The Community School is an elementary school serving ages 4 years (turning five between Sept 1 and June 1) to 13 years (grades TK-8) and is located at our north Fort Bragg campus. It has three classrooms: The Primary Program (ages 4 to 6), the Lower Elementary (ages 6-9) and the Upper Elementary (ages 9-13).

We take into account a number of factors when considering a student application. Returning families receive priority for both enrollment and reduced tuition allotment. To ensure the financial viability of the school, reduced tuition applicants are considered once our quota of full tuition students is met. In addition, MdMCS is committed to cultural and social diversity. Other factors we consider include: Previous Montessori experience. Age of the child--space for each age is limited based on classroom make-up and to ensure the multi-age experience. How well our school can meet the needs of an individual child. What MdMCS does NOT do is discriminate in the admission, retention, or dismissal of a child on the basis of gender, national origin, ancestry, primary language, race, religion, class, mobility, marital status, religious beliefs, sexual preference, or political persuasion of parents/guardians/families.

Our full tuition for the 2023-24 school year at the elementary/middle school is a tiered system: Tier 1 is $1000 per child per month, Tier 2 is $1250 per child per month, and Tier 3 is $1500 per child per month. Choosing the maximum tuition tier supports those families in need of reduced tuition and helps to foster diversity and inclusion at MdMCS. Reduced tuition is considered on a case-by-case basis and requires the completion of a reduced tuition application and documentation of need. Families requesting reduced tuition are asked to meet the mandatory minimum tuition of $500 per child per month or $5000 annually. All tuition information is confidential and remains within the tuition committee. Because of our tiered tuition system, MdMCS does not offer sibling discounts for tuition. There is a $100 application fee per family. The Nutrition and enrichment programs, like art classes, have additional fees to be determined at the start of the school year.

When can families see the school and meet the teachers? Dates for campus visits for prospective families are listed below. All applying families must sign up for a visit and enrollment conference at least one week prior to the visit date. Campus Visit Dates Wednesday, March 29th at 2:00pm Friday, March 31 at 9:30am Friday April 21 at 9:30am. Contact us through our website or email chloedirector@montessoridelmar.org to sign up for a campus visit. Pre-registration for campus visits are required. At the time of the campus tour, if an application has been submitted, parents may participate in an Enrollment Conference with the Director, Chloe Reed. This is a time to learn more about the program and ask questions. Once new families have submitted an application and been enrolled, they can be put in touch with their child’s prospective teacher and have a more child-specific and individualized conversation at that time. In the meantime, descriptions of the core tenets of our programs can be found on our website montessoridelmar.org. There will be a New Student Day in June during which students and families new to our program can visit campus and meet each other. Parent Orientation for both New and Returning Families will be on Wednesday, August 23, 2023.

Each classroom is it’s own community within our greater school community. We like to think of our classroom make-up as “responsive”. This means that our classrooms are thoughtfully designed each year in response to our changing enrollment and the social, emotional, and academic readiness of our students as individuals and a community. Despite children typically spending 3-4 years in a classroom, each year is a different experience as the age of the students progress. The first year in a classroom, a MdMCS student will be in a younger and less experienced stage. This child will have many unfamiliar materials, routines, and expectations to which to acclimate and will be mentored and guided by older students in the class as well as by the teacher. In subsequent years, the child will gain competence, further develop their identity and interests, and take on ownership of learning and the classroom routines. Finally, the child in the last year in each classroom will lead and teach others in addition to managing their own work and learning more independently. At every stage the MdMCS child: Is offered challenging and meaningful lessons and materials that match their readiness; Is free to explore and develop individual interests; Develops productive work habits and relationships that support learning and growth; Progresses at their own pace while staying connected to the classroom community through shared experiences, routines, and values. Each of the stages within a classroom continuum is valuable and offers unique benefits to the overall cognitive, social, and emotional growth of a child. Our classrooms, as is typical in a Montessori school, tend to include students of a 3 year age range. Restrictions in physical space and state mandates on the age of “school-age”children impact classroom populations. Movement between the MdMCS classrooms is fluid and determined by each child’s readiness and maturity, not by birth dates or grade levels as in traditional schools. Maria Montessori believed that learning occurs along a developmental continuum. Decisions to move students from the primary to the lower elementary and the lower elementary to the upper elementary reflect careful observation of the natural learning characteristics of the child at each stage of development. In Maria Montessori's metaphorical language, "the successive levels of education must conform to the successive personalities of the child."