Moncton Montessori School

Ecole Moncton Montessori School is pleased to announce that when it opens its doors in September 2011 it will be located at 299 Champlain Street in Downtown Dieppe. The campus will hang its shingle on a brand new building that will become home to a number of other yet-to-be-announced tenants.

The co-owners/co-operators are excited that the campus will be in a brand new space that is being customized to meet its specific needs, but are also disappointed that they were unable to proceed with their original locaion of 142 Cameron Street in Downtown Moncton.

“The costs to move ahead with the project at 142 Cameron Street are just too high,” says Julie McSorley, one of the owners/operators. ”Unfortunately, we did not receive all of the required infomation at the start of the process of setting up the French campus and it has been costing our business dearly for the last 10 months. We simply had to move on to a new location.”

Riza Espiridion-Doiron, co-owner/co-operator says that she’s very exited to have a new campus in Dieppe. “Dieppe is a growing community and we are pleased that we will become an itegral part of it in a number of ways – by offering a broader range of early learning educational offerings and by offering a service prized by many within the multicultural community of Greater Moncton,” says Riza. “Now we wil have a presence in both Moncton and Dieppe!”

The owners expect registrations for the Fall academic year to be brisk. A number of spaces have already been spoken for and with the announcement of the campus’ relocation to Dieppe, a waiting list is expected to be a reality in the very near future.

When parents of prospective students visit our campus, they are often amazed that our classes are comprised of students ranging between the ages of three (3) to six (6). ”How is it possible to have children at such different developmental stages all together at the same time?”  We get this question a lot – to say the least. My first reaction – in my head, of course  – is always ”How could we possibly not operate this way?” Such a thought or reaction may sound impertinent, but it’s the truth. 

Watching children of different ages work together and learn from each other is nothing short of beautiful and inspiring. As is often the case with children, the younger children want to be able to do everything that the older children are capable of doing. It brings a smile to my face when I think of having heard  and seen some of our younger students say - with hip jutted out and hand strategically placed on it for effect - ”I just have to complete the Map of North America this week so that I can move on to the Map of Canada.” Knowing who this child chums with, I know why he is in such a rush to expedite his geographical knowledge. His best school mate is 14 months older than he, and has progressed through the puzzle maps at a faster pace. That in itself speaks volumes to the value of having children of mixed ages in the same class.

Anticipating the next question before it’s asked, I respond with “The older students do benefit from the mixed-aged class setting, as well.” The older children learn skills and develop emotional intelligence in ways that could not be taught. Seeing a Kindergarten student take the hand of a new, younger student who is away from her parents for the first time is precious.  Teaching empathy is a challenge to say the least, but the Montessori environment lends itself nicely to children being presented with opportunities to learn these soft skills. 

Dr. Maria Montessori was also very clever when she developed the “Montessori Work” that still sits on shelves in Montessori classrooms today. All of the work in our classes could be used and enjoyed equally by a student who is three or a student who is six, just to different degrees of complexity. This builds confidence in spades.

A mixed-age classroom you ask? I say, it’s the only way to go!