You need someone who's actually run one of these schools.
Not advised on them from the outside. Run one.Donna D'Hoostelaere spent more than 30 years in Montessori, building and running her own school. She learned the business side the hard way — alone, under pressure, with the school's survival depending on whether she figured it out. That experience is the foundation of everything Montessori Thrive does.
Plenty of people will advise your school. Few have ever run one.
You're carrying the education — the classrooms, the children, the mission, the families who chose you because they believe in what you're building.
And you're carrying everything else too. The cash flow questions you don't know how to answer. The licensing visit you're not sure you're ready for. The staff situation that's quietly getting worse. The enrollment numbers that don't quite add up and you're not sure why.
Most people who offer to help with the "business side" of a Montessori school have never actually run one. They understand operations in the abstract. They don't understand what it's like to be the person whose name is on the lease, whose staff depends on payroll being right, and whose families are trusting you with their children's education — all at the same time.
Donna does. Not because she studied it. Because she lived it for 24 years.
"I didn't learn this in a business school. I learned it because my school's survival depended on it."
— Donna
Not lessons from a textbook. Moments she lived through.
These are the specific experiences that shaped how Donna understands Montessori schools — and why she's qualified to help you navigate yours.
She sat in a finance class and cried in the parking lot.
Partway through a balance-sheet exercise, she got up, walked to her car, and cried for an hour. Her husband had stepped back from the business side without warning. She had a school to run and no idea how to read a P&L. She went back inside and finished the class. Years later, she was negotiating directly with bankers herself.
She sold her school to someone who promised to continue Montessori. Within a week, the program ended.
The buyer was financially qualified and publicly committed to continuing Montessori. The sale closed January 31, 2025. Within a week, Montessori was announced as ending, staff were fired, and families who had trusted Donna for decades felt betrayed. Even though she had been deceived, the devastation was enormous. What had been a 24-year legacy ended painfully.
Every pillar in the Thrive Blueprint exists because Donna lived through the problem it solves.
Financial management. Staffing. Operations. Enrollment. Governance. Community. Facilities. Leadership. These aren't abstract categories pulled from a textbook. They're the eight systems that either failed, didn't exist, or had to be invented — across her years opening, running, growing, and ultimately losing a Montessori school. The Blueprint is what she wishes someone had handed her on day one.
The business side isn't separate from the mission. It's what makes the mission possible.
Donna's experience built the vision. The team she's assembled — administrators, teachers, PAs, and operations professionals who've worked inside Montessori schools — is what turns it into real support. Here's what they've learned.
The business side isn't separate from the mission. It's what makes the mission possible.
A school that can't pay its staff, can't keep its doors open, and can't plan for next year isn't serving children — no matter how beautiful the classroom is. Donna doesn't apologize for caring about the numbers. The numbers are how the mission survives.
Credentials don't guarantee understanding.
She's seen AMI-certified teachers who didn't understand Montessori at all. She's seen school leaders with MBAs who had no idea what made a Montessori environment work. She evaluates people by what they actually do in a classroom and a school — not by what's on their wall.
School leaders deserve support that actually matches where they are.
A school in its first year doesn't need the same support as a school that's been running for fifteen. A founder who's drowning in admin doesn't need more advice — they need someone to help carry the load. The support should fit the school, not the other way around.
"We started with one simple mission: help Montessori schools with marketing and enrollment. But over time, working closely with school leaders taught us something important. Enrollment was rarely the real problem. Schools were struggling with operational complexity far beyond marketing. That realization is what led to the creation of Montessori Thrive."
Kasim
Montessori Thrive Team
"Working side by side with Heads of School has made one thing incredibly clear to me: many leaders spend so much time managing the operational side of running the school that they have very little time or energy left for the work that inspired them to open the school in the first place."
Natalia
Montessori Thrive Team
"Owning multiple schools taught me that educational excellence alone is not enough. Schools succeed or fail based on dozens of operational systems most founders never anticipated needing to manage. The work happening outside the classroom often determines what becomes possible inside it."
Matt Hillis
Montessori Thrive Team
Not a consultant who hands you a report. A partner who does the work with you.
It starts with your Clarity & Action Plan.
Before recommending anything, We take the time to understand where your school actually is — your numbers, your culture, your enrollment, your staffing, your history. The Clarity & Action Plan maps exactly where things stand and what to work on first. No canned answers, no one-size-fits-all.
Your PA does the work with you so you're not alone.
Not a report dropped in your inbox. A real person working alongside your school with you — hands-on where you need execution, advisory where you need to learn or brainstorm solutions, available when things come up between meetings.
Your PA stays as long as they're useful to you.
Some schools need intensive support for a few months. Some want an ongoing partner for years. We don't lock you into anything that doesn't fit. The engagement looks like what your school actually needs for as long as you need the support.
Donna built the Blueprint from experience. The team makes it real for your school.
Montessori Thrive exists because Donna lived every stage of the journey your school is on — and learned what most leaders are still figuring out alone: how to run every system a school depends on, from enrollment to finances to staffing to facilities, without a roadmap and without support.
What she saw was that schools didn't need an executive assistant, and they didn't need someone to run their marketing. They needed someone who could look at the whole school and help put every system in place. So she built it — the Thrive Blueprint, the ThriveKit software, and the trained administrators who bring it into your school.
