What Happens After Montessori School?
Graduate success is often a principal concern for those new to the Montessori Method. Some find it difficult to imagine how mixed-aged classrooms and unique learning materials could ever match the rigor of a traditional educational environment. Others have come to Montessori by way of famous graduates like Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and expect the same stratospheric success for their children.
On this page, we hope to provide you with an accurate picture of a Montessori graduate by exploring outcomes, charting academic trajectories, and sharing the stories of a wide variety of WMS alumni.
Portrait of a Washington Montessori Graduate
Dr. Maria Montessori instructed educators to “Follow the child,” and this idea is the foundation on which Montessori classroom environments are built. Students are encouraged to choose their schoolwork, explore their interests, and cultivate their curiosity. This freedom of choice does not lead to chaos in the classroom, but rather empowers students to develop their faculties of awareness, accountability, self-discipline, social-emotional intelligence, and communal responsibility. What they are intellectually drawn to may vary, but how Montessori students are taught to learn leaves graduates with a measurable impression.
Since 1965, Washington Montessori School has sent graduates out into an ever-changing world with a strong sense of our school values:
Independence. Belonging. Purpose.
Let’s take a closer look at how these values emerge in our students after they graduate from WMS.
Where do WMS students go after graduating?
Washington Montessori School has gained a reputation for graduating students who are self-motivated, confident, and curious thinkers, well-prepared to take on the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
WMS alumni have attended a wide range of high schools, including the following:



























WMS Student Outcomes
Over the school’s 60-year history, we have received extensive feedback about our graduates from secondary school educators across New England, and we consistently hear the same things about our students.
Habits of mind
Though academic interests and strengths vary by student, WMS graduates are unilaterally appreciated for their approach to learning. Our students have a reputation for taking pride in being prepared, organized, and accountable — and finding joy in creativity, innovation, and self-expression. They are known to think critically, analytically, and deeply. They are collaborative and proactively seek assistance. They understand learning continues beyond the classroom and are tenacious in pursuit of improvement. As one high school educator put it, “WMS students have strong habits of mind. They don’t see their education as transactional.”
Unique interests
For many of the high school educators we’ve spoken to, the most notable feature of WMS graduates is the passion they have for their varied interests. Our curriculum includes a broad range of experiential learning opportunities, specials, and extracurriculars designed to cultivate an early appreciation for art, athletics, movement, music, outdoor adventure, and theatre. We routinely graduate students destined for the stage, committed to playing varsity sports, or pursuing more niche passions — like regenerative gardening!
Social-emotional intelligence
Our students are also singled out for their advanced social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. They are often described as being more self-aware and empathetic than their peers. They are praised for their strong communication skills, leadership, and collaboration. They are thoughtful and resilient in the face of challenges. They have a deep respect for community and make decisions that prioritize the good of the group. They understand, based on deep experience, that they have space and energy to thrive as individuals because of the health of the community as a whole.
Webinar: The Benefits and Strengths of a WMS Education
WMS graduates students prepared to succeed in an ever-changing world, but you don’t need to take our word for it! Check out this webinar, featuring educators and alumni, discussing the strengths of a WMS education:
Washington Montessori Graduates in College and Beyond
WMS graduates who choose to attend higher educational institutions have thrived at a broad range of colleges and universities (*recruited student-athlete):
- American University
- Barnard
- Bates
- Bentley
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Brown
- Bucknell
- Chapman
- Colby
- College of Charleston
- Columbia
- Colorado College
- CU Boulder
- Cornell
- Dartmouth
- Dickinson
- Drexel
- Emerson
- Georgetown
- George Washington
- Hamilton
- Haverford
- Hobart William Smith*
- Hofstra
- Howard University
- Iona
- Kalamazoo
- Kenyon
- Lafayette
- Michigan State
- Middlebury*
- Mount Holyoke
- Northeastern
- Northwestern
- Notre Dame
- NYU – Tisch
- Oxford
- Princeton
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Saint Andrews
- Skidmore
- Smith
- Stanford
- Syracuse
- Trinity
- Tulane
- Tufts
- University of Chicago
- University of Connecticut
- Union
- University of Miami
- University of Mississippi
- UNC – Chapel Hill
- University of Pennsylvania*
- University of Rochester
- University of Vermont
- University of Washington, Saint Louis
- University of Wisconsin
- University of Southern CA
- Vassar
- Villanova
- WPI
- Yale
- Wellesley
- Wesleyan*
- Williams*
Other graduates have followed their interests into trades or along more entrepreneurial paths.
Increasingly, we have also seen WMS graduates returning to campus to rejoin our community as parents, trustees, and faculty members. Currently, five members of the WMS faculty, and two members of the Board of Trustees, are WMS alumni.
What kind of careers do Montessori graduates have?
Our alumni have found success in the arts, business, education, journalism, law, medicine, technology, writing, and many other careers and vocations. You can read some of their stories below.

Alumni News | Rebecca McMackin (‘91), TED Talk: “Let Your Garden Grow Wild”
Renowned ecological horticulturist, and WMS graduate and parent, Rebecca McMackin recently delivered an impassioned TED Talk about the importance of letting your garden thrive with native plants, or in her words, “grow wild.”

Alumni Spotlight | Courtney & Ashley
In our years since graduating from WMS we continued our education together at Loomis Chaffee. Our bond as sisters grew with Courtney helping Ashley with living away from home as

Alumni Spotlight | Betty Gilpin ’00
As an actor approaching a scene, you’re supposed to look at the given circumstances. It’s winter, I’m an astronaut, my neighbor is trying to murder my cat. You then specify

Alumni Spotlight | Zach Bernard ’95
I imagine the Washington Montessori School leaves a lasting effect on the lives of all its alumni, but the role of my WMS education has shaped my life perhaps more

Alumni Spotlight | Eli Rabinowitz ’95
I have been fortunate to work in an industry allowing me to have a great positive impact on people’s lives. I have helped individuals and families plan for their futures

Alumni Spotlight | Cyrus Read ’94
I have been at the AVO for about five years now. My title here is Geophysicist, but my day-to-day duties are more engineering-oriented than geology or physics-based. Along with two

Alumni Spotlight | Ryan Sager ’93
I’ve never considered it a coincidence that a good deal of my career to date has been spent in start-up environments. My earliest journalistic endeavor, aside from whispering to classmates

Alumni Spotlight | Dan Oneglia ’91
When asked to contribute a “where am I now” piece to On Circle reflecting on how where I am today might have been a result of my time at WMS,

Alumni Spotlight | Ronan Farrow ’00
Ronan began at Washington Montessori School when he was 6 years old as a 2nd year in a lower elementary classroom. He had transferred from Metropolitan Montessori in New York,

Alumni Spotlight | Rebecca Couto ’93
While I have settled far from Connecticut, WMS teachings remain inside of me, always accessible. The school’s fostering of my curiosity, openness, fairness, and resourcefulness has defined my life and

Alumni Spotlight | Dawn Hurley ’91
Last year I wrote a book. It is called “the place between our fears”. Ironically, it was written just before the pandemic. Just before we, collectively, came to reside in

Alumni Spotlight | Patrick Dorton ’82
I have had a front row seat at WMS for as long as I can remember as one of the first graduates and as Pat’s son. I live in Washington,

Alumni Spotlight | Mandy Risley ’86
Choosing a career in Naturopathic Medicine was not an obvious choice for me at a young age or even as a college student. It wasn’t until a couple of years

Alumni Spotlight | Laura Martin ’86
I can still hear my mother telling the story of why she and my dad decided to send me to Washington Montessori. She would pick me up from preschool and