Montessori Education

A Montessori education offers an experience designed to meet your child's potential. The environment is purposefully designed to meet each child's developmental needs. Adults are rigorously trained to observe and put children in touch with exactly what they need to learn.

The traditional model of education was designed during the industrial revolution, when the masses moved into urban areas to work in factories. They created an effective method of training the following generations of factory workers. Children were instructed to memorize facts, to stop working when the bell rings, to sit in neat rows of desks, and to ask for permission to move. In the current model of how we work today, it's no longer relevant.

Today, successful people work on projects and in community with each other. They are rewarded for creating things and blazing new trails. Adults are expected to adapt quickly to change within their profession, their community, and the world. AMI-accredited Montessori programs offer a research-based method of education proven to develop some of the brightest minds of our times. At Arbor Montessori School, we work diligently to provide a positive and formative educational experience that will serve a child now and for the rest of their life.

What is Montessori Education?

At its core, a Montessori education allows each child to develop fully into the person they are destined to be. As a parent, you make every effort to ensure your child feels secure and well-adjusted. Arbor's faculty and staff work diligently to ensure the environment, the teachers, and the community meets your child’s needs at each step in their educational journey.

It is the Montessori teacher who pays close attention to your child, fosters a trusting relationship—an educational partnership—where they trust their teacher understands and respects them. Now, more than ever, the world needs critical thinkers, entrepreneurs, and advocates. A Montessori education prepares children to take on the future, propelled by the gift of self-knowledge and a lifelong passion for learning.

A Commitment to Montessori Excellence

Want to know more about an authentic Montessori education? Read more about the importance of Association Montessori International (AMI) accreditation and frequently asked questions about the Montessori method.

Why Families Choose a Montessori School

Selecting A Montessori School

The term “Montessori” was never trademarked; any school can claim to make use of the educational method. Two main groups train teachers and accredit schools in the United States: the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), founded by Dr. Montessori herself and directed from the Netherlands (with a national branch office in Rochester, New York), and the American Montessori Society (AMS), headquartered in New York City.

AMI teacher training is rigorous, requiring a full academic year or three summers, the inspection of student-written teaching albums, and several days of oral and written exams. AMI offers diplomas for teaching children from infancy to adolescence. A limited number of teachers complete the training each year and are in high demand around the country and the world.

Arbor Montessori School has maintained AMI accreditation since our doors opened in 1970, and remains committed to Montessori excellence through the training of its faculty and staff.

Our head of school and curriculum coordinators are all AMI trained. In addition to their college degrees, all lead teachers from the Toddler through Elementary level hold diplomas from the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). All Adolescent Program lead teachers hold an AMI diploma or a comparable AMI-certified training. In cases where a Montessori training center is associated with a university, a master’s degree can be earned in conjunction with the Montessori diploma. Even when this is not so, the Montessori training is the equivalent of master’s degree coursework.

As we look to the development of future faculty, many of our classroom assistants are currently enrolled in AMI training courses or have earned AMI credentials. Arbor maintains an extraordinary commitment to AMI teacher training and the continuation of lifelong learning by sponsoring the cost of AMI training for staff and by supporting ongoing professional development through the philanthropy of Arbor's parent community.

Frequently Asked Questions About Montessori Education

The number of Montessori schools in the U.S. continues to grow. Key Montessori ideas are also being integrated into many public schools and universities. Along with growing interest and acceptance, there are questions and even some misconceptions about Montessori education. Here are some of the questions we hear most often.

Isn't Montessori just for preschool aged children?

Montessori schools are usually best known for their programs with young children, but Montessori programs have been designed to support and educate students from infancy to high school. At Arbor Montessori School, students experience a daily joy in learning that they never outgrow. They undertake ambitious studies of their own initiative, show immense pride at the completion of a new task or project, and ask eagerly to be tested on what they have learned. This love of learning follows them through life, leading them to meaningful educational paths and careers.

Are Montessori students free to do what they want in the classroom? How do you ensure a well-rounded education?

Where are all the desks? Where do Montessori teachers stand and teach?

The arrangement of a Montessori classroom mirrors the method’s differences from traditional education. Instead of putting the teacher at the focal point of the class, every classroom is designed with a child-centered approach. Children work at tables or on floor mats where they can spread out their materials, and the teacher circulates through the room, giving presentations and providing support to resolve issues as they arise.

Are Montessori schools as academically rigorous as other schools?

If you don't give grades, how do you measure academic performance?

Parents of children at all levels meet at least twice a year in conference with their children’s teachers to learn more about classroom work and behavior. Classroom teachers in all levels keep extensive records of presentations given and work practiced, and also offer the benefit of their individualized observations of the child’s work in the classroom. In the Adolescent Program, the student and their advisory teacher work together to track and present their mastery in subjects directly to their parents.

Is it true there is no homework at Montessori schools?

At Arbor, education is experiential and hands-on. Children work with specially designed materials in the classroom before learning abstract pencil-and-paper methods. As students grow into elementary and middle school, written resources make more and more appearances in the form of novels or reference books. Students do their own research instead of relying on a single textbook’s descriptions. Homework shows a similar progression, from none at the Primary or Elementary classrooms, and increasing as a student's ability and maturity warrant during their middle school years.

How do sports and extracurriculars factor into Montessori education?

How do Montessori graduates perform after they graduate?

The world of modern education and business favors creative thinkers who combine personal initiative and strong collaborative skills. These are exactly the characteristics a Montessori education nurtures. Cultural icons from Julia Child to the founders of Google have spoken about how their childhood experiences in Montessori gave them not only the ability to work cooperatively in existing settings, but also the skills of confidence, integrity, creativity, and perseverance to innovate and break new ground.

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