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The big picture on Central Montessori Schools
We summarized the school ourselves
Since it was founded in 1995, CMS has grown to include five locations in the GTA. The program is founded on the core ideals that Maria Montessori promoted in her work, those of respect, community, purposeful engagement, and self-directed learning. That said, Montessori didn't create her program as a museum piece, but rather as a starting point, and that's a spirit that CMS upholds as well. Dr. Montessori, as has been said, "adjusted and adapted her educational system to better serve children's needs, and well-functioning Montessori classrooms typically share many features reflecting those adjustments." One of which was, of course, a willingness to adjust and adapt. As such, the CMS program includes, as at the Maplehurst location, a computer lab, a library, and a music room. In all, the focus is very clearly on the child, and supporting child development, which is just as it should be.
We questioned the school adminstration
1. Who are you, as a school?
"For over 25 years, CMS has focused on engaging students and building strong foundations during the most formative years of their lives. We provide quality Montessori education at every stage of a child's development. Our renowned Toddler & Casa programs nurture and encourage the inquisitive minds of children to build the foundational skills needed for future success. As children move through our Casa Program, the emphasis gradually shifts from basic motor skills and language to the development of concentration, coordination, independence, and a sense of order. This allows the child to consolidate their writing, reading, and math skills. Our Elementary program offers an enriched curriculum that promotes analytical and collaborative thinking while nurturing individual strengths. We exceed the Ministry of Education curriculum by introducing hands-on material, facilitating a deep understanding of all learning. Physical education, French, music, art, computers, STEM, and a variety of extracurricular activities enrich the learning experience for CMS students. We are a CCMA-accredited school highlighted for teaching excellence and offering quality Montessori education."
Programs for Infants to Grade 8
Happy and stimulating environment
Child-centred approach and personalized learning
Hands-on and self-directed learning
French Immersion at the Maplehurst Campus
Music, Art, Drama, Computers & STEM
Extracurricular Activities
Before and afterschool care
Great facilities
Accredited Montessori education
2. What do you do differently and uniquely well?
"Our school is truly a caring school. Staff are loyal to the organization and stay for more than 10 years using their expertise and love of all things Montessori to guide the...(more)
"Our school is truly a caring school. Staff are loyal to the organization and stay for more than 10 years using their expertise and love of all things Montessori to guide the children's learning. The level of creativity is also an additional richness with weekly themed lessons and assemblies and an awareness of so many topics and ideas that young people should come to know such as World Children's day, Indigenous month and an understanding of of many diverse religious festivals."
3. What tradeoffs has your school made to serve families in this way?
"Student safety and comfort is our top priority. Students must feel comfortable at school and being in their classroom, only then will they be truly ready to learn.
We also...(more)
"Student safety and comfort is our top priority. Students must feel comfortable at school and being in their classroom, only then will they be truly ready to learn.
We also promote students to advocate for themselves, it is important that let administration and teachers know if they are not happy with something, or have a suggestion for things to change. Implementing their ideas is also extremely important, so that they feel part of their own educational community.
Field trips and experiences outside of the school are crucial. There is lots of hands on learning that goes on in school, however outside of school it is a different impact, and creates core memories."
4. What key junctures in your school's history have most shaped its present?
"The school was opened 30 years ago, and has had a strong tight knit community that has continuously grown. We have recently added Grades 7 & 8 at our Maplehurst campus."
"The school was opened 30 years ago, and has had a strong tight knit community that has continuously grown. We have recently added Grades 7 & 8 at our Maplehurst campus."
5. What type of student is a good fit for your school?
Information not yet available.
6. Under what conditions would you advise a family against choosing your school?
Information not yet available.
7. To your knowledge, why do families choose your school over others?
"Our families and our graduates report the importance of having learned independence and creativity after their time at CMS. They speak volumes at the annual alumni panel about...(more)
"Our families and our graduates report the importance of having learned independence and creativity after their time at CMS. They speak volumes at the annual alumni panel about the compassionate teachers who empowered them to succeed no matter what they were facing, more so during the pandemic when lessons continued uninterrupted for the entire day and even additional lessons of health and gym and art complemented their learning at home. We are a community of individuals who nurture children."
8. How would you characterize your school's image amongst the public?
"Parents often think of CMS as a family. We work hard on building relationships with families and staff, building these strong bonds and helped with Alumni events, and graduate...(more)
"Parents often think of CMS as a family. We work hard on building relationships with families and staff, building these strong bonds and helped with Alumni events, and graduate students often come back to visit or complete their volunteer hours at the school. It is wonderful how everyone keeps in touch and how we all work collectively for a great educational experience for our students."
