According to the Wall Street Journal, a “Montessori Mafia” showed up in an extensive study about creative business executives.  This Montessori Mafia includes Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, videogame pioneer Will Wright, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, not to mention Julia Child and rapper Sean “P.Diddy” Combs.

Is there something going on here?  Is there something about the Montessori approach that nurtures creativity and inventiveness?

By the end of kindergarten, among 5-year-olds, “Montessori students proved to be significantly better prepared for elementary school in reading and math skills than the non-Montessori children,” according to research published in Science.  “They also tested better on “executive function,” the ability to adapt to changing and more complex problems, an indicator of future school and life success.”

Montessori methods go against the grain.This quote from  Harvard Business Review captures the difference: “When I got too old for my Montessori school, and went to traditional school, I felt like I’d been sent to the Gulag:  I have to sit in this desk?  All day? We’re going to divide the day into hour-long chunks?  Am I on Candid Camera? Am I Job?”

First, The Montessori House School is open on the usual schedule today, Friday, November 16, 2018.

What a mess yesterday!  We hope all our students, staff, and their families made it home safely last night.

We set a record yesterday — our last student left school (After Care) after 9 p.m.  While we hope no student has to have such a long school day ever again, parents can be confident their children are safe, secure and cared for at The Montessori House!

The Montessori House School in Tenafly, NJ is still accepting applications for all our programs for September 2019.  We have openings in all our programs.

Please call or text us at 201-816-8343, since we’ll need to act quickly to have your child enrolled for September.  We’re available to have you tour our facility, answer your questions, accept your application, and complete your child’s placement and enrollment.

Summary of our enrollment process:  We take applications throughout the year.  We’re now in a period of rolling admissions for September 2019.

We have full-day and half-day Montessori program openings available for children born after October 15, 2012 and before October 15, 2017 including:

• For ages 5 & 6: our mixed age Montessori Kindergarten/First Grade program (full-day, half-day for Kindergarten age only)
• For ages 3 & 4: our mixed age Montessori Pre-Primary program (full-day or half-day)
• For under age 3: our Montessori Stepping Stones program (children start at 30 months– 2.5 years)  (full-day or half-day)

To be considered for placement, families submit a paid application (download here) and visit the school for a tour.

You can find our 2019-20 tution rates here.   But do come visit, to find out why The Montessori House is so special and a great value!

We offer tours most school days.  Tours are most informative  when the classroom is filled with students and teachers.  Consequently, we prefer to conduct tours when classes are in session.  A personal, private tour  usually take about 45 minutes, with a generous amount of time in one or two classrooms — depending on your child’s age, we will show you the program they would enter initially, but also show you the programs available in future years.   (Note, we can spend quite a bit of time in the classroom on an “adults only” tour, and strongly recommend”adults only”, if you have childcare available.  With toddlers along, we may spend less time in the classroom, and will ask that you hold your child’s hand throughout the tour).

We generally schedule tours to start between 9:00 and 10:15 in the morning, or around 1:00 in the afternoon.  You may schedule a personal tour by texting/calling us at 201-816-8343.  Or, we’ll contact you: e-mail us at admissions@themontessorihouse.com with your phone number and your child’s birth date, and we’ll reach out to schedule a visit.

We urge families interested in entering September 2019 to act now: schedule a school visit and submit an application .

For more information please contact us text/call us at 201-816-8343.

Food!  Glorious Food!

A year-end Montessori House tradition has the graduating Kindergarten/1st Grade students bring a favorite food to the All-School Party following their graduation ceremony.  Each K/1st student brings 15 to 20 servings of their favorite food — the school provides plates, napkins, drinks, and additional refreshments.

We’ve asked the K/1st families to let us know what food their graduates have chosen.  Here’s a sneak peek that we’ll keep updated as families report in:

• Pancakes
• Grilled chicken and pasta with broccoli, carrots and corn in a garlic sauce
• Grapes & Blackberries
• Pesto Pasta (nut-free)
• Cheetos
• Rainbow bagels, lox, cream cheeses
• Chicken Cutlets
• Mini banana muffins
• Watermelon
• Bagels
• Dumplings (pork & vegetable)
• Mango Mousse

Friday, January 8th, 9 a.m. Graduation, 10 a.m. All-School Party

Mitchell Schorr is a Montessori House parent  He is also among the best known urban mural painters in the world and has painted 3-D murals in and around New York City parks for more than a decade.   He chose a stunning spring day to work with students at The Montessori House to create a mural in our playground.

You can see more of Mr. Schorr’s work at http://www.mitchellschorr.info/

(Montessori House parents can log on to the Parent Website and choose Photo Gallery to see a photo album of the children creating with Mr. Schorr.)

The Blank Canvas with Mr. Schorr, Ms. Maria and student artists.

The Mural takes shape. Creators: The Montessori House Students and Mitchell Schorr

For September 2018 (this month!), we have openings; if you’re a family sitll looking for the bestg program for you child.  CALL/TEXT NOW (201-816-8343)

The Montessori House School in Tenafly, NJ is currently accepting applications for all our programs for September 2019.

We have full-day and half-day Montessori program openings available for children born after October 15, 2012 and before October 15, 2017 including:

• For ages 5 & 6: our mixed age Montessori Kindergarten/First Grade program (full-day, half-day for Kindergarten age only)
• For ages 3 & 4: our mixed age Montessori Pre-Primary program (full-day or half-day)
• For under age 3: our Montessori Stepping Stones program (children start at 30 months– 2.5 years)  (full-day or half-day)

To be considered for placement, families submit a paid application (download here) and visit the school for a tour.

