In 1972, Bobbe Spink didn’t want to move to Chattanooga.
Her husband was eager to accept a position at TVA, but out of the six cities they had considered, Chattanooga was the only one without an established Montessori school, a school focused on self-directed education she had come to love while teaching outside Detroit.
So the couple made a deal. They would move to the Scenic City if, and only if, she could start a school. They bought a home on Signal Mountain and Bobbe Spink founded the school there, introducing the inaugural class of five students to the Montessori program in her own home.
Since 1972, the school has moved to a much larger location downtown, the student population has grown to 248 students, and thousands of children have come through the program.
And now, after 44 years at the helm, Bobbe Spink says it’s time for her to retire.