Full Circle Montessori School, Arlington

Full Circle Montessori invites children ages 2 1/2 to 6 for a three-to-four year progression at the Primary (pre-school) Level, and for a seamless continuation of their adventure in our Elementary classroom, which is designed for children ages 6 to 12. Whether within Primary, Elementary, Middle or Erdkinder level, Dr. Maria Montessori's vision is to instill a love of learning in our children that will accompany them throughout their lives. Only through a love of learning, accompanied by a thirst for knowledge, a sense of wonder, a sense of purpose, and the confidence to take risk and to question is reaching your fullest potential possible. The backdrop of the Montessori Method is the creation of an environment based on the biological development of the human being, in which each child is supported to explore at his or her own, unique, individualized pace. The Montessori Method then helps children bring self confidence, independence, concentration, coordination, kindness, and empathy with them and into all that they do along the road into adulthood. These “traits,” explored and internalized, become a solid part of the Montessori child and are better indicators of balanced, happy, aware, independent, contributing members of the world than academic success alone. At Full Circle we are fully committed to Montessori's vision: instilling a love of learning and supporting the development of the whole child so that she or he can form into a mindful, thoughtful and deliberate person. Full Circle is committed to the following core principles: Based on our expertise in human development, all of our decisions are made based on what we believe is best for children, not on what is easier for the staff or more convenient for the parents. In everything we do - small and large - the child's needs dictate our actions first. We are a child-centered community. As advocates for children, our work is approached with humility and respect for the child. We are humbled by the honor and the responsibility of creating an environment that will allow each child to reach his or her fullest potential, according to that child's inner directives. We strive to ensure that nothing we do at Full Circle will negatively impact someone or something else. We do not want our gain to be at someone else's expense. Through our actions we demonstrate this commitment. As Montessorians we strive to do our best to lead sustainable lives in and outside of the classroom through, for example: - how we treat each individual we come into contact with at our school or in passing - the relationships we develop and nurture with our neighbors and the community - the way we view our purpose in relation to the world - how we build our team (staff) and how we support them - the type of food we choose to serve - the materials and supplies we buy and where we buy them, and - our philosophy to reuse what we can and to try to recycle and compost the rest. In our daily practice we try to be the mindful world citizen who we are supporting our children to become. Our gain, should not be at anyone's or anything's expense. This we believe.