About Crossway Community

Inspired Children. Strong Families.
Connected Communities.

Our Mission and Vision

Our mission is to promote learning, creativity, and community for all families.

Our vision:

  • Hope for social change

  • Innovation in policy and practice

  • Community building across age and culture

Crossway Community applies Montessori philosophy across all of its initiatives, and builds on cutting edge research on poverty elimination, early childhood education, aging, and  community development.

"The sky's the limit." -- Kathleen Guinan

The Crossway Community Model

The model integrates Montessori philosophy across three learning centers.

  • Montessori School
    children cultivate the desire to learn

  • The Apartments
    a vibrant apartment campus for a diverse community

  • Intergenerational Learning Center
    people connect across differences.

Montessori Principles

Self-Education: People have innate curiosity about the world they inhabit. Carefully-prepared learning environments respond to the need to learn and grow.

Individualization: One-on-one interaction nurtures the unique characteristics of each participant. People learn at their own pace. Lessons are short, concise, and practical.
 

The Teacher as a Guide: The emphasis is on learning. Teachers serve as positive and inspiring role models.

Proper Materials: Our classrooms are equipped with simple learning tools for the youngest children and then gradually moving on to more complex materials
 

Prepared Environments: Participants are guided to make free and intelligent choices. Learning materials are always within reach and spaces are bright and comprised of living things such as plants and pets. Mixed-age, family-type structure creates a pervasive context of security for learning..

Crossway Community is a grassroots, two-generational approach to social change — nurturing children’s curiosity while supporting parents’ capacity to be leaders of their families and community.

  • Our programs work at the local level.

  • Our ideas influence national and international policy and practice about what works for children and families.

  • Crossway Community is a model for social change by promoting learning, creativity and community for all families.

A Brief History

In 1990, Kathleen Guinan was already a nonprofit entrepreneur. Having founded Zaccheaus Kitchen and Rachel’s Women’s Center, she and her husband, Ed Guinan, were well-known community organizers and social justice activists.

After renovating a formerly abandoned elementary school, Crossway Community opened as a wrap-around center, integrating an innovative adult education initiative, a Montessori-inspired early childhood program, and a community center where volunteerism and creative activities would bring people together across culture and age. 

For its first two decades, Crossway Community developed The Family Leadership Academy (FLA), an intensive residential intervention for women to gain the tools to succeed in college, the workplace and beyond. Linking secure, community-supported housing with adult education, case management, strength-based resources, and Montessori early childhood education, this award-winning program offered a two-generation strategy to prevent poverty and helping families thrive. 

The FLA was Crossway Community's first major innovation. Elements of that program-- supportive housing, information and referral, strength-based, family-centered, Montessori inspired community -- remain the touchstone of all Crossway Community programming. 

All families -- whether living in The Apartments, enrolled in Crossway Community Montessori School, or volunteering in the Intergenerational Learning Center--  are part of a vibrant community. Families and community groups throughout Montgomery County and greater Washington have continued to thrive at Crossway Community for over two decades. 

Crossway Community is.... Intentional.  Inspirational.

For a parent who feels cast aside, a discouraged child, or a lonely senior citizen, the scent of lavender and the soothing colors on the wall offer one message:

You are home. You matter here.

At Crossway Community, The Apartments offer a safe, supported home and community while parents complete degrees or work. Crossway Community Montessori School nurtures hundreds of children, of all incomes in a prepared environment. The Intergenerational Learning Center is a hub for career, life skills, vocational, and service learning initiatives, training, and partner programs. The National Intergenerational Montessori Center is on its way to breaking critical new ground.

For its excellence, Crossway Community has been recognized by:

  • National Bridge Builders Award

  • The African American Infant Mortality Coalition 

  • The Aspen Institute 

  • The Migrant Heritage Commission

  • Kathleen Guinan, “Hometown Hero” by WETA