Our Mission:
Joyful learning
The Montessori Schoolhouse offers children a beautiful, hands-on, mixed-age environment of authentic Montessori philosophy and academic excellence.
Welcome to The Montessori Schoolhouse
This is a picture of our beloved Preschool & Kindergarten teacher Dolores Montoya who has been with us at the Schoolhouse for 34 years. Our school culture is infused with inspiration, delight in the children, appreciation for the teachers, and a real passion for the Montessori hands-on curriculum. Regine Ebner, M.Ed. founded The Montessori Schoolhouse in 1974. We have two campuses in central Tucson: Preschool/Kindergarten and Middle School on 6th Avenue, and our 1st through 5th grade Elementary program on Ft. Lowell Road. As a charter school since 1997, no tuition is paid by Kindergarten through 8th grade students for the regular school day. Preschool and Before and Afterschool Care are offered on a fee basis.
Our Programs
Dr. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who observed that children are naturally curious, that they learn through sensory interaction with their environment, and that they thrive on responsibility and respect. The method she developed fosters the growth of the whole child—social, emotional, physical, and intellectual— by following their native joyfulness, wonder, and intellectual spark. The philosophy centers on hands-on, self-directed learning in a mixed-age classroom.
Preschool & Kindergarten
The Preschool/Kindergarten provides a beautiful environment that promotes self-confidence and independence, concentration, and a love of learning. Our carefully prepared classrooms offer hundreds of wonderful, hands-on materials in Practical Life, Sensory-Motor skills, Language, Mathematics, Geography, and Science.
Middle School
Our adolescent program is focused on meeting their developmental needs: identity formation, belonging, and expansion into the wider world. Students participate in rigorous academics based on the Montessori principles of hands-on, self-directed learning, as well as camping trips, community building activities, and student-led projects.
Music
All classrooms sing together every day on circle and during classroom transitions. Tucson’s favorite minstrel, Bruce Phillips, joins us at 6th Avenue and in Lower El at Ft. Lowell every Friday for a guitar-led group sing-along. Several wonderful teachers of piano and violin offer individual lessons during the school day to interested students.
Lower & Upper Elementary
The Elementary program includes all of the beautiful Montessori philosophy found in the preschool classroom, as well as an expansion on curricular material and content. Elementary students create projects, give presentations, write reports, and so much more. This is where we really see “learning for a lifetime” begin to blossom.
Chess
Elementary students learn strategy from longtime chess teacher Ken and practice playing chess together on Fridays. The kind of thinking required by the game of chess stretches the students’ mathematical minds.
Art
Much of the hands-on curriculum is learned and recorded through artistic projects and assignments. Additionally, students in all of our classrooms participate in art lessons every week and learn artistic skills using different media. They also study art history and many inspiring famous artists, including Georgia O’Keefe, Leonardo Da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, and Wassily Kandinsky.
The Montessori Schoolhouse Middle School
Belonging
Our small school community is a sweet place to ensure that all of our students experience a feeling of belonging and contribution. Friends collaborate on projects, students support each other’s learning, and we practice our restorative conflict resolution skills.
Empowerment
Strong academics, connection to nature, community engagement and practical life skill-building make for an empowering program for young adolescents. During this tender period of identity formation we will practice taking responsibility for ourselves, for our community, and for our planet.
Community Engagement
Students learn about the wider Tucson community through volunteering, observation, and research projects to pursue their passions. Field trips and overnight camping trips offer opportunities to build character, deepen community connections, and expand their horizons.
Program Development
This year our students have dissected both computers AND frogs in the classroom, and have trekked low desert trails to the top of Mt. Lemmon as part of our nature program. Shakespeare will introduce us to a whole different manner of peaks and valleys and we will voyage from our past to our future with units on WWII, Climate Change, and Science Fiction. Hannah would be happy to answer any questions you may have!
Arizona State Tax Credit Contribution
We're gratefully collecting Tax Credit contributions! This is a wonderful thing in the State of Arizona-- you can designate where some of your tax money goes. Write us a check for up to $200 (for one person) or $400 (for a couple) and it will come right out of your taxes that you'd have to pay anyway. We use the money from your donations to support our music, chess, and cooperative PE programs! Checks can be made out to The Montessori Schoolhouse and mailed to 1301 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., Tucson, AZ 85719. We appreciate you so much!
50+
years in operation
Regine Ebner, M.Ed. founded The Montessori Schoolhouse in 1974. She still loves being with the children in the classroom, mentoring teachers, and giving inspired hand-on lessons every week.
#3
Elementary School in Tucson
According to Niche.com, The Montessori Schoolhouse ranks #3 out of all the elementary programs in Tucson. We are so proud of our excellent teachers, our academic richness, and the diversity of our community.
180+
Cumulative Years of Teaching experience in the classroom
Many of our head teachers have been with us for ten, fifteen, and even thirty years. We are so proud of our incredible staff who offer so much to our students year after year.
The Montessori Schoolhouse will post public notices of its meetings on the Board Meeting page as well as in the office at the Elementary location, 1301 E Ft. Lowell Rd.
“
Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.
—Maria Montessori
