At La Mariposa Montessori, we foster the growth of the whole child by supporting the development of the cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual facets of each unique individual. We nurture the varied capacities of our students by promoting a culture of passionate inquiry, productive engagement, self-regulated time management, and student-led project and event development.
Our children are encouraged to set ambitious personal goals, to engage deeply with the topics that are most alluring, to persevere in the face of uncertainty and frustration, and to present their work with high standards of craftsmanship and attention to detail.
The children's passion for learning is fueled also by generous integration of the arts, athletics, and foreign language, the opportunity for direct daily interaction with the animals of our menagerie, and by our unique ability to situate academic and cultural studies in the context of the extensive natural environs of our campus.
For over a decade, our alumni have come back to thank us for helping them build an incomparable learning platform and inspiring them to make the world a better place. Each year they return seeking ways to give back to our community.
Our Montessori classrooms are organized into multi-age cohorts, in which students have the ability to learn from one another, teach one another, and work with the same teacher long enough to promote deep understanding of individual differences. We offer a rich academic curriculum without the stresses of a standardized delivery timetable, enabling children to satisfy their intellectual appetites and initiate work that is unique to them. Because students stay with the same teacher for several years, lessons and follow-up work can be responsive to the interests and needs of the children.
Being an independent school, we are not bound by the strict chronological groupings and "September only" transitions that are commonplace in U.S. schools. The Montessori method informs a true responsiveness to the development of the individual. Teacher, parents and child are able to make crucial educational decisions based on the unique needs of each child.
We call our teachers "guides", because our work is not so much to tell children what we know as to assist their natural urge to become high functioning members of society. Montessori guides are specially trained to understand the particular developmental tasks and sensitivities of the age group cohorts they work with. New lessons and materials are introduced in ways that promote an appetite for more. Montessori learning environments are prepared to serve the development of deep concentration, self-confidence, initiative and self-regulated social interaction.