Tom Crowe
Co-Founder, Secretary of the Board, Elementary Guide
Tom Crowe has lived in the Labelle neighborhood of Steubenville since May 2008. He has been involved in non-profit, mission-oriented organizations dedicated to helping people improve their lives his entire professional life. After he and Noëlle were married in 2017 he learned more about the Montessori method and its underlying philosophy and recognized that it had significant potential to aid what ails the society around him. He and Noëlle founded Hilltop Children’s House in 2017, with the Primary Program opening in fall 2018. Since the founding, Tom has served as a member of the Board and in various executive roles and other capacities, including maintenance, fundraising, digital communications, and as assistant to the guide in the Primary Program. Since fall 2022 he has been the Elementary Guide.
Tom holds an AMI Elementary Diploma from the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies. He also has completed the AMI Primary Certificate, also from SIMS.
Noëlle Crowe
Co-Founder, School Director, Member of the Board (Ex-Officio), Primary Guide
Noëlle Crowe earned her bachelor’s degree from Franciscan University in 1995 and then lived in the Labelle neighborhood of Steubenville for two years while she was earning her MBA, also at FUS. She then left Steubenville to work in education and as a director of catechesis, including at the diocesan level. She moved back in 2016 ahead of her marriage to Tom Crowe. She is trained in all three levels of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is the Montessori method applied to religious education. From that foundation she sought other opportunities to bring the Montessori method to others who could benefit from it. After she and Tom were married in 2017 this manifested in establishing Hilltop Montessori School to bring a Montessori program to the families of the Labelle neighborhood, where many families are struggling. Since Hilltop Montessori School opened in, 2018 Noëlle has served as the guide in the Primary Program, as director of the school, and in administrative roles including bookkeeping, HR, fundraising, marketing and more.
Noëlle holds an AMI Primary diploma from the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies.
Members of the Board of Trustees
Paul Crowe
Vice Chair of the Board
Paul Crowe is the founder and former president of Crowe’s Cabinets, Inc. He is a past member of Rotary Club of Hubbard, Ohio, and has extensive experience as a volunteer on community projects and with organizations in which he is involved.
Robert Corzine
Treasurer
Robert Corzine lived in the Labelle neighborhood of Steubenville from 2003 to 2021, and still works in education in Steubenville. He is a charter member of the Board of Hilltop Children’s House, and served as chairman of the Board between our founding in 2017 and 2023.
John Tuttle
Chair of the Board
John Tuttle, an attorney who lives in Michigan, has a keen interest in the education of children and provides insights from his legal training and experience.
Christopher Chapman
Ex-Officio as President of HSA
Christopher Chapman has been an educator for 30 years, spending the last 6 years working in Pittsburgh Catholic Schools as a teacher in the classroom and the previous 12 as an administrator responsible for Catholic Identity in the Pittsburgh diocesan schools. Prior to that he was a religion teacher in Central PA and in Greenville, SC. He and his wife, Emily, have three children at Hilltop Montessori School.
“I love the Montessori method of education. I love the formation of the child in a setting of friendship and freedom. We specifically love the absolute dedication exhibited by Tom, Noelle, Lucy, Rebecca, Jack, and Brook. It is a loving and challenging little world at Hilltop and we are deeply grateful that our children are part of it.”