Wildflower Schools, a network of decentralized "shopfront" Montessori schools, began in 2014, when Sep Kamvar, a MIT Media Lab professor, was unable to find a preschool for his son that fit his needs, and ended up partnering with two veteran Montessori educators, Mary Rockett and Katelyn Shore, to start a school. Wildflower's work is guided by nine principles--one of them, innovation, directly brings in technology in a way not often seen in Montessori schools. Wildflower Early Childhood classrooms are engaged in a pilot program that employs two kinds of technologies to aid in observation. First, video cameras are placed high on the walls. Second, students carry small location sensors, each about the size of a half dollar, usually either in a pocket (teachers) or attached to indoor shoes (students). Working in tandem, the video cameras and sensors can gather very specific data about what materials students are engaging with (and for how long), which students are spending time together socially, where students tend to congregate during different times of day, etc. All these bits of data provide a snapshot of what each child is up to each day, which, when combined with teacher observation, can be immensely helpful. [This article was written by Montessori Life Staff.]