Montessori’s Diane Smith opened the doors to their facility on Hyde Road yesterday (Sun 9/29). Neighbors, contractors, clients and potential clients toured the former Clarklake Community Church. A former church member, Walt Reed, helped Diane and the kids with the ribbon cutting.
Those who had been in the building when it was a church will still recognize its outline. But the transformation is significant. It’s easy to see how the new design is well-suited to serve students and staff. Those attending the open house spread out to view what had taken place.
In her comments to the group, Diane welcomed visitors and thanked contractors and staff in helping to meet the deadline and for the all that had taken place to create the new experience.
The Montessori pre-school is now enrolling students and opens October 7th. During the school year, the preschool will serve children ages 33 months to 6 years. In the summer, seven and eight year-olds can also enroll. Hours are 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.
In a previous interview, Diane pointed to Montessori’s well-establish system. The Montessori philosophy began to catch on in 1906 and has been prevalent around the world ever since. Diane says Montessori is loved by children, is very successful at giving them a good basis in life, and creates a joy of learning. That provides motivation for them to move forward.
Diane notes the Montessori philosophy rests on four pillars – independence, self-direction, real work, and respect. Montessori aims to foster a classroom environment that empowers students to do things for themselves., thus fostering independence. It encourages real work that could include cooking in an actual kitchen instead of play, helping with laundry and vacuuming. The idea is to inspire confidence in the child’s ability to look after him or herself.
The well-attended open house put the new space on display, with changes now in place. In August, Diane gave this website a tour as construction proceeded to transform the space. Here’s a look at the facility as changes were being made.
