Wimberley Montessori School

Our family has attended Wimberley Montessori since 2011. I now have one child in each of the 3 classrooms - Primary, Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary. We were looking for a Montessori education to promote and support a love of life-long learning, in addition to development of the whole child. Wimberley Montessori has provided this for our children in a nurturing and heart-centered environment. As it is in life, there have been several transitions in the time since we have been attending Wimberley Montessori. The current staff are enthusiastic and committed to supporting each child individually in their personal growth. In the primary class, Vera, the lead teacher, is amazingly compassionate and incredibly observant in her interactions with my child. Both teachers are able to identify my son's strengths, in addition to areas that need additional support, and to articulate this information to me in such a way that I am able to continue to support his growth in our home environment. Vera is wonderful about communicating the current activities in the classroom so that we can support his further understanding at home. Vera also teaches yoga to the children in the classroom. In the lower-elementary class, Michelle, the lead teacher has really shifted the classroom this year in wonderfully positive ways. There is a strong focus on academics with the intention of connecting the academic concepts to real-life scenarios. My son's love of learning is constantly stimulated and I find that he is pushing himself to learn more about certain topics simply out of his own curiosity. In the upper-elementary class, Melanie and Trish are a fabulous team. Trish has a strong focus on academics - encouraging the kids to challenge themselves to see what they can accomplish. She ensures the concepts from the lower-elementary are well understood and then builds upon them in ways that lead to real concept understanding rather than rote memorization. Melanie has been in our lives for several years - first teaching my children in the primary class - and now teaching my oldest in Upper Elementary. Melanie has always brought compassion and kindness into the classroom. Without a doubt, she teaches academics, but the strength and uniqueness that I most appreciate is that she is willing to invite open discussion of life topics in the classroom without judgment - encouraging the students to become clear on their concerns, learning how to voice their concerns, inviting them to contemplate solutions and then allowing the space and structure for the student to work with others to resolve conflicts - this is a true life-long gift to these children. In addition to the individual classrooms, the entire school meets on Fridays for "simple gifts" - a time of singing, performances - impromptu and practiced, poetry sharing, and dancing. I can not tell you what a blessing it is to see a child in the upper elementary sitting or standing alongside a 3 or 4 year old primary student - possibly teaching, possibly performing together - with a sense of complete respect between the 2 students - it brings tears to my eyes and a sense of optimism about our future. What is cultivated in this environment is an acceptance of oneself and others as they are - and it is a beautiful.