08/14/2026
💚🤎 A MESSAGE TO OUR CJM COMMUNITY
Before I talk about this first week, I want to remember where we came from and why we are here.
Cypress Junction Montessori was founded in 2016 by people who believed that children and families in our community deserved access to a high-quality Montessori education. This year marks our 10th year, and that is something worth celebrating.
For the past three years, our staff, leadership, board, families, and community partners have worked together to take that vision to the next level. We believed Winter Haven deserved a beautiful, high-quality Montessori public school accessible to all children and families, and we expanded because we believed in what CJM could become.
We built this together.
And I want to give special recognition to our staff. They have been part of this journey, and since opening our new campus, they have given 150% every single day. They have adapted, problem-solved, and continued putting your children first. I could not be more proud of them.
💚 A Transparent Look at Where We Are
CJM was prepared to open. However, several items that were ordered, contracted, installed, or scheduled have not been completed or delivered on the timeline we were given.
🪑 Furniture was ordered in May, and some remains on backorder.
📚 Curriculum and student devices have been delayed, and our teachers are adjusting with the resources available.
📡 Spectrum/data connections are still not fully complete, affecting our phones, printing, Raptor visitor scanning, and security camera system. We can make outbound calls, but we currently cannot receive incoming calls. We have administrative cell phones, police radios, and a WHPD officer on campus as additional communication and safety support.
💦 Flooding required us to postpone the start of PreK.
🚌 Transportation has presented challenges, including a bus breakdown despite completing summer maintenance and inspections.
🍎 Hot lunch is coming. Our kitchen is being completed with a prep sink, electrical connection, and brand-new equipment. We will begin serving hot meals as soon as it is ready.
🚗 Car line: Our traffic circulation was professionally designed by Kimley-Horn, our civil engineering team. Now that we are operating with our actual student population, we are learning from real traffic patterns and making adjustments. We are also working directly with WHPD to improve safety, efficiency, and keep traffic off surrounding roads.
None of this is what we hoped the first week would look like. But we are not standing still. We are adjusting every day with what we have been given.
💚 Grace & Courtesy
We teach our children that Grace & Courtesy means assuming positive intent, communicating respectfully, solving problems together, and treating others with dignity—even when we are frustrated.
Those values belong to all of us.
Please ask questions. Please share concerns. Please give us ideas. We want to hear you.
And if you want to be part of the solution, come join us. Every CJM family has a 20-hour volunteer expectation, and there are many ways to help us continue building our school community.
I also want you to know that when information is requested from me, I provide it as soon as I have a moment to fully digest it and communicate it accurately and appropriately. I am moving through an enormous number of pieces every day, and I want the information I give you to be information I can stand behind.
💚🤎 WE ARE CJM.
I know this first week has not been perfect.
But I also know what I see every day: a staff that cares deeply, a team that continues to show up, and a community that believes in something special.
Ten years ago, our founders believed in CJM.
Three years ago, we began planning this next chapter together.
Today, we are living that vision.
We built this school together. We expanded together. And we are going to continue building it together.
Thank you for your patience, your grace, your partnership, and for trusting us with your children.
We are CJM. We are a community. And we are just getting started. 💚🤎
Growing into Our New Era,
Dr. Kris Newman-Lake, EdD
Principal & CEO
Cypress Junction Montessori
