BRATTLEBORO — This month, Hilltop Montessori School welcomed three outside accreditors from American Montessori Society for a multi-day site visit.
This was the final step of an initiative that supports ongoing commitment to achieving standards of excellence and is the highest level of recognition bestowed by the Society.
Hilltop Montessori School has been part of the southern Vermont education community since 1972. Two years ago, the school decided to undertake the AMS accreditation process. Currently, only about 15 percent of AMS member schools are accredited.
According to a news release, Hilltop says it has grown steadily to its current enrollment of 120 students, ages 18 months to 14 years, at the campus off of Guilford Road and Summit Circle in Brattleboro.
All programs, which include toddler, early childhood, lower and upper elementary and middle school, were involved in the AMS accreditation site visit.
What does it mean to be a Montessori school, and an accredited one?
• Multi-Age Classrooms. This arrangement mirrors the real world, in which individuals work and socialize with people of all ages and dispositions.
• Montessori Materials at Work. Beautifully and precisely crafted, Montessori's distinctive learning materials each teach a single skill or concept in an appropriate progression that allows the child to develop an abstract understanding of a concept.
• Child-Directed Work. An extended period of “free choice” time called the “uninterrupted work period” provides students time to select and work through various tasks and responsibilities at their own pace, without interruption, fostering increasing concentration.
• Trained Montessori Teachers. A properly-trained Montessori teacher observes children and introduces them to challenging and developmentally appropriate lessons and materials based on each child's unique interests, abilities, and social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.
Community members or prospective families interested in experiencing Hilltop firsthand are invited to contact the school to set up a tour by calling 802-257-0500.