Message from the Head of School

Welcome to Montessori Community School where faculty, parents and staff, and children create a village to nurture the minds and hearts of our children.
We educate children according to Dr. Maria Montessori's highest values of community, love of learning, perseverance, and education as an aid to life. The Montessori Community School is accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS) and the National Council for Private School Accreditation.

Montessori Community School is:
...a place to grow;

...a place where indoor classrooms and outdoor campus areas provide children with direct access and anchors to the natural world;

...a place where dedicated highly-trained faculty prepare beautiful, orderly classrooms and skillfully guide each child's progress through the curriculum;

...a place where MCS parents are active partners in their children's education, striving to understand the Montessori method and embrace its principles.

Welcome to our Web site and to our school!
With warm regards,
Dave Carman

Why Montessori?

Never more than now have the children of American needed an approach to education that so clearly:
• Allows each child to recognize and construct a self-image based on real contributions to the community;
• Gears instruction to readiness, allowing each child to progress at his or her optimal rate, with a high level of mastery;
• Engages each child and invites him or her to delve deeply into topics because the children have a lot of control over their use of time during an uninterrupted work cycle;
• Is so clearly academic in its focus; employing carefully designed materials that engage children and produce remarkable skill development;
• Bases each child's evaluation on work produced (as does the workplace); we are about teaching and learning, not testing.
• Values the ability to collaborate, show initiative, and take leadership in appropriate ways and also teaches those leadership skills explicitly;
• Teaches Grace and Courtesy;
• Values Going Out experiences and the important outdoor environments through which initiative and creativity are fostered;
• Trains its practitioners so thoroughly;
• Promotes concept-building and critical thinking through its extensive use of open-ended questions, teacher-student dialogue, the Great Lessons, etc.
• Is based on a curriculum that explicitly teaches “how to learn” so children can become independent learners and, thus, life-long learners.

Sound right for your child? Come visit us and observe.

Learn more about what we mean by the expression "Follow the Child" at MCS.

"I love the Montessori approach to education and believe that it has been of great benefit to my son." - a current parent (February, 2009)

"I value the meeting of needs for each child, the independence, the collaboration among the kids, and the friendly environment" - a current parent, February, 2009.

"The teachers are terrific! They obviously care about the students they are teaching" - a current parent, February, 2009.

"The academics and the tone of daily interaction in the classroom.... The Late Day program is also excellent - a safe and loving environment."

"My child has developed a self-directed work ethic."

"I love the upbeat energy, the genuine care and love and concern - the teachers are amazing and [my son] has been so happy."