But she knew it couldn't rest on one person. So she brought together a team — administrators who've managed school offices, teachers who've seen leadership strain from inside the classroom, PAs who work alongside Heads of School every day, and operations professionals who know what breaks and why. The lived experience is Donna's. The expertise is institutional.
Found Montessori through a phone book
Enrolled her son in an AMI school in Charlotte, NC — and within six months, knew she'd found something extraordinary.
This is where it started — a parent who became a teacher who became a founder.
Became an AMI-certified teacher
Completed primary training in Atlanta while managing two kids, a long commute, and a traveling husband.
The classroom foundation behind the Strategic Leadership pillar.
Opened her own school
Four students, a converted house in Phoenix, and a classroom in the living room.
Four students, a converted house, and every operational challenge at once. The Operations pillar started here.
Built it for 24 years
Two primary classrooms, a toddler program, 18 languages represented, natural playgrounds, and a school that became a community.
Enrollment, staffing, financial management, governance, community, facilities — every pillar in the Blueprint was forged during these years.
Sold the school
A painful ending that made the mission behind Montessori Thrive undeniable.
The painful ending that created the Legacy pillar — because what happens after a founder leaves matters.
Founded Montessori Thrive
Because no school leader should have to figure all of this out alone.
Every lesson, every failure, every system — turned into the Blueprint so other school leaders don't have to learn it the hard way.
"I’ve been in your shoes. I know the journey. That’s why Montessori Thrive was built to help school leaders thrive."
— Donna
The team Donna brought together
Montessori Thrive was never meant to run on one person's experience. Donna built the team that turns the Blueprint into real support for your school — client partners, administrators, and specialists who've worked inside and alongside Montessori schools at every stage.
Leadership
Donna D'Hoostelaere
CEO
Elizabeth DeMoulin
COO
EXECUTIVE TEAM
María Victoria Vidal
FAVE FOOD: Pizza
"When the back-end runs well, the school runs well — and so does the classroom. That's the work."
Manuel Canencio
FAVE FOOD: Homemade food
"I love meaningful work — building the systems and structures that help the team and our schools grow."
CLIENT TEAM
Gabriela Carolina León Luna
FAVE FOOD: Burrata
"I believe in the mission and values — and I love the people and the environment I work in."
Lucía Torres
FAVE FOOD: Pasta, any shape
"A growing company that trusts its people with real autonomy and responsibility — I value learning from every teammate, client, and challenge."
Nina De Rosa
FAVE FOOD: Pasta with seafood
"Helping school leaders get their time back so they can focus on the children, their staff, and their communities."
Natalia Ramirez
FAVE FOOD: Italian & Asian
"As a mother of two, protecting what matters most resonates — we give school leaders back the freedom to focus on their purpose."
Marisabel Vásquez
FAVE FOOD: Sushi & pasta
"We're working toward something bigger than ourselves, with a team that genuinely cares about making a difference."
June Nair
FAVE FOOD: Biryani
"A chance to combine my experience and passion for education with work that helps shape future generations."
Micel Aragoncillo
FAVE FOOD: Beef Kare Kare
"Meaningful impact, room to grow, and the flexibility to spend quality time with my family."
Anthony Mahonry Lozano Martinez
FAVE FOOD: Baleadas
"Every day I get to support schools, build real relationships with clients, and grow alongside a dedicated team."
Dunkan Fernandez
FAVE FOOD: Pizza & Pique Macho
"I use my engineering background to organize the thousand hats school leaders wear, so they can breathe easier and lead better."
COMMUNITY TEAM
Deanah Potgieter
FAVE FOOD: Beetroot hummus salad
"I grew up in Montessori and moved from the classroom to school support — supporting schools is the best way to scale this pedagogy's impact."
Ashu Dutta
FAVE FOOD: South Indian & Indo-Chinese
"Nearly five years in, it's the culture and the people that keep me — a team that shows up for each other across the world."
Camila Campuzano
FAVE FOOD: Sushi
"I grew up a Montessori student and worked alongside my mother at a Montessori school — helping Heads of School lighten their load feels deeply personal."
TECH TEAM
Julia Halloran-Neumann
FAVE FOOD: Tacos
"As a former Primary Guide, I love taking administrative burden off Montessori leaders so they can focus on staff and children."
Jose Lezama
FAVE FOOD: Pabellón
"I build the digital infrastructure that keeps everything running so great content actually reaches the schools that need it."
Florencia Rullo
FAVE FOOD: Spaghetti bolognese
"I love how design can improve and elevate education — and MT treats every school with love and respect."
Gabriel Isaac Salas
FAVE FOOD: Sisig
"I help schools share their stories and reach more families — every project has a purpose."
Zariab Chinoy
FAVE FOOD: Chicken Dhansak
"I stayed for the culture — a place that respects people's personal lives and means it."
Muzammil Ahsan
FAVE FOOD: Biryani
"I help Montessori schools strengthen their online presence so more families can find the right learning environment for their children."
Gomaa Maghib
FAVE FOOD: Seafood
"I enjoy using technology to help schools run more efficiently and give families a better experience."
Let's talk about what your school needs next.
Start with a free Curiosity Call — 30 minutes, no pitch, just an honest conversation.
Or go straight to a Clarity & Action Plan if you're ready for a clear picture of where things stand.