Children must have completed potty training and be able to use the toilet independently prior to starting school. Our facility is unable to admit children in pull-ups or diapers.

We encourage you to schedule a tour to determine if our school is the right fit for your family. The admissions process then involves completing our application form and submitting a deposit to be added to our waitlist. Re-enrollment for currently enrolled families is completed in February. New families who have completed the application process will be notified in early spring if a space is available for their child to enroll. Waitlist positions are determined by the date that completed application forms and deposits are received.

Enrollment preference is given in the following order; currently enrolled families, siblings of currently enrolled families, and then our waitlist. Places for current families will be filled in the order of receipt of completed enrollment paperwork+deposit. In the event we have more currently enrolled families requesting enrollment than spots available, a lottery will be held to fill the remaining places using the same priority ordering. Places for our waitlist families are offered in the order in which applications are received.

We charge a one-time processing fee to handle your application and manage the waitlist. This fee carries over each year, so if your child isn’t offered a spot one year, their place on the waitlist will automatically roll over to the next school year at no extra cost.

Prior to enrollment, we invite parents to experience our school firsthand through a personalized tour. These tours are scheduled during our morning work period, allowing you to observe our engaging curriculum in action while children are happily immersed in their learning activities. Please note that tours are exclusively for parents and childcare guardians to ensure an uninterrupted glimpse into our dynamic classrooms and facilities.

Please see our calendar information here: https://www.myrtlefarmmontessorischool.com/calendar/

Our program accommodates a maximum of 30 students, supported by up to 5 qualified staff members. We maintain student-to-teacher ratios that never exceed California state requirements, with a maximum ratio of 12:1. When operating at full capacity with 30 children onsite, our students are typically supervised by 3 to 4 indoor teachers and 1 outdoor teacher. This results in an approximate ratio of 1 teacher for every 7 students, ensuring attentive and personalized care for every child.

All our staff are experienced Montessori educators. Our teachers have completed formal training and hold a Montessori teaching credential. Our teaching assistants have completed an Early Childhood Education certification and informally trained with many years experience in Montessori classrooms. 

Our program is for children aged 3-6 years old. We accept children as young as 2 provided their 3rd birthday is on or before Oct 31st. The program includes an integrated kindergarten year for our 5-6 year olds.

A mixed age classroom is one of the hallmarks of a Montessori classroom. At school children aged 3-6 learn together. All children choose from a wide variety of materials in the classroom designed for different developmental levels. This helps children learn at their own pace and become inspired by “what’s ahead”. Older children have a special role; modelling classroom expectations and providing support to younger peers, helping to build confidence, empathy and responsibility.

Typically we conduct at least one onsite and one off site field trip during the year.

We use Dr. Jane Nelsen principles of positive discipline. Please click here to learn more.

All children work together in our mixed age classrooms and may work in any of our classrooms depending on the day’s activities. We offer four different custom-built spaces for learning. The main building includes our large main classroom and a smaller adjoining classroom. Outdoors we consider the farm environment another classroom. Here we have our gardens, animals and play areas. We also have a large, covered area and a small classroom building children use on their “outdoor day”.

Play is an important part of children’s development, and weather permitting, children enjoy playtime outdoors every day. During this time they have free access to the playground and other play equipment, butterfly garden and extensive green space area. Accompanied by a teacher they may work in the vegetable garden, or visit with the rabbits. For safety reasons children do not have access to the other farm animals during playtime. On designated days each week children will spend their entire work period outdoors as part of our outdoor curriculum. On these days they will help care for the farm animals, complete garden activities or work in the outdoor classroom.

The children keep rain boots at school for working with the farm animals and in the garden that are also used for rainy days. Depending on the season, children will keep raincoats, hats etc at school so they can be dressed appropriately for indoor and outdoor work and play. We will stay indoors only for excessively bad weather including extreme heat, cold, rain or hazardous air quality. On these days we have playtime inside and offer a variety of fun activities.

We have babydoll sheep, a rabbit, alpacas, chickens and a horse at the farm. Clear safety guidelines are followed to ensure children and animal safety while allowing children to have a unique learning experience in this truly special environment.

The State of California requires that several health forms be on file at the school. A physical exam and TB test must have been administered within a year of the child’s first day at school. The TB skin test is often waived based on risk assessment conducted by your child’s physician. Immunizations or immunization waiver documentation must be up to date prior to enrollment.