The Elementary Program

Our elementary classes are available for students 6 to 12 years old, in what are traditionally 1st through 6th grades. Early care is available beginning at 7:30am. Most students arrive between 8:15 and 8:30. The school day ends at 3:15. For those families who need a later pick-up, the elementary late-day program is available until 5:45pm.

Elementary classes generally have between 25 and 30 students and two Montessori teachers. 6 to 9 year olds are the students in our three lower elementary classes. The upper elementary class provides a home for our 9 to 12 year old students.

In addition to work within their classrooms, elementary students participate in Art, Spanish, PE, and singing or choir classes with specialists. They also go out of the classroom on field trips, which may be planned by the teacher or by the students themselves. Third year and upper elementary students also participate in overnight trips.

Elementary students have opportunities to participate in after school activities. Currently, the Montessori Community School offers chess club, jazz dancing, soccer, recorder ensemble, and art studies. Piano lessons can be contracted separately with your music teacher.

The Elementary Curriculum
Around the age of six, children move into a new stage of development. They become interested in the larger world. Therefore a new focus of education is required to satisfy the changing needs and characteristics of these students. Dr. Montessori developed an integrated curriculum that she called Cosmic Education.

Cosmic Education is an umbrella term for a way of learning and teaching that leads to interdisciplinary knowledge, the development of ecological behavior, social responsibility, and harmonious interaction between people. The universe becomes the basis of the curriculum, hence the use of the term Cosmic. The backbone of the curriculum is a set of five stories called The Great Lessons. These stories provide the child with a vision of the world and her place within it. They span the universe from its origin to the arrival of humans. The stories are told with a sense of awe and accompanied by impressionistic charts, experiments, or timelines. The stories are meant to spark the children's imaginations and sense of wonder. They also suggest a level of gratitude and sentiment for the wondrous way that nature works.

After these introductory stories, students are given lessons that will expose them to the fundamentals. Students are also strongly encouraged to follow their own interests further. All students leave the program with a strong base in language arts, mathematics, geometry, science, history, botony, geography, and the fine arts. They also have a sense of what interests them and seeds of knowledge that may later develop into deeper interests.

In addition to the reading and writing skills honed through independent research, the Elementary Curriculum includes a sequence of lessons and skills in math, geometry, writing, reading, and grammar. Many of the lessons at the elementary level can be given to a small group since elementary students often prefer to work with a friend or group of buddies. Students typically have some spelling and free reading to do at home - this is the beginning of learning the skills of being responsible for "homework". The responsibilities for work completed outside the classroom are greater in Upper Elementary.

View the Elementary Program Overview as a web page. The Elementary Program Overview as a .pdf document may be viewed or printed here.

"The leadership development
has been wonderful,
and something reqlly unique
about Montessori."

"The coursework is challenging, educational,
and rewarding." - current parent
February, 2009.

"My child is excited about coming to school
every day."