Judith Dempsey

Judy Dempsey has been a Montessori educator for 41 years. She has owned and operated Summit-Questa Montessori School in Davie, Florida for the past 26 years. The school serves children from the ages of 18 months through 8th grade. The beautiful 10-acre campus has native habitats, numerous gardens, a wetland preserve, a mini-barnyard, outdoor fields, a gymnasium and two pools. The school is also the site of Summit Montessori Teacher Training Institute, an accredited teacher training center affiliated with the American Montessori Society. Judy is co-director of this training center and has been instrumental in training hundreds of Montessori teachers in the state of Florida since 2003.

As an innovative educator, Judy has served on numerous educational boards in Florida. She held the position of 1st Vice President and Director of Accreditation for five years on the board of the Association of Independent Schools of Florida, a Florida state organization that accredits private schools and recognizes prominent educators. Judy was awarded the 2016-2017 Richard and Dorothy Lear Distinguished Educator of the Year- the highest honor given by the Association of Independent Schools of Florida. This award, named for the founders of the Lear School in Miami, recognizes the distinguished career of Judy Dempsey and her continuous efforts to provide a quality education to the children of South Florida.

Judy is the author of Turning Education Inside Out: Confessions of a Montessori Principal, which is now available world-wide through traditional book retailers. It was an educational bestseller on Amazon. In her informative and engaging bestseller, she details her over 40 years of experience with the Montessori philosophy as a Montessori educator, administrator, school owner, and teacher trainer. She shows the impact that the Montessori experience has on the developing child, clears up misconceptions about exactly what Montessori is, and helps prospective parents determine if Montessori is right for their child.