Small is Beautiful
Because we are a one-classroom school we can offer families a more personal connection to the staff, the school, and our wonderful community of families. We want to give all our children and parents a feeling of a safe, secure, and welcoming environment.
Our staff is stable and rich in experience
Our one-room classroom boasts two Montessori-trained guides who together have over 35 years of teaching in a Montessori classroom. Our classroom assistant, the newest member of our teaching staff, has worked with children in numerous settings for over 5 years.
Our classroom is child-centered
With three teachers, each child receives truly individual attention and instruction. Almost all lessons are given to a child one-on-one. Therefore lessons and follow-up activities can be tailored to each child’s level, interests, and style of learning.
Our curriculum is based on hands-on learning experiences
We offer a broad range of activities that engage both the hand and the mind: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Geography, Music, Art, and Biology. Movement plays a critical role in all of them.
We have a three to four-year curriculum
Our three- to four-year curriculum ensures that each child is offered activities and materials that meet their developmental needs, nurture their curiosity, and stimulate their imagination. The mix of ages, from 2½ to 6, lends itself to indirect learning and learning through cooperation and collaboration rather than competition. The older children enjoy helping the younger children and the young ones love to observe the activities of the older ones.
Our Montessori classroom is alive with social interactions through which the children learn important socialization skills
Because they are free to move around, the children meet and talk with one another and learn to discuss common problems. They resolve conflicts, answer questions, borrow and lend, and assist each other in many ways. We offer “grace and courtesy” lessons to bring awareness to the specifics of social relations. With the teacher modeling first, children role-play many different scenarios: the proper way to ask a favor, greet someone, invite someone to play, and so on.
Our classroom extends into the outdoors
We spend time in our beautiful established outdoor area every day offering an appealing list of activities – gardening and harvesting activities, woodworking, art projects, movement activities, and music — to name a few.
…and it goes out into the wider world as well
Every year we select three or four countries to focus on during the year usually connected with a timely celebration. The selection is based on countries that relate to our third and fourth-year students’ ethnicities their families’ travels and experiences or a strong interest in a particular culture. Other countries are added to offer a broader picture of the world taking into account the rich variety of customs, religions, foods, geographical features, and wildlife.