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Fay Bauling, 100, a 37-year resident of Palo Alto and founder of the U.S. Head Start program, died Nov. 26 in Israel.
She was born Fay Curtis in Chicago. She married accountant Henry Bauling in 1929. They raised two daughters and eventually retired to Palo Alto in 1972.
A kindergarten teacher and authority on early-childhood education, Mrs. Bauling was licensing children’s day care centers for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in the early 1960s when she was asked to review a Montessori school. She was appalled by the rigidly structured program that characterized the Montessori model at that time.
“There was no free play, no music, no storytelling, no sand play, no playground,” she recalled many years later. “The children even had to wash their hands a certain way. It was awful.” Upset that she couldn’t deny the school a license, she resigned her position.
That same day, coincidentally, she heard legendary Chicago radio host Studs Terkel extolling the virtues of Montessori early education on the air. She called the station, angrily told Terkel he didn’t know his topic and demanded equal time. Intrigued, Terkel invited her to the studio for the first of what would be several spirited debates with local Montessori officials.
The radio debates brought her to the attention of the federal officials tasked with implementing Lady Bird Johnson’s idea for a national preschool program, Project Head Start. Bauling was appointed chairman of the nation’s first pilot program. She designed the curriculum around the ideas she had nurtured over a 30-year period — a relaxed atmosphere, free play, music, storytelling and lots of interaction.
She launched the initial Head Start pilot program in Chicago in 1964, and her model was subsequently adopted by the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Johnson administration took Head Start nationwide in 1965 and millions of American children participate to this day.
“She never minded one that only family and friends knew she had changed the lives of generations of American children. It was reward enough for her to see the early childhood education program she designed, founded and named Project Head Start grow to a national institution,” loved ones recall.
She never lost her twin passions for education and literature. She founded several book clubs and conducted a continuing literary lecture series at the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center until she was well into nineties. After turning 100 this year, she moved to Israel to live with her grandson’s family.
She was predeceased by husband Henry (1991) and daughter Sylvia Lipcon (1997).
She is survived by her daughter, Alice (Richard) Stiebel of Palo Alto; younger sister, Rhoda Curtis of Berkeley; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
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It is such a shame that Ms. Bauling had such a deep misunderstanding of Montessori education. This country would be much better served if Montessori was available to low income and at risk preschool children and if Head-Start programs followed the Montessori Method. You can ask families that have access to free or low cost Montessori just what it has done for their children and you will hear positive reactions. Not only does it foster independence and a love of learning in children, but it gives children a loving community and teaches peace. Today the “authorities” on Early Education can point to a growing body of research that supports the Montessori Method. You can learn more by reading “Montessori the Science Behind the Genius” by Angeline Lillard or “Montessori from the Start” by Paula Polk Lillard.
Ms.Langstaff misread the article, it stated that Montesorri program evaluated by Ms. Bauling in the early sixties was too structured. Ms Bauling contributions should be better documented by the Head Start Community, most credit is given to Ed Zeigler as the founder.