I got to deep dive into the history of Aurora Picture Show and see all of their previous super interesting programs. All the work I completed and how grateful the staff was for my help was extremely rewarding and I’m happy to have been able to help out.”

Maria S. ’26 | Post Oak School

Maria S. ’26 Interned in Post Oak’s Lower School Art Department. “I helped the kids complete their art assignments for the class, responded to the questions I could answer, and sometimes participated in the assignments myself. I also helped clean up and set up. I assisted with Ms. De Leon’s class every Thursday. I liked being able to participate in artistic activities weekly while being able to interact with those younger than me. I liked being able to help others with art because it has been a passion of mine since I was little. I tried to emulate how I liked being taught art when I was younger, especially by Art Specialist Ms. Fagala, who was my art teacher at that age as well.”

Andrés Y. ’23 | Texas Center for Justice and Equity

Andrés Y. ’23 “At the Texas Center for Justice and Equity I learned about issues in the criminal justice system such as the bail system and how it gives those with higher income better chances at winning cases, as well as the issue of policing in schools, which fosters an environment of hostility in an environment meant for learning. I also worked with the organization to create a social media campaign to spread awareness of these issues to high schoolers like me. I really enjoyed the work and look forward to my future with the organization.”

Emma L. ’27 and Anya K. ’28 | Middle School Reporters

A special thanks to our Middle School (MS) reporters, Emma L. ’27 and Anya K. ’28, who who helped create and edit articles for our community about MS travel, events, and experiences throughout the school year.

Francesco Argentina ’20, Asher Forman ’22, Gabe Avritscher ’22, and Andreas Cantu ’22 at the Class of 2023 Commencement

Alumni Updates Summer 2023

We reach out to our alums each year to share news from college and life beyond Post Oak. Many thanks go to 2023 National Honor Society students Niko C., Everest L., Wyatt Q., and Mateo S., who connected with our alumni far and wide. Alums, if you have news to share, please visit postoakschool.org/alumni.

Read 2023 alumni updates

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