A Small Favor

Friends, I have a small favor to ask of you. I don’t do this often. I’ve actually only done it once before, but a wonderful place I care about has a big need, and I am praying you can help me meet it.

You see, seven years ago, there was a shooting in my neighborhood. There have been shootings before, and there have been shootings since. There have been at least two since we moved here in January. Shootings, unfortunately, happen often here in LaBelle, one of Ohio’s poorest neighborhoods, where the poverty rate is more than twice the national average and where the opioid crisis has ravaged home after home. Nearly all the shootings are gang or drug related. Most involve children not old enough to vote.

All the shootings are tragic. All have upended someone’s world. But the shooting seven years ago was different in one way.

At the time, my friends Tom and Noëlle Crowe had recently married. (Some of you might know them as the hosts of the American Catholic History Podcast). The Crowes were living here, in Steubenville’s LaBelle neighborhood, when the shooting occurred. A child died. It was horrific. And Noëlle wanted to move. She wanted nothing to do with the neighborhood or with Steubenville. Tom felt differently. He had lived in LaBelle for over a decade and knew there was more to it than poverty and crime. There were good families and a strong community. He argued for staying. Noëlle agreed—on one condition.

“If we’re going to stay,” she said, “then we’re going to do something to help change this place.”

What she wanted to do was start a school—a private Montessori school that would offer a life-changing education to the children of LaBelle at a price they could afford, even if that price was nothing.

Research has shown that low-income students benefit disproportionately from a Montessori education. More than other schools, Montessori schools help students living in poverty “catch up” with their wealthier peers. Despite that, relatively few Montessori schools operate in low-income neighborhoods, and most students who attend Montessori schools come from wealthy backgrounds. Noëlle was determined to change that—at least in Steubenville.

So, six years ago, in the middle of Labelle, Hilltop Montessori School opened its doors. It began as just a half day school serving children ages three to six. After Covid, it expanded to a full day program. Then, in 2022, it expanded to include an elementary program. This fall, it will expand even further to include a toddler program. All together, the three schools currently serve about 40 students from LaBelle and surrounding neighborhoods.

The school is run by Tom and Noëlle, who both trained at the American Montessori International school (AMI) in Arizona. In the Montessori world, having AMI certified guides is considered the gold standard for Montessori education. Typically, tuition at a full day Montessori school run by AMI guides would start at $13,000. But not at Hilltop. There, not only is tuition half the national average, but significant reductions are given to families who need it. And almost every family needs it. Only a few families pay full tuition. Most pay far less. Some pay almost nothing.

There is no scholarship pool that funds those scholarships. Hilltop is a small school, in a poor neighborhood, in a poor city. It receives no aid from the government and no aid from the diocese or local parishes. It has no staff for fundraising. Its families do not have deep pockets or relatives with deep pockets. When tuition is reduced it simply means the school takes in less money. And sometimes that means Tom and Noëlle—who typically work 12-hour days for the school, teaching and administering and caring for the buildings and grounds—go without pay.

Last spring, both Toby and Becket attended Hilltop. This fall, Ellie will join them. Hilltop has been such a tremendous blessing to my family, so I want to do what I can to help take a little pressure off their budget by asking for your help with one simple need: their materials budget.

Between starting the Elementary Program and the Toddler Program (as well as the usual wear and tear of preschoolers in the Primary Program), Hilltop needs about $10,000 in new materials for the classrooms. Some of these materials cost a few dollars. Some cost a few hundred. But, if every person who subscribes to this newsletter and reads it each week gives $1, we could clear their entire material list for the 2024-2025 school year.

I know the vast majority of you have no personal connection to this school. I know it’s not in your town or your neighborhood. I know money is tight and many of you are funding material budgets of your own. But this school can only continue to serve children in this community if people outside the community help.

Hilltop is doing such good work in a part of the country that has been forgotten by so many. It is making a difference in a neighborhood where even many locals don’t want to go. And I am praying, as a small favor to me, that you can spare a few dollars to help them.

Again, your help can be as small as a donation of a few dollars to the material budget. Or it can be as big as purchasing an item for them from one of their material lists. All the instructions for giving or purchasing are detailed here. All gifts made directly to the school or purchases made for the school are tax-deductible.

Again, I know times are tough. I know even $2 is a sacrifice for some of you. But I would so dearly love to see this community help Tom and Noëlle. They do so much for their students—more than most parents at the school realize. They’ve dedicated their whole life to this school and this neighborhood. Like Chris and me, they married later in life and were not able to have children. So, instead, they’ve poured themselves out for the children in Steubenville. My prayer is that all of us here, in this little Substack community, can thank them for that, by taking the worry of buying materials for this school year off their plate.

Thank you for reading this letter. And thank you for anything you are able to give.

Blessings,

Emily

P.S. To buy one of the materials on their list, go here. To contribute directly to the material budget, click here. (Alternately, if you don’t have Zelle, and want to avoid credit card fees, you can Venmo me @Emily-Chapman-33, and I will give it directly to Tom and Noelle on your behalf)

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