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Nature-based and authentic Montessori Education on a budding Permaculture Farm in the Heart of Delaware County, NY. We offer programs for ages 8 weeks to 15 years, with the aim of running through high school in Fall 2026.
Our school has AMI Montessori certified guides in all age groups and we are working towards the highest accreditation standards set by Association Montessori Internationale and American Montessori Society.
Our school focuses specifically on adding aspects to our curriculum that reflects our region: Nature Conservation, the Arts, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship.
By J. Lawrence-Bauer BOVINA - Born of the COVID pandemic, when second homeowners flocked to the area during massive shutdowns and months of masking, the Bovina Center Montessori School has moved ...morebeyond crisis and chaos to become an alternative educational program for students in primary, elementary and middle school as well as a childcare facility for infants and toddlers. As the founders of the school start their fifth year of operation, they are excited about the coming school year and looking more than a full year ahead to 2026 when they hope to round out their program by adding high school classes. According to co-founder and business operation head, David Madie, the school, which was named the Business of the Year by the Delaware County NY Business Alliance, the School will open its year with 85 children from 21 different towns in the region. The location on county Route 5 in Bovina has a new septic system funded by the Catskill Watershed Corporation to serve up to 200 and a new roof. The private school, for which families pay up to $17,350 in tuition for a full time, 10-month program, will offer free, expanded co-working space for parents on the second floor the "carriage house." Madie said he and his wife Sophie Wallas Rasmussen had no background in education when they first started homeschooling their children."It was hard," said Madie, "so my wife helped start up a home school collective." The rest, as they say, is history. After starting the home school support group, Wallas Rasmussen went further to learn how one starts a school. Upon learning the New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires only that private schools obtain a license to operate, Wallas Rasmussen dug further. NYSED expects private schools to develop a program that demonstrates "academic equivalence" with a public school curriculum, leaving the assessment of that program to the local public school district in which the private school operates. South Kortright Central School serves that role for the Montessori school. Realizing a new school was possible, Wallas Rasmussen looked for programs she could adopt and decided on the Montessori plan for meeting her community's needs. Madie said the Montessori model views children as "natural learners: capable of directing their own learning when placed in a well-prepared environment." Teachers, who are not required to be certified, are called "guides" because their role is "not to instruct but to observe each child and introduce lessons individually based on readiness and interest." Madie said there are no tests and no grades for students in the school at this time. In an amazing six month period between February and August of 2021, Madie and Wallas Rasmussen secured a license, developed a program approved by the South Kortright Central School, found a site, developed a budget and lined up 32 students to start their first school year. As the group starts its fifth school year, the school boasts 21 staff members including eight lead guides, eight assistant guides, three administrators and two caretakers. Seven "lead guides" are now Montessori certified and the eighth person in that role will start a two-year training program in the Montessori method. Operators expect 87 students on campus including 29 in their daycare program for infants and toddlers, 30 in their primary program for students ages three to six, 21 aged six to 12 in the elementary grades and seven students in the middle school who are aged 12 to 15 years. The overall school budget is $950,000 and a tuition aid program helps families in need. Transportation to and from the school is handled by parents, or in some cases by school bus from a child's home public school district. Madie said the group is working on becoming a certified Montessori school and expects to receive that designation from Association Montessori Internationale in the year to come. hide
Tuition is $17,360 for infant and toddler classrooms. For primary classroom and up, tuition is $16,350. All families can apply for financial aid through our Clarity Financial Aid Platform. Our aim is to accept all children who are seeking this type of education.
Summer Program Cost
$295
Summer Program Cost Notes
Summer programs cost $205 per week. Summer half-day program costs $150 per week.
Offering authentic, AMI-recognized Montessori education, our
curriculum focuses particularly on four core areas that reflect our
geographical region: Nature Conservation, the Arts, Sustainability,
and Entrepreneurship. Our campus is placed on a beautiful, 50-acre
old dairy-turned summer camp farm, which lends itself well to
outdoor learning and exploration for our students. Our guides are
all AMI-trained, or currently completing AMI-recognized training
and diploma modules.
We are the first independent school in Delaware County to offer
private programming for local kids, including a full-day Montessori
program (for enrolled students only), summer school and daycare
programming, as well as after school programming.
The average private school tuition in New York is $22,410 for elementary schools and $26,902 for high schools (read more about average private school tuition across the country).