9. What aspect of your school is underappreciated?
"You get more bang for your buck at CMS. An intimate setting where you have highly qualified professionals who go out of their way to enrich the lives of children. The quality of...(more)
"You get more bang for your buck at CMS. An intimate setting where you have highly qualified professionals who go out of their way to enrich the lives of children. The quality of the hot lunches, the size of the classrooms and their versatility of use, the integretaed STEM lessons, the diversity of the students and strong mentoring and wellbeing program are all aspects of the CMS experience parents appreciate after they have attended our school for a short while."
10. What might families find surprising about your school?
"Parents have answered the question in this way:
We have loved the multiage classrooms where older students truly mentor the younger ones
We have loved the French Immersion...(more)
"Parents have answered the question in this way:
We have loved the multiage classrooms where older students truly mentor the younger ones
We have loved the French Immersion experience from Casa to lower and then upper elementary
Our two boys attended CMS and are very successful and stand out at their current school for their ability to be independent and think outside the box.
CMS is a family, everyone cares about the wellbeing of the children first and foremost and the academics complement this."
11. What improvements or changes has your school made recently?
"At our Maplehurst Campus we have now added Middle School, with the campus going up to Grade 8. This was largely in part from parents wanting to continue on at CMS. We are very...(more)
"At our Maplehurst Campus we have now added Middle School, with the campus going up to Grade 8. This was largely in part from parents wanting to continue on at CMS. We are very excited to be growing our school and look forward to the upcoming years to see how our Middle School will flourish!"
12. How will your school change in the next 5 years?
My kid started in this school (different campuses) when she was two. Now she is in grade 6.
When she was little (casa, JK, SK), I could tell she had a lot of fun there. When I got to school to pick her up, sometimes she asked to stay a bit longer to play longer. She enjoyed singing, dancing and story time etc.
Now she likes the small class and mixed Grade environment (Grade 1-3 in one class and grade 4-6 in another class). She had plenty of time with teachers thanks to the small class size.
She likes that the school keeps them informed during weekly assembly.
Due to COVID, they tried to keep distance between students. She wished the classroom was bigger, so that they could sit even further apart. She also hoped the outdoor playground was bigger.
Notice classroom size/building size and the tuition fee can also be very different between different campuses.
My daughter has been going to CMS since she was four years old. She is 10 now and in grade 5 at CMS. What she likes most about the school is the fact that her teachers are always available to help the students. The one-on-one interactions between herself and her teachers have encouraged her greatly to do better in her studies. CMS has provided her the foundation to build a disciplined, focused and organized life. She also likes the personal space that is given to her to finish her studies. The school could offer more interesting and topical extracurricular activities which would keep the kids more engaged. Some of the activities that are offered did not prove to be productive enough for my daughter because of the content.
My daughter loves CMS and her teachers. It is a second home for our child and everyone in the school is like a family to us. They provided a very caring and nurturing environment to my child, and when she first took me to her classroom, she was so proud to say "Mom!! See, this is my world" as a preschooler. Every teacher knows every child in the school. As a Montessori school, they instilled independence and discipline at the perfect proportion. CMS has set the scale so high for us in standards and expectations from schools. Every day is a happy exciting day for my child to go to school. They created the foundation so well with my child’s academics and social skills. The support and encouragement we receive from the teachers are great!!
We've been with CMS since 2015, and we can tell that our kids enjoy going to school as they come back at the end of the day with such joy telling about the the experiments that they did or the projects they worked on that they are so proud of. There are a breadth of extracurricular activities offered at the school, could be learning a language, piano, Taekwando, dance, and Robotics are a few examples. The school is for children from infant to Gr 6 and there's usually more than 1 class for each grade. With this many kids there's a diverse school community and many friends made. Pre-covid the elementary grades would have specialist classes together (gym, music etc), which helped continue their friendships from the Casa years.
When enrolling our kids to a private school, we chose the Montessori method of teaching because it recognize that all children learn in different ways, and at different speeds. We appreciated that Central Montessori Schools takes a collaborative approach to learning where students learn to work with, and learn from each other. This much more closely resembles the real world, where work is done in teams as opposed to individually.
Our children appreciate the smaller class sizes and the attention that affords them from their teachers. They also, surprisingly, have taken well to having multiple grades in a single class. Grades 1 - 3 are in the same classroom and learn from each other. While individual grades get their own lessons, and have their own lesson plans - they also have the opportunity to see what the other grades are learning. Often, the older children will even teach the younger kids their lessons. This is also true for the Grade 4 - 6 classes.
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