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Message from the Principal

Dear parents,

We at Ville-Marie Montessori, french private school, are always honoured to welcome you every year and to be your choice for providing your children with an outstanding education based on developing self-reliance and independence. Ville-Marie Montessori School is considered the only authentic school of its kind in the area and is always ready to take your children on an exceptional learning adventure, in a positive, peaceful, respectful and stimulating environment.

As Maria Montessori said, we believe that “children have a pressing need for the freedom to develop their own character by exploring their world and identifying their limits. Armed with the key to their own character and governed by their own laws of development, children have increasingly sensitive and singular faculties that can only be expressed in an environment of freedom. Should any of these conditions be missing, the child’s mental life will not reach full development and personal growth will be stunted.”

We are convinced that a child’s first years are absolutely fundamental and that academic learning, using the classical methods applied elsewhere, is insufficient for developing the child’s capacities and character.

The Montessori teaching method focuses not only on academic learning but also on developing the ability to concentrate, to persevere and to think by and for oneself. It also helps the child interact well with others and contribute to society. Children who receive this type of academic support become self-motivated adults who love to learn and are able to think flexibly and creatively, are aware of the needs of others and, moreover, actively promote harmonious cooperation and mutual assistance!

With traditional teaching, an adult decides what the child needs to learn; the ability to retain and reproduce information is considered the sole measure of academic success. In this context, the teacher is perceived as an active information giver, while the child is only a passive receiver.

The Montessori approach sees the teacher playing a different role. Teachers are responsible for providing an environment that guides children towards finding what they need for themselves. Children then become active learners and are able to achieve their own unique potential because they are learning at their own pace and concentrating on their own developmental needs.

This is a fundamental Montessori principle. Indeed, one of the overarching principles of the Montessori philosophy, as expressed by Dr. Maria Montessori herself, is that we “should not raise our children for today’s world. It will no longer exist by the time they are adults, and we cannot know what their world will be like: we should therefore teach them how to adapt.”

Parents are our vital partners and allies in fulfilling our pedagogical mission, and we make sure that parents are always fully informed and engaged. Parents play a leading role in academic success, and we strive to keep this cooperative relationship strong.

Beyond simple learning, the Montessori philosophy is education as an aid to life provided by Montessorians who are dedicated to building the leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs of the future.