ABOUT US

Magnolia Montessori Materials is an innovative Northern Virginia company co-founded
by Thea Bartha Rohrbach and Margaret Jarrell.
 

Thea attended Salve Regina University and graduated with a double major in Early Childhood Education and Special Education. Finding that literacy played a major role in education, she went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Reading Education from Boston University in order to better serve her students. She is also credentialed by the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies in lower elementary education. Thea has taught for twelve years at every level from pre-K to eighth grade in both special education and Montessori environments.
   
 
    Margaret attended Duke University and graduated with a degree in Developmental
Psychology. She then obtained a certificate in Computer Graphic Design from OTIS College
and worked as a freelance graphic designer and project manager for a website development
company. After a few years, Margaret decided to change careers and pursue a Master's in
Education from Marymount University. She is also credentialed by the Institute for Advanced
Montessori Studies in lower elementary education. Margaret has taught for ten years in both
public and private schools. She has taught both in Montessori and traditional schools in grades
first through fourth.
   
Why start a new company?
Thea and Margaret were frustrated by the quality of the materials they had been ordering
for their own classrooms. These materials often featured crooked text, no cutting lines, and no
control of error. In addition, they agreed it was hard to find materials at the appropriate reading
levels for lower elementary students. To address these needs, they decided to create Magnolia Montessori Materials.
     

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