Edinger energized and excited about new head of school position at Montessori School of Wooster

Joe Edinger has experienced the joys and pitfalls of public education. As a teacher, then a principal and finally a superintendent, education has been a huge part of his life for decades.However, he recently moved into a new and exciting realm of education, one that has energized him and has him quite excited about the new school year.This summer, Edinger went from the pressure cooker that is serving as a district superintendent at East Holmes Local Schools to the much more laid-back life of the new head of school at Montessori School of Wooster.The change in scenery has been quite an uplifting time in Edinger’s life.“I absolutely love it,” said Edinger of his new gig. “I smile a lot more and sleep a lot better. What I really like is that there is a lot more access to the children than I had as a superintendent, and that is very energizing to me because I find a lot of joy in making a difference in children’s lives.”Going from overseeing 1,800 students and a staff of 150 to 102 children and a staff of 19 at Montessori School of Wooster has also helped Edinger ease back into the world of education.His trek to the head of school position was a relatively short one. He said he wasn’t really looking for any employment after retiring from the superintendent role at East Holmes, but a series of connected events led the Montessori school board to reach out to him.He said he was interested, and three interviews and two weeks later, the school had hired their man.It didn’t take long for Edinger to fall in love with his new home. After meeting with the board members and going through orientation, he quickly set about becoming accustomed to a very different type of learning scenario.“It’s a totally different strategy,” said Edinger of Montessori School of Wooster. “It is teaching the children to think for themselves rather than doing a lot of rote learning and memorization.”At Montessori School of Wooster, there are no grade cards but rather weekly reports that go home with each student. The students begin school as early as 18 months old, and usually finish in what would be the eighth grade, but there are no set grades; rather, the children work in three-year age spans.Students cook, clean and learn responsibilities. There are field trips to The College of Wooster music series, and cultural trips, and the school is in the process of building a new nature preserve. The money for the Schultz Nature Preserve was donated by The College of Wooster in honor of Melissa Schultz, a professor there who recently passed away.Edinger said that the promotion of exploration and inspiring students to think on their own is something he finds refreshing.He said, however, that many of the things he learned in his job as superintendent have prepared him for this new endeavor into education.Just like any school, we want to build strong character,” Edinger said. “Culturally it is the same approach, just in a very different way. We focus on the beauty in life and want the kids to learn to appreciate that.”Montessori School of Wooster follows the identical school year calendar that Wooster City Schools implements. Edinger said the school has a very diverse population, which only adds to the uniqueness of it.The one thing he said he will not miss from being in the public schools is testing. Wooster Montessori does not use textbooks and has no testing, something that became a huge issue during Edinger’s final year in East Holmes.“I won’t miss that at all,” he said of testing.Reenergized and rejuvenated, Edinger is looking forward to the new challenges that lie ahead. While it is all brand new, he said that in many ways it feels so familiar.“I am already enjoying everything about it,” Edinger said. “It has a real sense of peace to it.”