Washington Montessori School faculty members are one of our school’s greatest assets. WMS teachers care deeply about children and are committed to helping each child reach his fullest potential. Dedication to the philosophy and pedagogy of Maria Montessori’s method is paramount in serving the needs of children in our school.
One of the hallmarks of a WMS education is the close relationship that develops between faculty, students and families. Since relationships between staff members and children at WMS are very close, our teachers invite students to call them by their first names. Using familiar names at WMS is not only a tradition that dates back to the school’s early years, it is a Montessori values-driven approach that kindles mutual respect between adults and students.
The teachers we’ve experienced at WMS have all been very passionate. It is clear to us that they ‘see’ our children, and are doing everything they can to help them become the best they can be.
There is one Head Teacher and one Associate Teacher in each classroom at the YCC, LS, LE and UE levels. Our Head Teachers are fully trained in Montessori education and our Associate Teachers are either trained in-house as Montessori assistants or hold their Montessori Assistants Certificate.
In Middle School, classes are taught by subject and by individual teachers. While many of our Middle School teachers have completed official Montessori Secondary training, we place more value on professional experience and mindset for our Middle School teachers than on Montessori certification.
Throughout our four oldest levels, the curriculum is enriched by specials, including Art, Music, Theater, Physical Education, Spanish and Latin. The faculty members who teach these subjects are experienced and dedicated experts.
Related Stories
Why Montessori Schools Have Larger Class Sizes
Class size is often an important consideration when selecting the right school for your child. The prevailing understanding is that small classes with low student-teacher ratios indicate a higher quality educational experience, as teachers have more time and attention to devote to each student. This is certainly true of many institutions, but for Montessori schools, it’s quite the opposite; larger class sizes are desirable and indicate a healthy Montessori environment. Why do Montessori schools differ in this regard and how does a larger class size positively affect Montessori students? Let’s explore. The ideal Montessori classroom size Classroom sizes in Montessori schools are typically larger than in other private institutions. In The Child, Society and the World, Maria Montessori wrote, “We consider that in its best condition, the class should have between 28-35 children, but there may be even more in number.” Currently, the American Montessori Society (AMS) recommends class sizes of 20-30 children. At Washington Montessori School, we balance these pedagogical guidelines with the individual needs of each classroom, carefully and intentionally creating uniquely Prepared Environments. Though it may seem counterintuitive at first glance, there are many reasons a Montessori classroom in “its best condition” is larger than a traditional
How Washington Montessori School Approaches Peace Education
How Washington Montessori School Approaches Peace Education At WMS, we are fortunate to be building on Dr. Montessori’s strong foundation of kindness, respect, and unwavering positive regard for each individual child. As we explored in Part 1 of this series, Dr. Montessori’s legacy is the precondition of the ongoing allyship and justice work we do. We teach children how to be aware of, learn about, and eventually understand other people’s experiences and perspectives with lessons designed for each sensitive period of their social-emotional brain development. Teaching peace and justice to children also means that while we ground ourselves in the pathbreaking justice and antibias work of those who came before us, we must also ready our students for today and tomorrow, and prepare them for the challenges of “the times in which they live.” WMS’s mission and core values have been carefully determined to align with the peaceful foundation on which the Montessori pedagogy has been built, and our prepared environments reflect this approach. Peacebuilders at work What does the Montessori vision of peace look like in practice, across the levels? Let’s explore. Peace education in the Young Children’s Community In our toddler classrooms, the Young Children’s Community, we lay
Dr. Maria Montessori’s Vision of Peace Education
Maria Montessori’s Vision of Peace Education How does a Montessori School teach children to create justice in an unjust world? How do we provide an equitable and inclusive learning environment to a diverse group of students when our culture can make that quite difficult? The answer is both simple and complex: we seek each day to reach back to our roots in Montessori philosophy and connect those powerful foundations to the needs of the present day. In our two-part blog series, we will explore Maria Montessori’s radical advocacy for peace education and how the foundations she laid have been refined and advanced in the Montessori classrooms of today. Maria Montessori’s contributions to peace education While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are sometimes seen as an add-on to an independent school education, Montessori pedagogy has focused on equity and inclusion from the start. Dr. Maria Montessori’s first students were children who were marginalized in their home city of Rome, lacking both socioeconomic and social privilege. Dr. Montessori called her revolutionary mission for educational equality the pursuit of Peace and Justice, which became a cornerstone of the Montessori method. “If we are among the men of good will who yearn for
