Great Beginnings is an extraordinary Montessori school
with an extraordinary history.
With an exceptional culture of active parent and community support, our 33-year old school led the way as the first non-profit Montessori school in western Montana. To date it has over one thousand alumni and now over 100+ families within our school, and another 100+ families during our summer camps.
Great Beginnings is recognized for its abilities and achievements in many areas. Our educational excellence is at the leading-edge with our exemplary Montessori curriculum and certified teachers. We are immensely proud of our commitment to outdoor classrooms and natural playgrounds - all at the foot of the Bridger Range.
We also believe the foundation setting the path for lifelong learning should include more of western Montana's population, and include a diverse age group; otherwise the benefits will remain limited to the few.
Our vision is to provide high-quality Montessori education to a broader community for all who wish to fulfill their family's ambitions for their children.
Great Beginnings is currently offering a limited number of partial scholarships for the 2020/2021 school year, and there are limited summer scholarships available for current Great Beginnings families signed-up for 75% of the summer.
Our partnership with the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) is a division of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and used by more than 2,400 K-12 private schools and other organizations to help determine a family's ability to pay school costs. The service and process helps ensure that all schools use the same methods and objective procedures to evaluate your financial aid application.
The application process begins when interested parents submit their application to the SSS, an outside agency we use to ensure impartiality and professionalism when working with scholarships. This service processes the applications and returns a report to the school. All reports are kept strictly confidential. The financial aid committee reviews these reports for consideration for the summer and following school year. Awards are based upon the relative need of the applicants, the number of applicants, any important circumstances to consider, and the amount available in the scholarship fund that year.
All scholarships are awarded for one academic year. Parents may re-apply for the following year, but they must once again submit their application to the SSS with NAIS. There is a nominal fee required from SSS for processing the application.
Research has shown that successful individuals repeatedly relate key elements of their character to childhood experiences that we know are key aspects specifically developed in a Montessori environment. One could describe the Montessori Method as not only offering high-quality academic opportunities, but also actively and specifically enriching a quality of spirit necessary to reach one's human potential. Great Beginnings strives to make these opportunities available to the widest possible range of students through our scholarship program.
If you would like more information on the scholarship program, please inquire at the school office. Because SSS is an outside agency, they are objective in their decisions and can accurately assess financial need.
Thank you for your support, and all the best to you and your families.
To learn more about our scholarship programs, please call the school at 406.587.0132.
We typically awards scholarships in July for the following fall school year.
Scholarships will occasionally be granted again in August if funds are available.
The Best Beginnings
As a state licensed facility, eligible families may apply for a Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship.
Please follow the link to learn more about eligibility and application.