Fredericton Montessori Academy Opens Middle School This Fall
FREDERICTON— When Wanda Poniatowski moved to Fredericton she joined forces with Laura McDonald to create the Fredericton Montessori Academy. In 2017 when they started they had 11 students, now they have 80.
“We are very excited to open our middle school program next year for our 8 and 7 class,” said Poniatowski, who has been teaching in Montessori schools for 17 years.
Montessori is a learning style popularized by Italian physician Maria Montessori over 100 years ago. In Montessori, McDonald said that students learn how to be independent, self-sufficient, and self-directed.
“We definitely promote a love of learning,” said McDonald. “All of our students love coming to school.”
The Fredericton Montessori Academy is broken down into age groups. Casa is their name for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and is for children ages three, four and five. Lower elementary is broken down into 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, and upper is for grades 4, 5 and 6. Poniatowski said that like public schools they have their core course, but in Montessori, they teach at a higher degree.
“Even the little ones down in casa will learn concepts that they don’t touch on in public until much later,” said Poniatowski. “Montessori is all about laying the foundation for future learning.”
One aesthetic difference between traditional schools and Montessori is that classroom walls are free of student work or posters that are not relevant to what is being taught.
“Everything is clear and clean so that it’s not distracting for those children that might have difficulty focusing,” said Poniatowski.
Poniatowski said she has a great appreciation for public school teachers. McDonald herself has 15 years of public school experience teaching French immersion. Both chose to put their children through the Montessori program and were pleased with the outcome.
“It’s important to give people out there a choice,” said Poniatowski. “People that are coming into Fredericton from outside the province, as well as the people who are here already.”
Poniatowski has found that students who transfer from their program to another usually do well.
“It’s amazing to see the children that come out of a Montessori school how self-assured they are, they can speak with grace, they are able to face challenges in their futures,” said Poniatowski.
There is currently a waitlist for their casa and lower elementary programs. The arrival of more students means hiring more teachers. To be a Montessori school you need specific training, equivalent to a BEd but in the Montessori philosophy.
“So all of the teachers we’ve had join our school we’ve actually put through training which can sometimes be about $12,000 a teacher,” said McDonald.
They ensured that that training is taking place because they want to be authentic.
The Fredericton Montessori Academy’s next step is becoming an officially accredited Montessori institute. Right now there are no accredited Montessori schools in Atlantic Canada.
“[To be accredited] means you are running the classroom with the proper materials, that the teachers have had the proper training,” said Poniatowski.
Right now FMA runs as an accredited school and is waiting to have everything before applying for their official certification.
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Rachel Smith is a summer intern for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected].