Photo courtesy Richmond Montessori School
At the Richmond Montessori School, a classroom is a multi-sensory world where students are guided rather than taught. Independent learning and exploration are the building blocks in the discovery and learning process.
“To describe Richmond Montessori School as a child-centered environment does not do it justice,” says Grainne Murray, the head of school. “Since the birth of the school, we have had one single goal: To honor each child’s unique spirit while keeping him fully engaged in intellectually stimulating and fulfilling work.”
The school, which opened in the Fan District in 1966 with 40 students, is marking its 50th school year in Richmond with a variety of events that continue through the spring.
Today, there are 300 students representing 30 countries enrolled at the school, located on a wooded campus at 499 N. Parham Road. Richmond Montessori offers three programs: early childhood, elementary, and middle school. Enrichment and after-school and specialty programs are also available.
Students are encouraged to pursue activities based on their interests within the construct of the curriculum. Montessori seek to produce children who are problem-solvers, who can make appropriate choices, manage their time, and work well with others.
“A Montessori classroom is special because we get to learn more hands-on, and you get to know your teachers better so they can help you work at your own pace so you can learn in a more productive way,” says Cabell Haneberg, an eighth grader at the school.
Tom Woodward, a parent of four children at the school, says his offspring are thriving there. “Academically, emotionally, and socially there have been dramatic changes in our children,” he says. “They all started in different places, but they have all become better humans. They are more passionate, more caring, and more interested in things as a result of what’s been going on in the classroom. They’ve become independent problem solvers and are able to deal with conflicts between themselves. … They are self-driven, they love learning, and they want to understand the world.”
Richmond Montessori students work well with one another within the unique “structure,” which empowers students to find their own path to knowledge. Students learn to celebrate diversity, to recognize the importance of acceptance, and to embrace education that exists both in and out of the classroom.
“It’s really nice to come in and know everybody, and there’s no judging, and it’s like my second family,” says Kate Hurlbert, an eighth-grader at the school.
“The children experience what they are learning in a tactile way and truly have an understanding of language, quantities, and their place in the world," says Jerry Larkin, a father of children at the school. "The diverse population celebrates the uniqueness of each child rather than trying to make everyone alike. They learn not only how to involve and engage other people with different views and different values but to embrace and celebrate all of it.”
Students at the Annual Music and Arts show (Photo courtesy Richmond Montessori School)
The educational method was founded in 1907 by Italian physician Maria Montessori. Montessori education focuses on the child, with an emphasis on hands-on experiences and attention to sensory touch. “She believed that children need to be promoted, developed, and encouraged,” says Martha Mabey, an author and educator who served three times as head of Richmond Montessori School.
Mabey became a believer in the Montessori method of learning in the early 1960s. She was a new mother and living in Watertown, Massachusetts, at the time, and she heard a speech by Nancy Rambusch, the founder of the American Montessori Society. “I was a believer from that moment on,” she says.
After she moved to Virginia in early 1971, Mabey worked with Richmond Public Schools before signing on with Richmond Montessori in 1976.
She immediately saw the difference between teaching practices. “There are no rows of desks at Montessori,” Mabey says. “Children and teachers move around the classroom tables, with students choosing what they want to study.”
Mabey served a couple years, returned for a second stint of a few years in 1996, and for her third term in 2006. One of her fondest memories is the enthusiasm with which Montessori students approach the classroom materials. “I liked to watch young students learn to read by tracing sandpaper letters with their fingertips,” Mabey says. “They learned to read and write simultaneously. “There was always a happy ‘hum’ coming from the classroom.”
The Richmond school is the only Montessori school in the metro area with accreditation by two organizations, the American Montessori Society and Virginia Association of Independent Schools.
“There are schools that identify as “Montessori-like,” Mabey says, “but the only authentic Montessori schools are those with Montessori-trained teachers who practice the Montessori philosophy.”
Richmond Montessori 50th Anniversary
Staff, students and alumni are celebrating the school’s golden anniversary with a variety of events, including Fill the 50 with 50 Acts of Kindness; the 50th Anniversary Gala: "Once Upon a Time,” to be held May 6 at the Children’s Museums of Richmond; and Falcon Spirit Week, May 15-19. Learn more about Richmond Montessori School at richmont.org or call 741-0040.
