The Orchard Montessori School grew out of a desire to keep a small group of children and their teachers together. Our school opened in the main floor of the house of one of the children in September of 2012 with co-founder Melody as Directress and a French assistant. We moved to the second floor of the former Old Orchard Public School at Dovercourt and College three months later. Now in our sixth school year, we have 40 students in two casas and a lower and upper elementary program with 19 students.
In addition to a strong commitment to Maria Montessori’s philosophy of enabling young children to teach themselves, we also found that we held in common a culture that is rooted in artistic endeavour. This extension of our work is very much in keeping with the aspects of Montessori’s philosophy that pertain to cultural relevance. In response to our community, we developed work preparations aimed at equipping the children with the basic tools of the artist within the context of the practical life component of the casa environment. With those tools, they may pursue open-ended creative explorations. In response to the interest of young children in the natural sciences, we have a robust botany and zoology curriculum as well. All classrooms are well equipped and loaded with things to explore. Most of our assistants are Francophone and speak to the children exclusively in French.
At The Orchard Montessori, we believe the interconnectedness of people furthers the fundamental notion of a peaceful education. To extend our roots into the community, we offer after school clubs and summer camps that are open to children from all schools. We have a dedicated teaching staff and dynamic parent group whose energy and enthusiasm for the school makes this a wonderful place to be every day.