"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed"
- Maria Montessori
"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed"
- Maria Montessori
Why Choose Montessori?
The Montessori method helps your children to take ownership of their education.
Why Families Choose Montessori
A major reason parents seek a Montessori education for their children is because of the critical importance of early childhood. Experiences such as self-reflection, responsibility, independence, and cultural diversity can have a formative impact on your child – they’re also core Montessori principles.
The Montessori method is currently responsible for educating 191,000 students every year through member schools of the American Montessori Society. Our growth is reflective of the positive impact that learning experiences promoted in our classrooms can have on the development of your child.
We believe that every child has their own pace and way of learning, and respecting this is the foundation of our method. We know that by working with – not against – your child’s individuality, we facilitate their development into a confident and capable human being.
Our Montessori teachers, campus, and teaching philosophy will help your child develop into a thriving and thoughtful citizen of the world.
Why Choose MSC?
The Montessori method helps your children to take ownership of their education.
MSC will help your child to develop into an intelligent, caring, and responsible member of society.
Choosing the best school for your child is a big decision for any parent. Parents that believe in the Montessori principles want their children to undergo the full potential of the method and its learning experiences. An excellent Montessori school must go beyond traditional classroom boundaries, both physical and mental, molding productive, caring, and responsible individuals.
Only 15% of all Montessori member schools are accredited – and we are proud to say MSC is part of that select group. Not only do we manage to deliver all the main components necessary to the Montessori learning experience, but we do that in the best environment, with the help of extremely competent staff.
Classrooms
Our learning environments are carefully prepared to meet the needs of the children. Everything is proportioned to fit the range of students working within their environment. This careful preparation facilitates not only your child’s interaction with that environment but a clear sense of ownership over their surroundings as well.
In our mixed-age classrooms, children discover the dignity of work as well as the importance of caring for themselves and others. Older students serve as grounded role models and mentors that younger students can look up to and interact with. The teacher observes all of this closely, taking notes, guiding, and having one-on-one interactions when necessary.
- Prepared environment
- Children take ownership of their surroundings
- Mixed-age Classrooms
- Older students acting as grounded role models
- Teachers are careful watchers and guides
Campus
Our campus is a place where students can feel protected and productive as they take part in learning. Outdoors on campus, students can learn important values and real-life skills through hands-on tasks and social interactions as a community.
The campus will gives the child the chance to learn the importance of being environmentally responsible through practical tasks. We have gardens the children tend, and animal habitats like chicken coops and c ponds they’re partially responsible for maintaining.
- Direct contact with nature and animals within the campus
- Mindfulness surrounding the environment and the impact we have on nature
- Outdoor learning spaces
Certification
- We are among the 15% member schools of the American Montessori Society that are AMS-accredited.
- We have a certification from SAIS, which is granted to independent schools that comply with rigorous standards.
- We are a member of the Green Steps Schools program, which awards South Carolina schools with active sustainability projects.
Staff
Our staff is composed of professional, thoughtful, and dedicated people. We have people from all over the world, at different stages of their lives and from different backgrounds. All of them have one thing in common amidst this diversity: an immovable passion for the Montessori method. Teachers and administrative staff share one goal: giving their best effort for each child. Everything we do is to help them become an active, respectable, and conscious citizen of the world.
What Others Are Saying About MSC
“It has been gratifying to watch all four of our children independently chart their own academic and social growth at MSC. [They] have gone on to middle and high school, and we can see how their success has built on the foundation laid at MSC. While the school has grown, the important things remain: its high standards for teaching; passion for the Montessori method and its ideals; a community of engaged students, families and faculty.”
“Enrolling at MSC is the best decision we have made for our child. We have found a school that is creating lifelong learners and a community that feels like family! The focus on kindness and compassion in the classrooms allows our child to feel secure in asking questions, following his curiosity, and working independently. Since joining the elementary classroom, we have seen our child’s confidence bloom! He is gaining intrinsic motivation, time management skills, and organizational tools he needs to be successful well into his adult years. I could not imagine a better environment for children to thrive. “
“We have been members of the MSC community since enrolling our oldest in 3K in 2016. Since then we have enrolled 2 more children, and our oldest has transitioned to middle school. Needless to say, we love MSC for many reasons. First of all, the teachers and staff are awesome. They are kind and nurturing, always have good feedback at our teacher conferences, and the communication with parents is great. There is a strong emphasis on building community, and we have felt that from the beginning. Secondly, the facilities are really nice. The classrooms are like living rooms with lots of access to the outdoors. And, lastly the Montessori method of teaching fosters independence in children and sparks joy in learning. I believe it has given my children a wonderful foundation for lifelong learning.”
“The confidence I’ve seen within [my daughter] this year and her SEL growth have been astounding. Sure, it’s amazing to see her lettering and writing, it’s wonderful to hear her and all her math skills developing and her playing around with addition, it’s been SUPER fun to hear her piece together phonetics and start to sound out words and see her little eyes light up when she spells something or figures out how it is spelled! But more than anything – it’s been incredible to see her ability to focus improve, her manners and social queues grow, and to see her navigate social relationships so much better. “
“My family feels very fortunate to have placed our daughter at the Montessori School of Columbia. We’ve seen our daughter develop a unique and special bond with her teacher. She trusts and loves her teacher, and this enables her to feel safe to learn, explore, and develop in and outside of the classroom. I value the school’s emphasis on community and peaceful resolution. Their focus on independence and self-reliance has grown our 5-year-old into a confident, assertive person who is not timid or afraid in the world. An added, unexpected benefit of joining the school has been access to a network of like-minded parents who are caring and supportive of us: people who will be lifelong friends of our family. As someone who is not originally from here, being part of this community is invaluable.”
“The foundations of learning that the Montessori curriculum provided me have been instrumental in further education. From a very young age, Montessori has encouraged me to explore my interests and push myself to beyond typical classroom requirements. MSC has instilled an overall desire to learn more each and every day, as well as providing the groundwork for academic excellence in every subject area. I contribute many of the learning and studying strategies I use in University to those taught to me at MSC.”
“I thought I knew what I was signing up for when we chose MSC for our girls. What we actually got was so different from what I imagined but so good. No one child is created the same, and at MSC they are all treated with respect and dignity. Encouraging the growth of the whole child is a really wonderful aspect of participating in the MSC community. We are thankful for our season at MSC. We were unprepared for the learning they experienced– they really help foster the growth of the whole child. It was a joy not only to send my kids to a school where they could be uniquely themselves and learn at their own pace, but also to experience the other perspective of the school as a substitute teacher and see how much the teachers truly care about the children and their development.”
“As an MSC parent and a professional, I have a unique perspective in seeing students acquire a thirst for knowledge and a continued desire to grow. MSC provides an opportunity to foster curiosity and confidence in students from Primary through the Upper Elementary grades. As a parent, my investment in this program is now reflected in later years as our family prepares our former MSC student for secondary school.”
“There is absolutely no school that rivals MSC. The charming campus, the dedicated family of teachers— I leapt out of bed every day, eager to go to school. Eating carefully divided brownies during a lesson on fractions, initiating mock presidential debates on the playground as fifth graders, completing research projects in every grade…that kind of environment and encouragement of learning were incredible gifts given to my classmates and me during our time there.”
