Bianca Brenz
Montessori Magnet schools are not generally located inside of public schools, however, the Montessori Magnet School at Moylan School is. 760 students attend Moylan School and of those students 157 are Montessori Magnet students. The principal of the school, Carolyn Havrda gave the tour around the Montessori Magnet School and gave those on the tour an inside look of the everyday experiences of the students in the Montessori Magnet School (ranges from Pre K to 3rd Grade). Havrda led the tour into the courtyard at the entrance of Moylan School where there were gardens that were made and taken care of by Montessori Magnet students. Throughout the tour Havrda expressed the theme of independence instilled in each student.
A video was played based on Maria Montessori, the women who created this form of teaching. Throughout the video real life accounts were shown from students who had been in Montessori Magnet Schools and loved their experiences. During the tour a commonly asked question was: “Is it difficult to adjust from Montessori to Public School?” the answer was simple and was answered in the video. Because the Montessori method of teaching grants students the ability to be self-disciplined and self-motivated, making the adjustment from Montessori to Public was an independent step in their lives that students were prepared for. Havrda explained that young students interact with older students in Montessori Magnet schools, which provides them with a learning opportunity with no help from their “guides” (because independence is the goal teachers are not called teachers but rather guides who help guide the students to become independent). In a classroom where ages range from 3 years to 6 years, young students learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable from their older peers and older students gain confidence in showing younger students what to do.
Independence among the very young Montessori Magnet students was emphasized as a way to prepare students for the real world and their futures. Throughout the tour and looking into classrooms children were preparing their own snacks, cleaning up after themselves, and did not receive very much help from their “guides”. I learned that students not only prepare their own snacks, but they also help prepare their meals, and eat inside of their classrooms as opposed to the cafeteria at Moylan School. I had the opportunity to sit in on a Montessori style class and immediately saw children acting independently. In this classroom children were not told what to do, they had a choice, giving them a high level of independence. In one corner children were playing amongst themselves, and at another end of the classroom children were preparing and eating their snacks, and cleaning up after themselves once snack time was over. Below is an image that I took while sitting in on the class; many shelves look identical to these in their neatness:
Maria Montessori started this Montessori movement and schools like Montessori Magnet at Moylan School reinforce the importance of one of Montessori’s missions: granting children independence for their futures.