○ Grades: 3-year-olds through eighth graders
Prior to switching over to the Montessori curriculum, Gisela Westerkamp’s son was struggling in a public school setting. But, when he found the individualized curriculum at Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy, everything changed, she said.
“Once we switched over to the Montessori school, he just did so much better,” WesterKamp said. “He flourished.”
The difference? WesterKamp chalks it up to the school’s individual learning plan for each student.
“The beautiful thing about Montessori is the fact that there’s no cap on learning,” she said. “If your child is excelling, they will continue to see that, because everyone has an individual learning plan. As a group, they have things they have to accomplish. But if your child is doing fantastic in reading or math, they will continue to challenge them in those areas.”
Individuality is one of the core tenets that sets Montessori education apart, along with self-regulation, freedom, self-assessment, active learning and community.
According to the American Montessori Society’s Montessori Method — practiced at Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy — “given the freedom and support to question, to probe deeply and to make connections, Montessori students become confident, enthusiastic, self-directed learners. They are able to think critically, work collaboratively and act boldly — a skill set for the 21st century.”
So, while there are teachers at the school to guide students’ learning, this curriculum allows students the freedom to set a pace that works for them and lean into academic and extracurricular areas that particularly pique their interest — a curriculum that follows the child.
Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy is that many of its teachers enroll their own children in the school, including teachers Chelsea Hayes and Rachael Jamison.
“He loves it,” Hayes said of her son, who is a student at Joseph Bruno. “Everything is very hands-on. There’s a lot of tactile experiences that he gets to have. There’s a lot of free movement around the classroom, and he can go to the bathroom whenever he needs to. He takes a nap when he wants to. I think he really enjoys the freedom.”
At Joseph Bruno, children do have independence, but also ample responsibility. Hayes said if a child drops something on the floor, they are taught to sweep it up themselves, without asking an adult how to do that. Her son is able to match socks and fold clothes, she said. In addition to an academic curriculum, these students are learning life skills that will benefit them now and in the future, Jamison said.
“One of the big parts of Montessori education is practical life,” she said. “It’s really about fostering independence and good work.”
“The Montessori curriculum is built on different levels,” Jamison said.
Every level a child advances to builds from a level they’ve just completed. And subjects like reading, math and science aren’t segmented or isolated, they’re integrated into a well-rounded curriculum that compounds into a challenging and rewarding education.
“With integrated lessons, if students are working on a writing project, it’s probably related to what they’ve been studying in science, history or another lesson that they’ve just had. Every class flows into the next.”
The curriculum is so individualized that teachers are able to instinctively pick up on what subjects their student is drawn to and are able to capitalize on that interest.
“It’s very much about observing them to see what they’re interested in, what they’re doing really well, and what they’re maybe not quite ready for,” Jamison said. “And then finding the right lesson that you can plug in at the right time to make sure that they’re getting that perfect next step to help them build their knowledge and skills.”
Once teachers discover that a student is interested in a particular subject, they dive deep into that subject with the student, Hayes said.
“Montessori educators guide — it’s our job to facilitate [students’] growth ... pull them along and show them interesting new things in the fields that they’re interested in,” she said.
Also different than a public school curriculum is that there are no formal assessments; rather, the teachers take part in small group lessons with their students and ask each student questions to gauge where they are with the concept, rather than a student sitting down with a traditional pen and paper, taking a test, and getting a grade.
“If a child isn’t quite understanding a concept, we have time to slow down and work with them on that concept, rather than just pushing through,” said Kathy Maxfield, also a teacher at Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy. “That’s been the thing that I’ve enjoyed [about teaching at a Montessori school]: It feels more personable, spending time with the children in the small group so that I know where they are not only academically, but socially and whatever’s going on at home or in their peer groups.”
Hayes said she has heard from parents that, because of this way of learning, their children’s anxiety about school has been lifted exponentially.
“I think in a smaller environment, some of the bullying and cyberbullying issues, like academic competition, fall to the wayside a little bit,” she said. “I think it’s a more egalitarian, relaxed environment. And a lot of kids feel like they can breathe.”
This freedom extends to extracurricular activities, as well. Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy offers a wide range of extracurriculars giving students the opportunity to explore, learn what they have an aptitude for and expound upon it.
“I love the fact that we have such a large offering of extracurricular activities,” Maxfield said. “I think it opens the children up to a larger variety, and, overall, they’re not hesitant to try something new.”
Maxfield said last year, because of COVID-19, Joseph Bruno saw an uptick in enrollment, parents and children who had never been in Montessori before.
“I feel like, overall, every parent I had who was new to Montessori, the parents were like, ‘This is a different child — my child wants to come to school every day,’” she said.
WesterKamp understands the feeling. “Once we found the Montessori school, there was no going back,” she said.
