When the new school year begins
later this month, there will also be a new school in the area. The
International Montessori School at Dilworthtown opens its doors on Aug. 31.

The school is in the building
that housed the old Harvest Community Presbyterian Church on Birmingham Road in
Birmingham Township.

As a Montessori school, the
idea is to tailor the education to the kids instead of tailoring the kids to
the education.

Angie Meadows, the director of
the school, said the Montessori method is based on a “multi-aged classroom”
with kids of 18 to 36 months of age in one class, those aged 3-6 years in
another, with similar types of groupings for older students. Students also stay
with the same teacher for a three-year-period.

”There’s also some specially
developed materials and a lot of independence and self-confidence,” Meadows
said. “The teachers really follow the lead of the children to guide them
through the curriculum.”

She said that one of the
reasons for the success of the Montessori concept lies within that fact that
students have older students to work with and that they stay with the same
teacher for three years. The education process isn’t interrupted, even over a
summer break.

“That initial beginning of the
year learning curve isn’t there. When I have students who start at the age of
3, they have some adult, so to speak, 5-year-olds in the classroom, leaders
that can help them get acclimated. Children who are returning at 4 or 5, I can
pick up right where we left off at the end of the last school year and hit the
ground running. There isn’t that first six to eight weeks of getting to know
the child, ” said Meadows.

She added that teachers get to
know a lot about the families of students and get them involved in the
education process. She said families reinforce what’s going on in the
classroom.

Meadows refers to a Montessori
classroom as “a well run machine” even with different students doing different
activities at the same time.

“There’s a hum of activity and
excitement. There are children working independently, children working in small
groups and some children are having individual or group lessons with the
teacher, but the children are very self-directed and know what level they’re
working in… If they need a little direction, we’re there to steer them in the
right direction,” she said.

Meadows said it’s the quest for
independence that motivates the kids.

“Often times they see older
students in the classroom doing something which intrigues them. Sometimes
they’ll learn just by observing and asking if they can have a lesson on that.”

She said students often revisit
material on their own to gain a mastery of the subject.

“They’re always excited for the
next thing that comes down the road,” she said.

While there have been few
long-term studies comparing the education received in Montessori and other
schools, Meadows said they do well on standardized tests.

“Truly darn fabulous,” she
said. “The [long-term] studies aren’t there yet. We only have about five or 10
years of data but, generally speaking, it has been my experience in the past 20
years that children who leave a Montessori environment transition very easily
to a traditional environment, whether it’s parochial, private or public.
Teachers comment that they are very independent, creative and assertive in that
they ask for what they need.”

She added that more Montessori
schools are implementing standardized tests to make sure their students are on
track and are implementing curriculum that follows state curriculum.

The International Montessori
School at Dilworthtown — one of five International Montessori schools in
Chester County — is beginning with younger kids at first, but Meadows said the
goal is to get classes through the sixth grade.

This year there will be two
groups, the 18-36 month old children, and the pre K group from 3 years to
kindergarten.

The school offers half and full
day programs for two, three or five days per week. A five-day full day class
for the younger group is $9,000 and $8,700 for the older group.

For more information, contact
the school at 610-399-6699.