What We Offer
We are pleased to offer a variety of options to our parents. We know that no two family schedules look alike, and we seek to accommodate variation through our flexible scheduling.
Toddler Community at WMS
The toddler classroom of 15 to 36 month olds is a community of learners. A community as defined is a group put together and organized by common values, aims, and goals. The children in WMS's toddler community are welcomed each day into a warm, caring, and safe environment that is thoughtfully prepared and carefully maintained to meet the children’s need to move, to explore, and to communicate. While the toddler works and plays parallel to others and begins to learn to take care of his own needs, he also begins to encounter his community with greater awareness. Under the careful guidance and watchful eye of a trained adult, children within the toddler environment begin to learn to care for others and to work cooperatively.
Toddlers are part of the first plane of development. It is a time of great transformation from complete dependency to “let me do it myself”. In the toddler class, basic motor coordination, independence, and language development are fostered and individual personality is respected. The environment offers opportunities to explore and to contribute in a meaningful way, and to observe the cause and effect relationship crucial to a toddler’s development. The classroom is also a nurturing social community where the toddler can experience contact with other children and learn to participate in a cooperative group. Practical skills such as toileting, dressing, and cooking develop fine and gross motor skills, independence, self-esteem, and a sense of order. Sensorial activities entice exploration and allow for classification of sensory impression. All of the activities are enhanced through language as their discoveries and experiences need names.
In the Montessori setting, the toddler is viewed as a dynamic part of both the classroom and the school community and is recognized for their innate abilities and potential, and for their contributions to the whole group.
Primary Classrooms at WMS
Our primary age classrooms (also known by the Montessori term "case dei bambini" or Children's Houses) for students from 2.9 to 6 years old are at the heart of what we do here. All children at WMS are enrolled in either one morning or one afternoon Montessori classroom session. Children in these classrooms experience an academically enriched atmosphere embedded in a well-ordered social community. Older students are completing the vital third year of the Montessori three-year cycle. They gain self-esteem by aiding younger students, while the younger children learn from and emulate their older peers.
The combination of defined social structure and intellectual atmosphere is propelled by the unique ability of children this age to absorb their environment, language, and culture. Students at this level learn through the use of many manipulative classroom materials introduced through careful teacher guidance. Teachers work with children individually and in small groups, and then allow each child many repetitions with that activity to master its content in depth. Students develop autonomy in choosing their "work", finding those activities suitable to their developmental needs at different stages. Through the use of carefully prepared materials and activities, in addition to communication with teachers and interaction with peers, children grow in personal independence, concentration, self-motivation, cooperation and a genuine love of learning.
Each classroom is multi-aged, holding true to the traditional Montessori model. This three-year age span has innumerable benefits as children pass through different developmental periods. The younger children are inspired and helped by the older students, often spontaneously “absorbing” concepts simply from being near others’ work. Older students revel in their strengths and abilities and assume roles as helpers and guides to their younger friends. Children will frequently work together and learn from one another. The three-year span also allows children to stay with the same teachers. Classroom teachers come to deeply understand every child according to his or her unique qualities. The strong bonds between child and teacher aid the academic, emotional, and social development of the whole child.
You may enroll your child in one primary three-hour session. The morning session runs from 9:00 to 12:00 and the afternoon session runs from 1:00 to 4:00. The full Montessori sessions begin in the third week of school, following the careful phase-in process to assist each child's transition.
To apply for one of our classrooms, please contact our admissions office to schedule a visit. You may download an application form here:
Toddler Community at WMS
The toddler classroom of 15 to 36 month olds is a community of learners. A community as defined is a group put together and organized by common values, aims, and goals. The children in WMS's toddler community are welcomed each day into a warm, caring, and safe environment that is thoughtfully prepared and carefully maintained to meet the children’s need to move, to explore, and to communicate. While the toddler works and plays parallel to others and begins to learn to take care of his own needs, he also begins to encounter his community with greater awareness. Under the careful guidance and watchful eye of a trained adult, children within the toddler environment begin to learn to care for others and to work cooperatively.
Toddlers are part of the first plane of development. It is a time of great transformation from complete dependency to “let me do it myself”. In the toddler class, basic motor coordination, independence, and language development are fostered and individual personality is respected. The environment offers opportunities to explore and to contribute in a meaningful way, and to observe the cause and effect relationship crucial to a toddler’s development. The classroom is also a nurturing social community where the toddler can experience contact with other children and learn to participate in a cooperative group. Practical skills such as toileting, dressing, and cooking develop fine and gross motor skills, independence, self-esteem, and a sense of order. Sensorial activities entice exploration and allow for classification of sensory impression. All of the activities are enhanced through language as their discoveries and experiences need names.
In the Montessori setting, the toddler is viewed as a dynamic part of both the classroom and the school community and is recognized for their innate abilities and potential, and for their contributions to the whole group.
Primary Classrooms at WMS
Our primary age classrooms (also known by the Montessori term "case dei bambini" or Children's Houses) for students from 2.9 to 6 years old are at the heart of what we do here. All children at WMS are enrolled in either one morning or one afternoon Montessori classroom session. Children in these classrooms experience an academically enriched atmosphere embedded in a well-ordered social community. Older students are completing the vital third year of the Montessori three-year cycle. They gain self-esteem by aiding younger students, while the younger children learn from and emulate their older peers.
The combination of defined social structure and intellectual atmosphere is propelled by the unique ability of children this age to absorb their environment, language, and culture. Students at this level learn through the use of many manipulative classroom materials introduced through careful teacher guidance. Teachers work with children individually and in small groups, and then allow each child many repetitions with that activity to master its content in depth. Students develop autonomy in choosing their "work", finding those activities suitable to their developmental needs at different stages. Through the use of carefully prepared materials and activities, in addition to communication with teachers and interaction with peers, children grow in personal independence, concentration, self-motivation, cooperation and a genuine love of learning.
Each classroom is multi-aged, holding true to the traditional Montessori model. This three-year age span has innumerable benefits as children pass through different developmental periods. The younger children are inspired and helped by the older students, often spontaneously “absorbing” concepts simply from being near others’ work. Older students revel in their strengths and abilities and assume roles as helpers and guides to their younger friends. Children will frequently work together and learn from one another. The three-year span also allows children to stay with the same teachers. Classroom teachers come to deeply understand every child according to his or her unique qualities. The strong bonds between child and teacher aid the academic, emotional, and social development of the whole child.
You may enroll your child in one primary three-hour session. The morning session runs from 9:00 to 12:00 and the afternoon session runs from 1:00 to 4:00. The full Montessori sessions begin in the third week of school, following the careful phase-in process to assist each child's transition.
To apply for one of our classrooms, please contact our admissions office to schedule a visit. You may download an application form here:
Extended Day
Our extended day program extends your child's hours from 7:30am - 5:30pm and offers an extension of the philosophy practiced in our core Montessori program. The children are self-directed, as they are in the extended day schedule, free to discover new activities without pressure, and develop self-confidence through exploration and communication. Here, many of the activities and explorations offer variation from the traditional Montessori curriculum.
Projects, experiments, and focus units guide the curriculum in our extended day programs. Creative play indoors and free time spent outdoors on the playground allow for growing in social navigation, self-control, and overall maturity.
