Harborlight Montessori School

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News from the Admissions Office—March 2006
Rachel McAlpine, Director of Admission

Harborlight Montessori School is dedicated to academic excellence and strives to help each individual reach his/her fullest potential in various ways. We continue to build on our 33-year history and are proud that our well-established tradition of developing citizens of tomorrow continues today.
Harborlight is a tightly knit community of 274 students and 50 faculty and staff. The faculty and staff invest in getting to know the students well, not just in the classroom, but as they are active in their art, music, sports, community service and after school activities. With respect for each student as an individual thinker and doer, Harborlight faculty and staff deliver a challenging curriculum, which also offers the flexibility for the student to work at his/her own pace. The students develop character and intellect together, and this process is successful due to the quality and commitment of the adults in the community. The faculty take an interest in getting to know the students' parents and family, so they may establish an open dialogue about the student's progress.
Behind the outstanding faculty and staff, talented and promising students are involved parents. Parents who continue to send their children to Harborlight because they see in their children an eagerness to learn, growth in academic skills, confidence in their own abilities and a preparedness for the next level of learning.
Harborlight students are an integral part of shaping the school's environment. In the spirit of Dr. Maria Montessori's philosophy "follow the child", they are the driving force behind the decisions that affect the school and them directly. Providing a balance of group instruction, hands on learning experiences in and out of the classroom, individualized student lessons, field trips and special guests, keep students engaged in and excited about learning. In each democratically run classroom, students are encouraged to take initiative, share ideas, and play a role in planning classroom activities.

Knowledge for Life
Harborlight students are not pushed to intellectual accomplishments. Rather, learning comes naturally from stimulating lessons, materials, lectures and conversations. The end result is the child who is capable, confident, and well-prepared.
What is available to students at Harborlight is the gift of time. They are able to concentrate for uninterrupted periods of time in order to execute their work. The very nature of the philosophy allows for the students to work at their own pace and according to their abilities.
This translates into is a classroom of children working toward individual goals. Accomplishing these goals through individualized and small group lessons, and independent work leads to both mastery of content knowledge and skill in preparation for what comes next.
A Montessori curriculum offers students the opportunity to make connections from what they have learned before to new information that is presented to them. It is through these connections that children are able to acquire new information more readily.
While it is important that students acquire knowledge in order to perform successfully on tests, it is more important that they are able to retain and use this knowledge successfully many months and years after they have completed the lesson. It is through the repetition of activities and the practical application of learned skills that drive the children’s intellectual accomplishments.

Reenrollment Calendar

March 1st-Financial aid applications available in the Admission Office
March 1st–Reenrollment contracts were due &
March 10th-New students’ acceptance packages mailed
April 1st-Summer Contracts and deposits due
April 15th-Financial Aid applications and support documents due

Admission and Enrollment
You have made a very sound investment in Harborlight Montessori School for your child. A Harborlight education provides your child with the strongest foundation possible for life-long learning and exploration. The faculty and staff are committed to providing a safe, nurturing learning environment and a curriculum that appropriately challenges your child with a focus on individual readiness an eye toward excellence by way of high expectations and standards.
Harborlight students have good character, devote themselves to community values and are able to combine industry and creativity in their learning styles. They grow to become productive and responsible adults who make a difference in their communities and in the world. By choosing Harborlight your child's academic promise and personal potential will be maximized to its fullest.
Comprehensive goals and objectives for the next academic year and beyond will continue to develop and improve Harborlight's programs and augment many of the current teaching and learning resources. Careful research, observation, and collaborative planning efforts on the part of the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, and staff help to perpetuate the School's success.
The return of the completed Enrollment Contract, and applicable 10% enrollment deposit by March 1, 2006, will secure your child's enrollment for the 2006-2007 Academic Year. Acceptance letters will be sent in early March to new students' families who have been waiting to join the Harborlight Montessori School community.
If you have questions regarding enrollment and admissions please contact Rachel McAlpine, Director of Admission at 978-922-1008 ext. 20.