We offer tours most school days starting September 24, 2018.  Tours are most informative  when the classroom is filled with students and teachers.  Consequently, we prefer to conduct tours when classes are in session.  A personal, private tour  usually take about 45 minutes, with a generous amount of time in one or two classrooms — depending on your child’s age, we will show you the program they would enter initially, but also show you the programs available in future years.   (Note, we spend the most time in the classroom on an “adults only” tour, and strongly recommend”adults only”, if you have childcare available.  With toddlers along, we may spend less time in the classroom, and will ask that you hold your child’s hand throughout the tour).

We generally schedule tours to start between 9:00 and 10:15 in the morning, or around 1:00 in the afternoon.  You may schedule a personal tour by texting/calling us at 201-816-8343.  Or, we’ll contact you: e-mail us at admissions@themontessorihouse.com with your phone number and your child’s birth date, and we’ll reach out to schedule a visit.

Summary of our enrollment process:  We take applications throughout the year.  In December 2018, we will offer placement to returning families for September 2019.  IN January we begin to offer placement to new families, roughly in the order we’ve receivved their applications.  After January, we have rolling admissions until a program is filled, after which we form a wait list.

We urge families interested in entering September 2019 to act now: schedule a school visit and submit an application .

For more information please contact us text/call us at 201-816-8343.

Yesterday our mother rabbit (a.k.a. a rabbit doe), arrived with five baby bunnies (just 7 days old! a.k.a. rabbit kits — short for kittens ).  They’ll be in the classroom for about 30 days, so the children can watch them grow!  In 30 days they’ll be quite large.

These are Harlequin rabbits — the mother is named Merry, and the father (a rabbit buck) is named Bond.   This litter was born on April 17, 2018.

Merry is about 15 inches long (longer when she stretches out), the babies are about 3 inches long.

Due to weather, The Montessori House will be closed Wednesday, March 7, 2018.

We hope all families are safe!

P.S.  We’ve extended our deadline to return tuition deposits and pay Discount Tuition until Thursday, March 8th at 3:45 p.m.

We are currently accepting applications for all our programs for September 2018.  Most families are interested in placement for September 2018, but we already have a few applicants for September 2019.

Openings for September 2018.  Of roughly 90 students currently enrolled at The Montessori House, about 50 have informed us they will return to the school next September (most of the other 40+ students have “aged-out” of our programs and will attend their local elementary school, parochial school, or an independent school).  That means we’re placing about 40+ new students — 12 new students in our Montessori Stepping Stones program (age 2-1/2 to 3), most other new students in our Pre-Primary Montessori programs (age 3 to 4), and a handful of new Kindergarten students (age 5+).

New for 2018-19: we will offer a full-day option in Montessori Stepping Stones, from 8:45 a.m. to 2:50 p.m., as well as our usual half-day morning or afternoon Montessori Stepping Stones options. 

As occurs every year, we have the greatest interest in our full-day programs (Montessori Stepping Stones, Pre-Primary Montessori+Enrichment, and Montessori Kindergarten) and our morning, half-day programs (Montessori Stepping Stones and Pre-Primary Montessori) — these sessions fill the fastest and will eventually have the longest waiting lists.  In fact, the Montessori Stepping Stones morning session is filling rapidly, largely with the younger siblings from Montessori House families.  The last sessions to fill are our afternoon, half-day programs (Montessori Stepping Stones and Pre-Primary Montessori).

To be considered for placement, families submit a paid application (download here).  While we only offer families placement after a school visit and tour, families are welcome to apply either before they visit, at the visit, or after visiting.

We offer tours most school days.  Tours are most informative  when the classroom is filled with students and teachers.  Consequently we only conduct tours when classes are in session.  A personal, private tour  usually take about 45 minutes, with a generous amount of time in one or two classrooms — depending on your child’s age, we will show you the program they would enter in September 2018, but also show you the programs available in future years.   (Note, we can only spend time in the classroom on an “adults only” tour — a quiet infant carried by the parent is permitted, but no toddlers in the classroom please.)    Note, you may submit an application before you tour.

We generally schedule tours to start between 9:15 and 10:15 in the morning, or around 1:00 in the afternoon.  You may schedule a personal tour by texting/calling us at 201-816-8343.  Or, we’ll contact you: e-mail us at admissions@themontessorihouse.com with your phone number and your child’s birthdate, and we’ll reach out to schedule a visit.  Alternatively, on our Admissions Page , you can request our free Schools Checklist (at the right under “How Does Our School Compare?”enter your name, zipcode and e-mail in the boxes) , and we’ll e-mail you  information about booking a tour

Timing for Your 2018-19 Application: For families who are confident they want a placement offer for September 2018 from The Montessori House, we recommend submitting an application immediately.  Some families delay: to finalize plans to move to the area, to look at other schools, or they mistakenly assume they have plenty of time.  The cost of an application is small, and delay in submitting an application will reduce a family’s available options for next September.

Summary of our enrollment process:  We have complete the enrollment process for returning students, and are now offering placement to new students September 2018, more or less in the order we received a paid application.  After the end of January, we have rolling admissions and continue to offer placement in a session until that session is filled, at which point we start a session wait list.  A family may choose to enroll in an alternate session (e.g. afternoon rather than morning, or half-day rather than full-day), but still join the waiting list for their preferred session.

We urge families interested in entering September 2018 to act now: schedule a school visit and submit an application .

For more information please contact us through our website or text/call us at 201-816-8343.