Children's House Montessori School - Reston, Virginia
Children's House Montessori School
Children's House Montessori School













Maria Montessori Quote



Acceptance Criteria

 Children’s House Montessori School accepts children of any race, religion, nationality, and ethnic origin. We use the following criteria for accepting individual students:

  1. The child is of the proper age and gender needed for class balance.
  2. The child displays a readiness and willingness to receive instruction and to learn.
  3. The child is toilet-trained.
Siblings of current or former CHMS students and Montessori transfer students have priority on our waiting list.



children practicing their sewing skills

Admissions Procedure

If you are interested in enrolling your child in Children’s House Montessori School, please follow the steps below:

  1. Call to make an appointment to tour the school. During the tour, you will become acquainted with our program, and observe the children at work in their environment.
  2. Fill out an application. A $50 nonrefundable Application Fee will place your child’s name in the waiting pool.
  3. After the receipt of your application, and if space is available, we will schedule a time for your child to visit the classroom. If there is no space for your child at that time, we will place him/her in the waiting pool. As soon as there is a space for your child, we will call to schedule a visit. Click here to learn more about your child’s visit.
  4. After your child's visit, if you think Children’s House Montessori School is the right place for your child, you will be give a contract, an enrollment packet, and a start date will be discussed.
  5. Return the contract, signed by both parents, and other required paperwork, along with a non-refundable enrollment fee of $250 (click here for fees) to hold your child’s place in the classroom. Your child will be ready to start on the agreed date.



Is Your Child Developmentally Ready?

The classrooms at Children’s House are designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Sometimes, parents want their child to start before the age of 3. All children are different, and some are developmentally ready to begin at 2½; others must wait until 3 or 3½. The following are a few examples of behaviors a child must display to be developmentally ready to begin our school:
  • able to sit at circle time and listen to stories and engage in activities. A child who is too young will not be able to attend to group situations, sit for stories, participate in games, etc.
  • will allow teachers to show him/her how to use the activities on the shelf. A child who is developmentally too young will not be able to wait, to watch, and to take in the process for doing the work.
  • will take suggestions from the teacher of work he is ready for. A child who is not ready will pull away from the teacher when she takes his hand, or will display unwillingness to go with the teacher by lying on the floor, running away, etc.
  • able to complete the work cycle; take work out, complete the work, and put it away, or at least be willing to let the teacher help her do these things. Children who are too young for this type of classroom will take many activities out, work on them for only a very short amount of time without completing anything, and then move on to something else without putting the previous activities away.
  • able to follow simple directions like lining up, washing hands, putting on coat to go outside. They don’t have to be able to do these things perfectly, but they have to be willing to listen to instructions on how to do these things, and begin to follow those instructions.
  • willing to participate in the toileting routine. All children must be potty-trained to begin at Children’s House. Your child needs to be willing to sit on the toilet when we ask him to, and tell us when he needs to go. We will help in the bathroom until he can do it on his own.
  • able to communicate needs to the teacher and other children appropriately. Children who are too young will just cry when they need something, and will be very frustrated in an environment that is not meeting their needs.
When considering acceptance of a child, we at Children’s House have to not only consider the readiness of the individual child, but also the needs of the whole classroom. Children who are too young take an extraordinary amount of the teacher’s time, to the detriment of the classroom as a whole. We want every child to be happy in the classroom, which means that he or she needs to be developmentally ready for the experience.


Fees

Payments - Contracts are signed and payments are based on a ten-month school year, from September through June. For the convenience of our families, payments can be made in the Annual Payment Plan (1 payment), or a Monthly Payment Plan (10 installments). A Summer Camp is planned; see below for more information.

Application Fee - $50 non-refundable - is required to complete the application process.

Reapplication Fee - $50 non-refundable - will be assessed when new contracts are signed by current parents for the next year.

Enrollment Fee - a non-refundable fee of $250 will be assesed for each student each year to save a place in the classroom.

Returned Check Fee - $25 fee for each returned check.

Late Pick-up Fee - $1 a minute, calculated by the clock in the office, for each minute past 5:00 PM that you are late picking up your child. Please pay the staff on duty at the time.


2008 - 2009 School Year Fees


Annually
Sep to Jun
(Due Sep 1st)		 Monthly
Sep to Jun
(Due 1st of month)		 Summer Camp
Jul & Aug
(Paid Weekly)
Part Day Preschool
8:30 AM - 11:45 AM		 $7,000 $700 TBD
School-Day Preschool
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM		 $8,900 $890 TBD
Full-Day Preschool
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM		 $10,400 $1,040 TBD
School-Day Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM		 $9,500 $950 TBD
Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM		 $11,500 $1,150 TBD




two children scrub cloth as a practical life exercise

Visit and Observe

Parent’s visit

We believe that before prospective parents make a commitment to our school, they should understand not only the Montessori philosophy but what it will be like for their child to attend our school. To this end, we ask parents to take a tour of the school and observe the classroom as a part of the application process.

On your visit, you will view a short video, tour the facility, and observe the children at work. Our Admissions Director will be available to answer any questions that you might have. At the end of this visit, which typically takes 45 minutes, we will give you an application for enrollment. Please fill out this application and submit it with a $50 non-refundable Application Fee. If a space is available, a date for your child to visit will be scheduled. If space is not available, your child's name will be placed on our waiting list.

We would like your observation in our school to be as informative as possible. Here are some things to look for:

The environment - Is the classroom clean and orderly? Are the furnishings child-sized and appropriate? Are the materials easily available to the children?
The children - Do the children seem happy? Are they free to choose their own work? Are they working with the materials and engaged in learning? Are they concentrating? Are they uninterrupted in their work?
The staff - Are the teachers pleasant, responsive, and encouraging to the children? Do they listen to the children, and treat them with respect? Do they spend most of their time giving lessons to individuals or small groups of children, or observing the children? Do they appear to love working with children?
Other factors - Is there an extended period of time available for the children to work in the classroom? Is there time set aside for group activities and outdoor play? Does this classroom seem like a place your child would be happy?

For further information about choosing a Montessori education for your child, click here for a list of useful links.


a child learns to write compound words Child’s Visit

We would like to meet your child and have him work in the classroom before a final decision about attendance is made. Children’s visits should last about 30 minutes. This will give your child a chance to experience working in the classroom with the teacher and other students.

It would be best if your child could be with us without parents, but we know that sometimes this is difficult, especially with young ones. If you think your child can handle your leaving for a few minutes, please try to do so, but we ask that you remain in the building for safety reasons. If leaving the room is not feasible, please try to stay “out of the picture” as much as possible to allow the teacher to have some one-on-one time with your child. She will engage him in conversation, and offer some familiar activities to help him feel comfortable in the classroom. Depending on the age, she will also work with some of the math and language materials to determine readiness.

After the visit, if you think Children's House Montessori School is the right place for your child, you will be given a contract, an enrollment packet, and a start date will be discussed. Return the contract, signed by both parents, and other required paperwork, along with a non-refundable enrollment fee of $250 to hold your child’s place in the classroom. Your child will be ready to start on the agreed date.




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