Affordability-Making Montessori a Priority
Harborlight Financial Aid
No family need be concerned with not continuing their child's Harborlight education due to financial restrictions.
Recognizing the importance of a consistent, quality educational experience and the mutual relationship already established between family and School, we will extend every effort to accommodate the needs of those families who wish for their children to experience a Harborlight education through the eighth grade.
In an effort to increase affordability of the programs and services offered at Harborlight, scholarship opportunities have been extended this year to accommodate student awards. Students eligible for kindergarten through grade eight for the academic year 2006-2007 may be eligible for Harborlight's financial aid program. All scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate a financial need, academic aptitude and personal promise. Financial aid applications are available in the admission office March 1, 2006 and are due April 15, 2006. Harborlight is a member of School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS). This services computes the parent's financial statement, assess and recommend an appropriate tuition contribution. SSS does not provide financial aid to the student, the School does.
Community Partnership
Beverly and Salem residents with children ages 2.9 to kindergarten eligibility may qualify for tuition vouchers through Community Partnership Programs. Harborlight has been a member of the Community Partnership Program since 1997. It is a state grant that funds family events, a literacy program, grants tuitions vouchers, and supports early learning services including nutrition, mental health, and advocacy.
The criteria for discounted tuition are- working parent(s) or parent(s) pursuing further education full-time, proof of residency, proof of citizenship or legal immigrant and child's birth certificate. Financial aid (discounted tuition) is not available at Harborlight for children under 2.9 years. However, financial need for families enrolling more than one student in the School is greatly considered in the Harborlight financial aid program.
For more information regarding financial aid , contact Harborlight’s Admissions Office or your Community Partnership Program. Coordinator directly- Suzy Fleming (Beverly) at 978-532-1179 & Hadee Benoit (Salem) at 978-740-1296.
Please be assured that all financial information, scholarship applications awards are treated confidentially.

Preparing for What Comes Next
Educators and parents agree that transitions can be both exciting and challenging. In preparation for making a transition from one program to another, we invite the children to explore the classrooms, meet the teachers and students, and introduce them to what some of the routines are (snack, class meeting/group-time, etc.)
Toddlers visit the Early Childhood classrooms in small groups with their teacher. Kindergarten students visit on one of the three lower elementary classes, individually or in pairs, participate in classroom activities and complete both formal and informal assessments with the teacher. Harborlight's own Student Ambassadors from Upper elementary and Middle School host students who will be visiting. At the upper grades these students engage in a day-long visit, participate in classroom lessons, and meet individually with the teacher.
These classroom visits are a useful tool for student placement. As the students visit their future classrooms, we invite parents to get a closer look as well. We extend the opportunity to see the classroom in action and meet the creative faculty and motivated students.
We strongly believe in the strength and integrity of each classroom. While we are always open to parent requests, it is also important for the programs' success to place students with consideration to gender, age, grade level balance and each student's personality. Preference in classroom assignments will be given to siblings. Prior to requesting a teacher or classroom, we recommend you visit at least three classrooms that may potentially be your child's placement for the next academic year. All requests shall be written directly to the Director of Admission.

