A Thank You and a Goodbye to Dr. Lois Horn-Diaz (Miss Beep-Beep)

We are so thankful that we had your support for your first 5 years of retirement, Dr. Beep-Beep, and we wish you well as you continue to support learners in Polk County!

For 5 years, Dr. Beep-Beep has been the heart of our gifted program, and it is hard to put into words everything she has built here. She didn’t just support our gifted students and their families. She created a whole world of enrichment that gave so many more children a way to access an education that challenged and excited them.

She brought Shakespeare to life for kids who might never have encountered it otherwise. She taught video editing skills that let students become storytellers and creators. She ran brain games that made critical thinking fun. She coordinated our very first middle school academic competitions, giving students a chance to test themselves against peers and grow in confidence. Behind the scenes, she mentored our teachers, helping our staff understand and meet the unique needs of children with high intellectual ability. We will feel the ripple effects of her work in our school for years to come. 

The Lords and Ladies of Mi Escuela Montessori dining at their End of Year Celebration, after a year of thematic learning about the Medieval time period.

Dr. Beep Beep joined us after retiring from over 30 years as a Gifted Teacher and School Psychologist with Polk County Schools. Our program, when she joined, was very small, and through her assistance educating our teachers on how to identify and serve students with unique intellectual abilities, we have built a thriving enrichment program. With that came a significant increase in the caseload. 

Last year, she shared her own plan for the future. She wanted to begin stepping back from full time direct service, shifting toward weekly social emotional book clubs and a once a week after school program, while the school worked to hire a full time gifted teacher to take on more of the day to day work. Because she wanted to remain a part of our school community, she submitted a thoughtful plan for this transition.

The many challenges facing our school during this time of transition made it difficult to support the restructuring of enrichment prior to the start of the school year, and Dr. Horn-Diaz made the difficult decision to accept an opportunity making an impact to the broader community in a role that will allow her to enjoy a less demanding work schedule. 

What hasn’t changed is what she means to this school. She has poured years of creativity, care, and expertise into our students, our families, and our staff. Her legacy with us is not going anywhere. We are grateful for everything she gave us, and we hope she knows how much she is valued here.

We wish her every success in this next chapter, and we hope she will stay connected to this community that she helped shape so profoundly. Thank you, Dr. Beep-Beep, for everything.