Montessori School of Duluth

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Montessori education is based on the belief that learning results from the hands and the mind working together. The interest of the child is the touchstone of self-motivated, lifelong learning. Montessori School of Duluth provides quality eduction to the children of Minnesota's Twin Ports area, following this philosophy.

A Montessori classroom has child-sized furnishings, attractively arranged materials for independent work, carefully sequenced activities for math, science, and language, and lots of area for work on the floor. Children move around and converse as they work together.

Sometimes the children work alone, sometimes in small groups. Teachers give presentations to individuals as they are needed. Many and varied outlets for creative expression and sharing of each child's interests are provided.

Classroom teachers also prepare musically centered celebrations with families during the year. Music, recreation, and art are integrated into the week's activities.

The school emphasizes international understanding and cultural sharing, as well. All the children study French, for example.

The outdoor school grounds are used extensively, with equipment for different ages and areas for nature study, agriculture, summer fort building, and winter fun.

Please phone us for our information package and to request a school visit. Parents of infants and toddlers are encouraged to research Montessori now so when their children are ready for preschool -- at around three years of age -- there will be a place for them. For more information on the Montessori method, visit Association Montessori Internationale, AMI/USA, North American Montessori Teachers' Association, Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, and The Montessori Method.

The Montessori School of Duluth started as the Montessori Elementary School -- the first private, independent, nondenominational elementary school in the history of Duluth -- founded in 1981 by Anne & Al Nephew to serve fifteen students graduating from a Montessori Children's House. The elementary classroom, originally located on Park Point, was taught by Anne who earned her AMI elementary diploma in Dublin, Ireland, her teaching license from St. Scholastica College and her MA from the University of Minnesota.

The school was incorporated as the Montessori School of Duluth, Inc., a not-for-profit tax exempt corporation, in 1982. In 1983 it added the preschool Montessori program and moved to the Cathedral (now Marshall) High School campus.

In 1991 the school purchased property in Hunter's Park, a beautiful residential neighborhood in eastern Duluth. The new wing of the school was designed for small children, with spacious classrooms, kitchen, library, and playrooms. The outdoor areas were developed with shady fenced pre-school play areas, raised bed gardens for flowers, fruits, and vegetables, and areas for older students.

By 2009 an enlargement and remodeling project was completed in the Early and Late Care area and the elementary school areas.

The school, located just off Oxford Street, is convenient to downtown and the colleges. Children from every neighborhood in Duluth and from Superior, Proctor, Esko, and Hermantown have attended. Children age five and over, living in the Duluth school district, qualify for district bus transportation.

1. Parents are mailed a current information package upon request. It contains the school brochure, a visiting schedule, current costs, and notices of Montessori study evenings.

3. Prospective families are invited to attend a Montessori study evening. They are held in the fall, winter, and spring.

4. Families submit an application form with the $50 application fee. This puts the child on our waiting list. We recommend doing this a year or two before the child is eligible. Openings are usually for children turning three by September 1st.

5. An interview with the child, Montessori teacher, and parent is arranged. This is usually in April or May for fall enrollment.

6. The non-refundable $250 deposit is due upon acceptance, to hold a place in the class for the coming school year. The deposit is credited toward the annual tuition.

8. Our fall classes are usually filled before May, but we have a waiting list should an opening occur during the summer or school year and your child is the proper age.

9. The Montessori School of Duluth, Inc. has no religious affiliation; it welcomes students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, or creed. The school is a non-for-profit corporation, and all donations are tax-deductible.
MONTESSORI ELEMENTARY FEATURES

Children begin a Montessori education early, before they reach four years of age. The fundamentals of writing, reading and math are begun in the years between three and six, following the principles of sensorial education. The foundation for responsible, self-motivated learning is put in place as this child is developing individuality. There is an obvious strong continuity between the early childhood and elementary period of development at the Montessori School of Duluth.
Creative Language Program

In the full day kindergarten program at our school, students blossom in a language program that stresses creative writing, independent reading exercises, free conversation with others and research on subjects of interest to the individual child. This continues into the elementary room where our students enjoy quality literature- fiction and nonfiction, publish a newspaper and literary magazine, present research papers, write and produce plays and enjoy the dialogue and reasoning exercises in the Junior Great Books program.

Firm mathematical development requires that concepts be formed by manipulation of concrete materials. The foundation for math and geometry laid in our two Children's House classrooms results in a love for math operations and work with large numbers. A six-year-old can do long division with the "test tube division" material, seven year olds use a special checkerboard with beads for very long multiplication, and eleven-year-olds do square root and cube root with special apparatus. Our math curriculum is comprehensive and exciting as students are aided in gradually reaching abstraction in all areas during the six years in the elementary room.

Our elementary program has children going outside the classroom for real life experiences before they are given abstract lessons. The cultural and natural features of Duluth and our region are utilized every season with outings at Hawk Ridge, Hartley Nature Center and the Park Point Hiking Trail. An annual all day trip takes us to a performance at The Minneapolis Children's Theatre followed by a visit to a Minnesota History Center, the Science Museum or the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Every spring the older elementary students enjoy a week of outdoor environmental studies at Camp Widjiwagan, near Ely. Summer program students enjoy Square Foot Gardening, creative writing and theatrical arts.

There are no textbooks in Montessori programs. Instead, "the great lessons" are given to children each year. They are the stories of the creation of the universe, the formation of the galaxies and the evolution of our planet from its molten form to the abundant if threatened life forms today. Details are given with timelines of geological eras, the emergence of humankind, the great civilizations, the story of numbers, the story of language, and the history of our country and our state. Choices for independent work flow from this.

Cultural subjects of history, biology and geography are presented in group lessons that appeal to the creative imagination and social sense of the elementary child. The spiritual and physical needs of humans are the focus of research in each specific period of history. Students use objects, picture collections and matching reading material laid out on the floor to help give a visual and emotional grasp of the linear aspect of history. Models of geographic features are constructed of cardboard, salt or clay. A large collection of reference books including encyclopedias permits individual students to follow their research interests.

Life science is rooted in sensorial experiences outdoors and with gardens, aquariums, microscopes and science experiments indoors. Young children develop a large and precise vocabulary in science. Classification activities with plants and animals begin at age five, while ten-year-olds explore the "Chinese Box" of materials for the complete classification of animals; phyla, classes and orders, with anatomical features.

The Montessori elementary program is integrated as well as creative and open-ended. Literature, drama, music, art and creative writing flow from the child's interest in a given subject. For example, one year the children followed a reading of Homer's Odyssey. They attended a reading of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Individual children investigated Greek mythology, geography of the world known to the Greeks of Homer's time, and the history of travel by sea. The students collaborated on a mural portraying episodes of the adventures of Odysseus.

The preschool and kindergarten children focus on the whole world including the many cultures in different environments today. The children aged six to twelve learn the countries and capitals of the world, and comprehend better the news they get in Weekly Reader and other media. All the children study the language and culture of France. They use songs, stories, games, holidays, geography, skits and everyday conversation in their French lessons twice weekly. On alternate years the Russian language has been studied in elementary.

Reports received from parents and teachers throughout our 30 years are that our graduates excel in junior high and enjoy the new challenges in senior high. Many were recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars and Semifinalists and three were Finalists. Our graduates have attended more than fifty colleges and various prestigious graduate schools. They often travel and live abroad. Many have families now and build their careers in business, science areas, education, journalism, human services, and the arts. They often maintain friendships started at Montessori!