Our History
Moodie’s School is a private school, it is a not-for-profit education corporation, chartered with the New York State Board of Regents. Originally the school went by the name Moodie’s Children’s Hours School. The school was established in 1976 Dr. Meredith Jane Aldrich Moodie, lifelong educator and also principal of the Pelham School in western Massachusetts. Dr. Moodie attended Walnut Hill School and Sweet Briar College, graduating at the top of her class at both institutions. She obtained Woodrow Wilson and National Defense Education Act fellowships to study at Harvard University, where she earned a master’s degree in romance languages and literatures.
At Harvard Meredith met her future husband, Dunbar Moodie, and eventually settled with him in South Africa. The couple lived in Durban and Johannesburg, where Ms. Aldrich taught at the elementary school, high school and university level. In Durban, she set up her own Montessori, pre-primary school. During this period, she also gave birth to three children and enrolled for a master’s degree in educational psychology. which she obtained from the University of the Witwatersrand.
In 1976, the family moved to Geneva, N.Y., where her husband was appointed professor of sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Within a year, she had realized her vision of a school for small children based on the educational principles of Maria Montessori, supplemented and enriched with programs in the fine and performing arts. Moodie’s Children’s Hours was born. Meredith received New York state teacher certification through the department of education at Hobart and William Smith and enrolled for a PhD in developmental psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1990, she obtained a certificate in advanced study (with principal certification) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Over the years a group of amazing women joined Meredith; they played a large role in shaping the school’s philosophy, curriculum and unique spirit. Frances Temple, was a teacher, a writer of award-winning children's stories and young adult novels and illustrator. Her works have dealt with poverty and oppression in contemporary El Salvador, two novels cover strife in contemporary Haiti, one is a retelling of a folk tale from Jamaica and two novels — part of a projected trilogy — are set in the Middle Ages, in Spain and Morocco. You will find Frances Temple’s books are a staple in all our classroom libraries.
Tracy Spates, beloved art teacher.
COMMENCEMENT 2007 William Smith Student Speaker, Allison Toepp '07
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“It was with an attentive and genuine nature that Tracy induced conversation everywhere, this conversation would then lead to thought and appreciation for one's surroundings, and when engaging on such a level, people become unified.” Tracy Spates joined the Children’s Hours team in the 80’s. She was also an author and traveled around the world to bring inspiration to her students and the school. Her art book, Picture the World , is a wonderful journey around the world of children's art, all made by children of various ages from different countries.
