Give Your Child The Montessori Advantage at Our School

Montessori Academy of Valparaiso fosters independence, confidence, critical thinking abilities, and creativity in a warm and welcoming environment. Our hands-on, ‘whole child’ approach supports each student’s unique qualities and individual learning style for a learning experience that’s compelling, effective, and fun!

  • Innovative academic program
  • Personalized and flexible approach works with each student’s unique gifts
  • Hands-on exploration and discovery
  • Love and care
  • Low student-to-teacher ratio
  • Mixed age group classes
  • Natural play areas
  • Friendly, collaborative environment
  • Experienced and certified faculty
A group of children sitting at a table with art supplies.
A woman with short hair and necklace smiling.

The Director’s Message

Welcome to Montessori Academy of Valparaiso! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Montessori Academy. Each day at our school is an exciting new opportunity to enrich the minds of our students, and we hope your child will join us.

Montessori Academy welcomes students regardless of race, gender, or national and ethnic origin and is non-discriminatory in all our policies. We accept children between the ages of 18 months and 6 years.
There are no specific academic entrance requirements; however, we base admission decisions on many factors, especially your child’s age and suitability for our program.

Please schedule your personal tour of our school. We will be happy to answer your questions and provide additional information about our educational programs.

Kind regards,

Dawn Tasher

Director, Montessori Academy of Valparaiso Why Choose Our Montessori Program?

Individualized Learning

Each child works at the level they are capable of in every subject area and at a pace that they are capable of achieving. There is no pressure to keep up with their peers, and if they are moving at a quicker pace, they are not held back.

Hands-On Learning

Every subject area has hands-on interactive materials that the children use to explore and learn. This is a concrete way to teach a child that also makes learning fun. An example: when a child is learning numbers, they not only learn the names of the numbers, but they also count the quantity of that number.

Multi-Aged Classrooms

The sense of community begins here. Having 3 years of age groups within a classroom allows older children to help younger children, which builds self-esteem. This also encourages the younger children in their learning by allowing them to see the older children doing advanced work.

Sensitive Periods for Learning

We recognize that children have periods in their development where they are more sensitive to learning certain concepts. We observe and realize when the child is ready to learn new concepts and introduce them at the appropriate time.

The Montessori’s approach is based on the simple concept of tailoring education to the child’s natural tendencies instead of imposing rules of the adult world on them. Montessori teachers believe that if a child is properly guided to enjoy learning, the child not only becomes at ease with themselves and their surroundings but also continues to be confident and curious throughout the balance of their school years.

Far from being an unsupervised free-for-all, a Montessori education is well-rounded, including not only math, language, science, art, and geography but also includes practical life activities and social skill activities. Children are guided to clean up their own messes with child-sized tools and learn the powerful effect of polite phrases like “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.”

When a conflict occurs between students, they are taught that anger is a natural emotion, and they are guided to learn the words to express their feelings instead of being afraid of them or resorting to physical expression.

Director, Montessori Academy of Valparaiso
Why Choose Our Montessori Program?

Individualized Learning

Each child works at the level they are capable of in every subject area and at a pace that they are capable of achieving. There is no pressure to keep up with their peers, and if they are moving at a quicker pace, they are not held back.

Hands-On Learning

Every subject area has hands-on interactive materials that the children use to explore and learn. This is a concrete way to teach a child that also makes learning fun. An example: when a child is learning numbers, they not only learn the names of the numbers, but they also count the quantity of that number.

Multi-Aged Classrooms

The sense of community begins here. Having 3 years of age groups within a classroom allows older children to help younger children, which builds self-esteem. This also encourages the younger children in their learning by allowing them to see the older children doing advanced work.

Sensitive Periods for Learning

We recognize that children have periods in their development where they are more sensitive to learning certain concepts. We observe and realize when the child is ready to learn new concepts and introduce them at the appropriate time.

The Montessori’s approach is based on the simple concept of tailoring education to the child’s natural tendencies instead of imposing rules of the adult world on them. Montessori teachers believe that if a child is properly guided to enjoy learning, the child not only becomes at ease with themselves and their surroundings but also continues to be confident and curious throughout the balance of their school years.

Far from being an unsupervised free-for-all, a Montessori education is well-rounded, including not only math, language, science, art, and geography but also includes practical life activities and social skill activities. Children are guided to clean up their own messes with child-sized tools and learn the powerful effect of polite phrases like “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.”

When a conflict occurs between students, they are taught that anger is a natural emotion, and they are guided to learn the words to express their feelings instead of being afraid of them or resorting to physical expression.

Experience why our children are HAPPY to learn!