(Julie Bragdon)

Julie Bragdon and Dr. Sara Knickerbocker

Navigating Community Grief From the Inside and Out       Infant/Toddler/Primary/Early Childhood/  Elementary/Secondary                                         

“I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process.” C.S. Lewis

Members of Montessori School of Denver faculty and administration will share insights and specifics on how we empathetically navigated death and grief from different school roles. We will discuss what we did to support our school community from the inside, staff and students as well as on the outside, parent community and friends of the school. Topics include self-care, professional preparation, pastoral community care, student resources, timeline of support, grief triggers, communication tools, and special considerations.   

Julie Bragdon, MEd, is head of the Montessori School of Denver (AMS and ACIS Accredited), in Denver, CO, the former vice president of the AMS Board of Directors and Faculty Member at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. AMS-credentialed (Early Childhood).

Dr. Sara Knickerbocker is a school psychologist and learning specialist dedicated to transforming school cultures by attending to the mental health and social-emotional wellbeing of educators while supporting teachers' professional development as they strive to meet the needs of diverse learners. Prior to working in private practice, she worked for over six years as a learning specialist and school psychologist at a Montessori school where she developed a learning support program, facilitated school-based interventions for academic and social/emotional and behavioral challenges and provided extensive professional development to faculty to support teachers in meeting the individual needs of their students. In addition to her expertise in the areas of child development, differentiation, learning disabilities, psychoeducational evaluation and systemic change, Dr. Knickerbocker is a lifelong student and facilitator of conscious living tools designed to invite personal transformation.