Academics

Montessori Elementary

Maria Montessori

Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world. 
At Headwaters Elementary, we help students grow into academically curious, emotionally intelligent, and collaborative members of a learning community.
Located on our Creek Campus at 9607 Brodie Lane, our Elementary Montessori program serves children from Kindergarten through 5th grade. This spacious 4-acre campus provides ample outdoor learning opportunities indoors and out.

There are three K/1st grade classes, three 2nd/3rd grade classes, and two 4th/5th grade classes. Each class has two guides as well as specialists who come to teach regular classes in music, gardening, art, health & fitness, and Spanish. We have recess on our playground everyday to give the children an opportunity to interact and cultivate relationships. This also allows time for them to recharge in their own unique ways, whether engaging in soothing activities or playing hard.

Learn More About the Elementary Program

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  • Daily Schedule

    During the course of a day, children participate in individual, small, and whole-group lessons, as well as work both in partnerships and independently. Children are allowed to advance at their own pace. A child may quickly master one concept and need to spend a longer amount of time on another. This way, children experience learning as moving from one level of mastery to another, thus developing a positive and healthy view of themselves as learners. They also come to appreciate that all people have a unique set of strengths and challenges. We track the children's progression through the curriculum with a combination of student record-keeping and portfolio maintenance as well as teacher observation, evaluation, and record-keeping. This ensures that all academic goals are met.

  • In Partnership with Parents

    We honor parents as invaluable partners. The classroom guides communicate regularly with parents in a variety of modes, from bi-weekly class updates to regular conferences and progress reports. We rely on parents' all-important insights to help us serve the children, and are always receptive to emails, notes, informal conversations, and special meetings.

    We have parent meetings, work days, and workshops throughout the year. We encourage parents to share in our many special events such as field day and Singing Songs gatherings. Most parents find that investing their time in building relationships with the other parents and staff truly enriches their lives and becomes an important part of their experience in our community.

Elementary Curriculum

Our Elementary Montessori Program curriculum exposes children to the workings of the universe, from the big bang to the Earth's intricate web of life. We ignite their imaginations with factual, dramatic stories and scientific demonstrations, giving the children a thorough basic framework for understanding the sciences, including botany, zoology, chemistry, physics and earth science.

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  • Learn More About Our Curriculum

    We explore the ways people lived throughout the ages, including Prehistoric People, the Mesopotamians, Ancient Egypt, the Golden Age of Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Each subject is woven into the other to create a beautiful tapestry. For instance, the study of the development of early civilizations connects to the study of earth's biomes, which also connects to the study of physics. The children are invited to delve into these integrated studies of science and human culture with independent follow-up work. Their research is driven by personal interests. For example, a child who loves political geography may memorize all the countries of Europe, while another pair of children research the evolution of mammals.

    In addition to this "cosmic curriculum" (as Maria Montessori called it), the children learn mathematics through brilliantly designed hands-on materials. Math lessons follow a specific sequence, moving from a very concrete representation of concepts to increasingly abstract. Children learn how to think in mathematical-logical ways. We cover all of the standard mathematical concepts, and then go beyond these in areas such as geometry and advanced mathematical operations.

    Our language program includes literature study, reading comprehension, writing (all genres), spelling and word study. Grammar is presented through the study of words, parts of speech, and sentence analysis. Children learn spelling with an individualized program, which spans all elementary years. Much of our language work directly complements and enhances our science and cultural investigations.

Spring Campus

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Creek Campus

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River Campus

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As a 501(c)3 non-profit school, Headwaters School does not discriminate because of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other classes protected by federal, state, or local law in its admissions, financial aid, hiring, or board membership processes.