Mountaintop Montessori Celebrates International Day of Peace

As the United States delegation attended sessions at the United Nations this week, local school Mountaintop Montessori today celebrated the International Day of Peace, which was established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution. According to the UN resolution, the day is “devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

Mountaintop Montessori students participated in the “Sing Peace Around the World” project, where Montessori schools from all over the globe sang a song to commemorate Peace Day. Mountaintop Montessori students came together as a school at 9:30 on Thursday to sing the song “Light a Candle for Peace.” Over 65,000 children all over the world sang for peace as one of the largest “Day of Peace” celebrations ever. The song began on the shores of New Zealand and continued to travel from country to country, and time zone to time zone, until it reached the Hawaiian Islands 24 hours later.

Laura Leva, Mountaintop’s Music/Dance/Drama teacher stated, “It is powerful to witness the complete openness and depth of sincerity with which the students discuss creating peace within the world around them, starting with inside themselves.”

Patricia Colby, Mountaintop Montessori’s Head of School, began the tradition last year. Colby reflected, “This event gives us an opportunity to come together and celebrate our community and honors the long-standing Montessori tradition to be globally minded.”

Mountaintop Montessori provides the greater Charlottesville community with an exceptional and authentic Montessori education, serving children and families from infancy through 8th grade. We are accredited by the American Montessori Society and the Virginia Association of Private Schools. Our 9-acre garden campus is home to year-round programming in which children thrive through experiential learning, interactions with the natural world, and collaborative discovery.