Montessori Greenhouse School, Los Alamitos

Montessori Greenhouse School was founded in 1970 by Joy & Charles Turner with the goal of offering a high quality educational beginning for children before they reached school age (3 - 6- year olds). After a time, parents of school-aged children encouraged us to extend our program to include an elementary school. In 1981 we did just that, leasing classrooms at the Edgar School Site (which was no longer operating as a public school) from the Garden Grove School District. Since that time we have opened an infant/toddler program and built a new school facility, as well. At the present time, we serve the needs of approximately 250 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years. At all age levels, our staff shares Montessori's view of the child as an active, natural learner and spiritual being who develops according to nature's plan. From developmentally appropriate activities to respectful teacher role, we are consistent with our goal of assisting each child to realize his or her fullest potential. Our mixed-age grouping provides a social setting somewhat like that of an extended family, enabling an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration and an effective response to the variety of individual needs and differences. The school facilitates feelings of community and extended family for parents, as well, by providing opportunities that foster involvement and the development of family support networks. The school provides educational settings designed to fit and respond to children's individual needs, interests, abilities, and potential. Children learn by acting on their environments to construct their own intelligence, and our classrooms are equipped with a wide variety of materials for first-hand experience with the concepts and skills they will need in order to fulfill their developmental potential. A Montessori environment focuses on the development of each child's individual competence which builds upon spontaneous interests, self-directed choices of activity, and self-pacing. Characterized by "liberty within limits," this context honors the child's right to pursue activities that are appropriate to the child's culture, developmental level, and needs for relationship. Montessori teachers design, prepare, and organize both the physical and psychological learning environments for children. Within these environments, they assist the learner in acquiring new knowledge through their roles as consultants, models, observers, and facilitators. As egalitarian leaders, they are authoritative without being authoritarian. The senior teacher in each class is always Montessori certified; associate teachers are educationally qualified and receive on-the-job training. Our staff is characterized by a warm and humanitarian approach to the "whole child/whole parent” through demonstrations of integrity, competence, talent, and dedication. Staff turnover tends to be very low at our school