A Beacon for Montessori Education
Founded in 1970, the mission of Arbor Montessori School is to develop the unique capabilities of each child through supportive relationships, joyful learning, and meaningful work in a Montessori environment. Arbor seeks to foster independence in each child, preparing them to contribute with integrity to the community of the larger world.
Today, Arbor is one of the largest Montessori schools in the Southeast and regarded as a beacon of Montessori education worldwide. The school serves students aged 18 months to 14 years and offers full time, part time, and all-day programs at two Decatur campus locations, and prepares them to go anywhere their interests, dreams, and passions take them.
When you enroll your child at Arbor, you join a true Montessori community: all its members know and live our mission. All business, policies, design, and decisions also serve this mission. Arbor’s parents and teachers benefit from the same Montessori principles of respect and collaboration that guide and govern Arbor classrooms, creating a deep and sincere sense of community, optimism, and pride.
Highly trained faculty inspire their students, encourage independence, foster collaboration and peace education, and create environments that are inviting, intellectually dynamic, and stimulating. Arbor's graduates are well-prepared to continue their educational journey in other highly rated public and independent schools. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), belongs to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).
Founded By Teachers
“From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to be a non-profit school and a teacher-run school. We felt that those two criteria would ensure that our new school would always reflect the educational values that we had learned in our training class. We would never be forced to sacrifice the children’s or the teachers’ experience for the bottom line.” – Betty Litsey, Founder
Experience the Arbor Difference
Go here, then go anywhere.
At Arbor Montessori School we prepare children to go anywhere. Anywhere their interests, dreams, and passions take them.
- We teach them math, science, and language so they can thrive anywhere academically.
- We encourage independence, self-direction and critical reasoning so they have the tools to make good decisions anywhere their life takes them.
- We teach collaboration, cooperation, and peace because we know our children can be agents of change anywhere they go in the world.