Palm Valley Montessori Home
Welcome to Palm Valley Montessori!
The creation of Palm Valley Montessori has truly been a labor of love. The seeds were planted twenty-five years ago when my mother picked up our neighbor’s child from preschool. I walked into the prepared environment and announced, “Oooo, I like this!” I was enrolled the next week at the ripe old age of two years and seven months. Since that time, my love of the teaching method has only grown stronger. After studying mainstream education in college, I was hungry for a return to this amazing philosophy. I received my Montessori certificate from the Montessori Education Center of Arizona under the direction of Mrs. Nimal Vaz. In the Montessori community, Mrs. Vaz is nothing short of a living legend and I was looking forward to a long and fulfilling teaching career at her primary school. However, my plans changed when my first child arrived. I applied the Montessori method to our home life and started dreaming about opening a preschool for my own children.
Our schoolhouse is a lovely 3,400 square foot custom home on nearly two acres of land. It used to be a farmhouse, but it was completely gutted and remodeled two years ago. I absolutely fell in love with the place. It was exactly what I had been dreaming of for a school. It is completely surrounded by a six foot high block wall and has thirty-six mature trees on the grand lawn. Although it's off a major road, it is safe, quiet, and private. The natural outdoor play space was extremely important to me after looking at so many strip mall properties with playgrounds surrounded by parking lots! The home itself has an ideal layout for a Montessori school. Our classroom flows throughout the expansive home and outdoors to the large covered patios.
Three program schedules are offered. We have half day (8:15am-12:15am), full day (8:30am-3pm), and extended day (7am-6pm). All programs are five days a week. Tuition is $475 (half day), $625 (full day), and $725 (extended day) per month. I will always maintain a ratio of one teacher for every eight children.
The curriculum is genuine Montessori. I had a true Montessori experience for my preschool education and that's what I want for my children and my students. The four areas of a Montessori classroom are- practical life (care of self and the environment, independence skills), sensorial (guiding children to discovery through all the senses), language (phonics instruction, expression, vocabulary), and mathematics (decimal system, making the abstract concrete for the young child). Our studies will also include art, music, yoga, and Spanish. We have an outdoor environment too and I can't wait to start our children's garden!
Taking this project from a daydream to a reality has been an exercise in patience, sacrifice, and perseverance. I thought many, many times about throwing up my hands and calling it quits. I just couldn’t bear to do it though. My belief in the philosophy is too strong. I have seen the power this method has on the development of young children. I know that the power to change the world lies in our ability to educate the child. I know that Palm Valley Montessori has the potential to be a positive force in the lives of our children, our families, and our larger community.
I hope you will join us on this journey.
Sincerely,
Eva Foster
Director
