George Bannerman Dealey Montessori School - Dallas, TX

Maria Montessori said "Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment." The goal of the teachers and staff at George Bannerman Dealey Montessori is to use the Montessori Method and materials to ensure our students have these experiences. Dealey students begin their journey as early as Pre-Kindergarten with tactile materials designed to make the learning process more concrete and aid in the development of fine motor skills. As the students mature and progress, the tactile materials are gradually replaced with more abstract ideas and concepts. Since all of the classrooms at Dealey are multi-age, each student is able to make the transition from concrete to abstract at their own pace without being singled out. In addition, multi-age classrooms expose younger children to higher-level concepts when they are individually ready to learn those concepts, and it also provides the older children a chance to solidify their knowledge by making connections across subject materials and across grade levels. In addition, Dealey students maintain a thriving outdoor garden area where they can combine experiences in science, math, and other disciplines into a single focused activity. Dealey students are also active in many extra-curricular activities such as orchestra, choir, chess, robotics, boy scouts and girl scouts, theater, and many types of athletics. When wrapped up together, it is clear that Dealey students truly experience education in the way Maria Montessori envisioned.