Wildflower Montessori School

I am both a teacher and a parent at Wildflower Montessori. I have been a Montessori guide since 2008 and being a part of Wildflower has been one of the best professional experiences of my career. The adults are treated with kindness and respect and are given autonomy as well as support.As a parent, it is a joy dropping my child off at school. She is joyful and curious, and she loves being with her friends at school. The other guides prioritize social emotional well-being prior to academic learning, although "academics" are also high priority. The characterize learning as play and free choice, as children are sponges and truly love learning about everything around them! This is what I appreciate the most--that love for learning and cultivating curiosityis a foundation for my daughter, not just for schooling but for her life.

Wildflower Montessori is an incredible school community. All three of our children have attended and thrived in this warm, supportive, unique Montessori environment over the past 5 years. Our youngest is currently in her second year. As parents, we have seen each of our children develop strong, secure relationships with the amazing teachers and with the kind friends in their class. We have also cherished the friendships we have made with other families in this close-knit community. Recommend 100%!

Wildflower was a life-changing experience for our family. The values, community, and kindness that the school imparts were exactly what we were hoping for. The school has lived up to and exceeded our expectations. Our daughter (and now son) have thrived at Wildflower. The teachers are absolutely wonderful. The parent network is caring and supportive. We feel so lucky to have found this school.

Wildflower Montessori is our dream school and community. Our 4-year-old middle child is in his second year and we've seen his confidence grow as he's developed more independence and self-control, as well as fluency in early numeracy and literacy through the beautiful Montessori learning materials. He has grown from seeking adult approval about every decision of his day to making choices on his own about what "work" to do and where and how to do it (working independently or with a friend). He loves puzzle maps, sandpaper letters, singing, making biscuits, painting with watercolors, working with "fundamentals of coding" materials, and playing outside with his friends at Lee Street playground. The other day he came home and washed dishes "like I do at school, mom!" The outstanding teachers have supported our family with frequent conferences and personalized newsletters about our child's interests and growing edges, monthly family education nights, and ongoing insights on ways to build continuity between home and school to best support our child. Just as the teachers nurture our child's whole person, the Wildflower community has supported and cared for our whole family, too. Our oldest child graduated last year, and our youngest child will start as soon as she is old enough!

Though I'm sure every parent thinks the school they have chosen for their child is the best, here are just two reasons (of many!) why Wildflower has knocked our socks off. The teachers. Our daughter was very shy, an observer who waded in slowly and was highly sensitive to sound. The teachers intuitive, sensitive, and lovingly firm have managed to both value her sensitive nature and encourage her to stand up for herself and verbalize when she is uncomfortable about something. They truly believe that education should be child-led and that the child's experience of learning should be joyous. We've been so impressed with the commitment the teachers have to the method of Montessori. Every seeming simple work the student does from washing a table to stacking blocks lead to the development of muscles or skill sets that are the building blocks for future learning. The community. Monthly parent education nights and community days have given the families time to get to know each other. We share our woes and concerns and laugh together. On school holidays, we've made soap for the classroom, planted a local garden and filled backpacks with supplies for homeless kids. And sometimes we just get together and the kids play. This is the seamless movement between school and home that is one of the principles of Wildflower. We're thrilled we found it.

We have been extremely happy with our experience at Wildflower. Not only is our son thriving and excited about learning, but the guidance we have gotten from Mary and Erin has been invaluable to us as parents. With great wisdom and compassion, they have guided us all through the complicated toddler years. We have found the monthly parent nights to be a wonderful complement to the Wildflower experience. These events typically explore a specific aspect of the Montessori approach to education but they are very interactive and we often end up in very engaging discussions that get to the heart of what it's like to raise a child in today's world. Those group discussions really help build a sense of community among the parents. Our oldest child will return in the fall of 2016 for his third year at Wildflower and our youngest will begin at Snowdrops (a new Wildflower Network school for infants and toddlers) as well. Those, of course, are the strongest endorsements there are!

My son was one of the first students to attend this school, and is entering his last year there. Wildflower is a new preschool that was founded with a vision that we have found to be the most child-centered of any other school we visited in the area. From the teachers, to the classroom, to the curriculum, to the principles that the school were built upon, this is a very unique and special place. Where every family feels lucky to be there. The teachers were handpicked as some of the best Montessori teachers in the area, one of whom has decades of experience and it shows. Mary's ability to draw out every child's voice is incredible to witness. The classroom is so beautiful - with live trees growing inside, walls decorated by the artwork of well respected artists, a focus on natural materials, and so many engaging materials for the children to work on all day. Especially in the winter time, it has been so special to have him able to be surrounded by nature - indoors! The curriculum is pure Montessori with 'modern' tweaks and new materials that have been developed at MIT's Media Lab in collaboration with a large group of Montessori teachers and theorists. My son has been exposed to concepts - such as binomial thinking - at an earlier age than I ever could have imagined. But the thing we love the most about Wildflower is the community. The classroom is child-centered, but the school is family-centered. This is the place to go if you are seeking a warm and diverse community of families to share the preschool years with. I know the friends my son and we have made with the other parents are ones that will last a long time. This school is small and new - not yet on everyone's radar. For families looking for what I have described, I would reach out asap to start the process of learning first hand about this precious school. And son #2 is joining the class this September!