Montessori School of Flagstaff - Switzer Mesa
Center in Flagstaff, AZ 86001
We have been educating children in Flagstaff since 1982. Our goal is now, and has always been, to develop Renaissance children.
The Montessori Charter School of Flagstaff was the first school in Arizona to have its application for a charter approved by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools. The school has been operating continuously since 1995. Our four campuses serve over 360 children from 18 months (non-charter preschool) through 14 years of age (charter middle school). We offer a very strong academic program that recognizes and addresses each childs individual social and emotional development.
Although we have never stressed the test as a means of evaluating children, our standardized test scores have always been among the best in the state.
The classroom community :
Each classroom, depending on the level, can have up to three (including two assistant) teachers. At our middle school, three main teachers, who educate children in the core subjects, are joined by specialists in art, music, dance, drama, cooking, yoga, self-defense, scrapbooking, Spanish, computers, physical education, environmental science, and other subjects.
Each student follows a unique and personalized learning plan designed by our faculty. Within each classroom, the childrens ages span 3 years. The younger children benefit from mentoring, and the older students continue to grow academically while developing leadership skills and reinforcing what they have already mastered by sharing their knowledge.
- Child Ages:
- 6 years - 12 years
- Licenses & Accreditations:
- Arizona Department of Health Services Division of Licensing Services - AMS Accredited
- Vouchers:
- This provider does not accept vouchers
- Preschool:
- No
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Montessori is a hands-on approach to learning. It encourages children to develop their observation skills through activities that use the five senses, kinetic movement, spatial refinement, small and gross motor skill coordination, and concrete knowledge that leads to later abstraction.
A 2006 study published in the journal Science (The Early Years: Evaluating Montessori Education, by Lillard and Else-Quest) concluded that Montessori students performed better than those who attended conventional schools not only in traditional academic areas such as language and math, but also in social skills. They performed better on standardized tests of reading and math, engaged more in positive interaction on the playground, and showed advanced social cognition and executive control. They also showed more concern for fairness and justice.
At the end of elementary school, Montessori children wrote more creative essays with more complex sentence structures, selected more positive responses to social dilemmas, and reported feeling a better sense of community at their school.