Dear Editor,

The pursuit of happiness requires the freedom to shape your family’s life and strengthen the community around you. In Clifton, Lavender Bee Montessori School leaders Lexi Brown and Megan Gil built a school to make that pursuit possible for so many more families.

School District 51 operates several school locations in Clifton with passionate and loving teachers. Still, Clifton parents lack diverse school options tailored to some children’s unique needs. Until now, eastern Mesa County hasn’t had a PreK–5th grade school that combines exploratory learning with proven methods to nurture a child’s natural curiosity.

Mesa County folks know Megan Gil for her help in opening Cactus Bloom Community School in Grand Junction in 2024, expanding Montessori options across the central valley. Prior to that, she taught with D51 at Clifton Elementary School.

In the fall of 2025, Lexi Brown, a former Bookcliff Middle School teacher, felt called to launch a new school and reached out to Megan to co-found it. Both women knew the enormous sacrifices ahead to create such a unique opportunity for others, sacrifices far beyond the already admirable work teachers do every day.

As micro-school founders, they aren’t endowed with large budgets for staffing. Lexi and Megan fulfill the roles of teacher, principal, administrator and community liaison all at once. After finishing lesson plans, they spend their hours navigating accreditation standards, meeting building codes and talking with parents. Because micro-schools rely on voluntary enrollment, their weekends aren’t spent resting, but building community.

There is no room for ego in the coordination of that many tasks between two loving mothers of young families. These women have welded a deep connection through every challenge they’ve faced together. Lexi and Megan are the very model of community and collaboration we want our children to see.

Seeing what it took to build Lavender Bee reawakens our understanding of what a few individuals are able to accomplish on behalf of so many others in our valley. Ahead of us are countless stories to be told by families about how their child’s love for learning was nurtured at Lavender Bee Montessori. We’ll see futures rewritten simply because children stepped into a school designed with them in mind.

You now have an opportunity to experience and share in this incredible accomplishment. Please join us to celebrate their ribbon-cutting event: evite.me/mACHqbZ9nB.

• Date and time: October 23, 1:45 p.m.
• Location: Lavender Bee Montessori School, 3196 Hill Ave., Grand Junction.
• Details: Snacks, activities for all ages, and open doors for everyone.

– Eric Gil, Grand Junction