About

In 1966, Ottawa Montessori School began offering Montessori education to a small number of children between 3 and 6 years of age. We now have about 400 children from 18 months to Grade 8 and a modern facility wms, a library, and a gymnasium. We have a rich community of students with diverse abilities, interests, cultures and needs. The curriculum wnternationally recognized and implemented in schools across Cited States and throughout the world. Ottawa Montessori School is licensed under the Day Nurseries Act, registered with the Ministry of Education, and accredited by the Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators. We are recognized as a leading Montessori school in Canada.

Our vision: is a peaceful, ividuals are joyfully engaged in contributing to the well being of all life.

Our Mission: In order to bring this vision to reality,
• We provide exemplary, affordable Montessori education to Ottawa area families for children from 18 months through Junior High
• We provide comparable opportunities whenever possible for Ottawa area Francophone families
• We apply Montessori principles in such a way as to encourage engagement, continual learning, perseverance, independence, collaboration, and joy
• We embrace and support all former and current members of the OMS community in their contributions to our mission
• We share our expertise, and our passion and belief in the power of Montessori principles, with the Montessori community and the larger world

Values: When we have a tough decision to make we will always consider foremost the best interests of the student and err on the side of integrity.

We value:

• Respect for ourselves, for others and for the world
• The power of individual responsibility, as well as the power of collaboration and community
• Our best selves and continual
• A culture of compassion and mutual assistance
• Commitment to what is possible, to that which is not yet seen
• Active engagement and perserverance
• Enthusiasm, camaraderie and joy

Programs

Our classrooms are prepared to help children accomplish their goals in their own manner, whether we call it work or play, study or exploration. Gradually, the children reveal qualities for which they are not usually given credit, such as intense concentration and surprising attention span, exactness and precise movement, a sense of order, maximum effort by even very little ones, self–discipline and respect for others, kindness and an obvious joy in work.

Each classroom is a prepared environment designed to support the child's need for purposeful activity. Part of the prepared environment is the AMI Montessori teacher and the assistant, who serve as links between the children and the environment, the mixed age groups, and the Montessori material.

Ottawa Montessori School offers four programs:
Toddler: for children eighteen to thirty–six months.
Casa: for children two and a half to six years old.
(Entrance age 2.5 to 4 years)
*Elementary: for children from six to twelve years old. (Comparable to Grades 1 to 6)
*Junior High: for adolescents approximately 12 to 14 years of age. (Comparable to Grades 7 & 8)

Programs—Junior High

The questions adolescents ask are: Who am I? What am I good at? What am I good for? What is my role? How do I fit in? Our role is to address the needs of these young adults and create a safe community in which they can extend themselves and take risks. We provide a curriculum that emphasizes the relevance of its subject matter, a curriculum that provides a framework through which the students will see connections between themselves and the world they will soon enter as adults. As Montessori said, we do not want complacent students, rather those who realize their potential through their own experiences.

The student, aged 12 to 15, is preparing to enter adulthood and is developing a more mature personality. This age is a period of intense physical, emotional, cognitive and social development and change, with all the insecurities and excitement that go along with that change. Montessori pedagogy is based on providing for the specific developmental characteristics and needs of each age in order to optimize the total development of the young person and to sustain the young person?s innate desire to learn. The Junior High program at Ottawa Montessori School is designed to respond to these characteristics and needs.

The student, aged 12 to 15, is preparing to enter adulthood and is developing a more mature personality. This age is a period of intense physical, emotional, cognitive and social development and change, with all the insecurities and excitement that go along with that change. Montessori pedagogy is based on providing for the specific developmental characteristics and needs of each age in order to optimize the total developmentdevelopmentdevelopmentdevelopment of the young person and to sustain the young persons innate desire to learn....