Harborlight Montessori School
Infant through Grade 8

The Kindergarten Decision
Whether it be the local public or private school versus Montessori needn't differ because they consist of the same rudimentary elements. The differences between these traditional kindergarten programs and Montessori however, are numerous and the scope of them is broad.
When a child has been afforded Montessori for early learning, he has actively experienced a hands-on learning system that develops concrete understanding of abstract concepts and creates a confidence and facility for learning and problem solving that motivates and prepares him for future learning. In Montessori, the "hidden curriculum" develops concentration, coordination, order and independence. During the first two years of early childhood, the child grows a positive sense of self, responsibility, gracefulness, and interest in the world around him by working in the five main areas of the Montessori classroom. The work in the practical life area prepares him in self-help skills and fine motor control. Sensorial materials engage him in the fundamentals of math, including geometry and algebra, assist him with the isolation and degrees of height, depth, weight, temperature, sound, texture and taste. The child's young brain is hardwired for logical and mathematical thinking. Through the use of the bead materials, and other mathematics activities, he is able to develop an advanced understanding of decimal system, place value, mathematical operations and internalize these functions through repetition, which leads them further into memorization and abstraction. Recognizing the child's interest and readiness for reading and writing, the language area of the classroom is a prescribed program that begins at each child's point of readiness and continues at his predetermined rate of learning. Opportunities for language within all areas of the curriculum exist, enabling the child to experience and practice his skills in relation to subject matter. Without pushing the student to academic achievement, the Montessori curriculum extends the best practices for reading and writing that enable him to be accomplished by the end of the kindergarten year. While most schools exclude or limit the lessons and experiences in science, geography, history and other cultural areas, Montessori provides with a wide range of lessons in these areas. Dr. Maria Montessori often described her approach as an "education for life" in which she defined what students gain as "more than just basic academic skills".
The extensive scope of the curriculum and the depth to which the child understands complex concepts create a model for cultural literacy. This concept inevitably raises concerns for parents who may fear the possibility of the child becoming "bored" in a traditional setting. It also draws attention to a concern for the child's eventual transition to a more traditional school environment and brings to light the possible need to make this transition early so that he may settle in at the same time as other students. Focusing on the concern for transitioning to a more traditional school, first the child's experience of adjusting must be addressed. When a child transfers from Montessori to a community kindergarten the first few months are a mutual learning period - a time for the child to make connections with other students and for the teacher to assess cognitive abilities. Unfortunately, due to lower expectations and standards the child's advanced cognitive abilities are not completely discovered. Many schools fall into a pattern of giving exercises and drills that conform to test preparation and result in short-term memory satisfaction, which discourage a motivated, independent thinker and learner.
These self-confident, engaged, enthusiastic learners make the transition to a more traditional school with ease. Montessori students have the capacity to take knowledge learned apply it to practical situations, and make connections to future experiences. The highly trained Montessori teacher skillfully presents information in developmentally appropriate ways that lead to comprehensive understanding, knowledge and skills that can be applied to new situations. This focus on success, skills and complete comprehension during the kindergarten year builds upon the foundation of academic concepts constructed in the young mind through early learning experiences. The five areas of the classroom continue to meet the developmental needs of the child in the kindergarten year and beyond. The fundamental nature of the individualized curriculum allows for each child to progress academically according to his readiness and without interference or hindrance.
In the multi-age classroom the kindergarten-age children are positive role models and often assist the younger children by helping to check their work or actually giving lessons. A parent's concern for having their kindergartener in a classroom with 3 and 4 year olds is readily dismissed when they observe the skill it takes to explain the process of a new concept to another child and the practice obtained through reviewing learned knowledge. It is the development of independence and sense of autonomy that arises from these experiences that are rewarding, validating and valuable to the young child.
The child who is academically adept, self-assured and enthusiastic about learning can adapt to new situations easily and confidently. They possess the ability to assert themselves socially and are willing to adapt to the curriculum. Accustomed to an environment based on mutual respect and a high set of expectations for student independence, the student must now accommodate to requesting permission for simple tasks like using the restroom or sharpening a pencil. Likewise students must conform to the concept of working on tasks according to a time schedule. The Montessori student can work until his work is complete and is not familiar with "busy work", which we know is generally more of the same work to keep a student occupied until the others "catch up". The great amount of time not on task, which may take the form of a disruptive peer, or the teacher not being available for the student, frequently frustrates the eager learner who once steered his own pace for learning and made steady process throughout the day. The student who is ready for accelerated work may not be allowed the opportunity to take on more challenging lessons or stretch his cognitive abilities beyond the standard course of study predetermined by grade level.
By the end of the kindergarten year, Montessori students have developed academic skills, learned good habits for learning, and share with each other a joy in learning and developing sense of pride in work accomplished. In Montessori kindergarten children not only learn how to learn, they love learning. If they transfer prior to the kindergarten year, they may not be able to make the connection from what they have been learning (concretely) to the next level (abstractly) in kindergarten and beyond.

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