Primary Guide, Tanager Meadow
Merrett Krahn
Merrett grew up in Minnesota in a small town about half an hour east of the Twin Cities, and attended a Montessori school for Primary. She has always loved working with children, starting in high school as a Junior Kumon instructor at a Kumon Math and Reading Center. She moved to the west coast to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. While in Walla Walla, she worked at Harper Joy Theater as a theater technician, building sets, rigging lights, and creating sound designs for the college’s productions, and continued to work with children at the Kid’s Place, Walla Walla’s Reggio Emilia daycare center. In her studies for her Philosophy major, Merrett encountered the writings of Maria Montessori in a philosophy of education class, and it provided the focus and drive for the rest of her undergraduate studies. Her senior Philosophy thesis was focused on Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education, and how it addresses questions of art and beauty during both the Primary and Elementary years.
After getting her BA in Philosophy, Merrett knew her next step would be to get her Montessori training, so she moved to Portland to take the AMI Elementary training course at Montessori Northwest. Upon graduating with her AMI Elementary degree in 2014, Merrett was hired to work as an Elementary Course Assistant at Montessori Northwest. Merrett spent two years at Montessori Northwest, helping two academic-year Elementary courses through their own Montessori trainings, as well as participating in launching Montessori Northwest’s Elementary summer training program at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. After she left MNW in 2016, Merrett worked as an Elementary assistant for a few months before starting at MCH as a Primary assistant in the Chickadee Grove classroom in February 2017. It was not long before Merrett knew that she had found a home at MCH! She assisted in the Chickadee Grove classroom from 2017 through 2019, and led Chickadee Grove’s summer program in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, Merrett was ready to take her Primary training and get her M.Ed., and returned to Montessori Northwest. She graduated from Montessori Northwest in June 2020 with her AMI Primary degree, and from Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, with her Master’s in Montessori Education in September 2020. She is thrilled to return to MCH to be the Tanager Meadow guide!
Outside of school, Merrett loves spending time with her partner, Jack, and their cat. They enjoy going to see movies, viewing exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum, and attending plays and musicals. Merrett is also a lifelong vegan who loves a piping hot cup of green tea, and enjoys visiting local gardens, thrift shopping, cooking, and visiting her family in Minnesota and friends in Seattle whenever she can.