We are VdM (at a distance): The Newbold Family

The very best part of Villa di Maria is our people. Our community of families, faculty and staff is something to be proud of and something to hold onto during our school's COVID-19 closure. In this series, We are VdM, we’ll highlight the energies, talents, humor and wisdom of some of our amazing people—and we'll stay connected! Today, we'll meet Katherine, Andy, Emma and Lillian Newbold. Emma joined Mrs. Steinman's Children's House in January of this year.Villa di Maria: Tell us a bit about you and your family.Katherine: Andy and I met at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) our senior year of college. We moved to St. Louis at the beginning of 2007 and have been here ever since. We had Emma in January of 2017 and Emma became a big sister to Lillian in November of last year. We love to be outside, in the summer you can catch us at the pool most weekends. We love to go to the Kirkwood Farmers Market, the Zoo and the Magic House. Our favorite vacation is our annual trip to the beach in August and are really looking forward to going this summer.VdM: How did you find Montessori and what brought you to VdM?Katherine: We were looking for preschools for Emma and a colleague of mine had told me about VdM, his wife had worked there for years and had just retired. We didn’t know a lot about Montessori but once we did the research we were sold. We have enjoyed watching Emma make friends, and really start to learn and be interested in learning.VdM: What do you and your spouse do, career-wise?Katherine: My husband Andy is a Mortgage Branch Manager at First Bank, he is a loan originator as well as a manager to a team of 5 Loan Officers. He has been in the Mortgage business since 2007 when we moved here from Oxford, MS. He has been at First Bank for 3 years, after spending 11 years at PNC.

I work as an HR Specialist at Switch, which is an Experiential Agency. I do recruiting for our corporate hires as well as recruitment for field teams all over the country. I also handle all on-boarding and see the complete employee lifecycle of over 500 Brand Ambassadors out in the field.

VdM: Tell us something your family is doing to make the most of this extended break from school?Katherine: We are trying to all be working in the house at the same time as well and managing a 3 year old and a 4 month old. We are trying to slow down a bit, focus on kindness, cleanliness and just making it through till we are all back to our normal routines! Trying to have some fun too!

VdM: A question specifically for Emma - What's your favorite animal and why?

Katherine: Emma loves Cheetahs because they are super fast!Thank you, Katherine, Andy, Emma and Lillian! We are so glad to have your family as part of the VdM family.Photos courtesy of the Newbold family.