Tuition and Fees

List of 4 items.

• Youngest Children's Community (16 mos - 3 years)

  The Youngest Children's Community is a community of children from sixteen months of age to three years. Children enter the program between the ages of 16 and 18 months, if walking. Applicants over the age of 20 months are moved to the wait pool for the Children’s House.
  
  Within a nurturing environment, a specially trained Montessori guide fosters the development of gross and fine motor skills, independence, and language. A sense of ownership of place and belonging within a community is cultivated through communal and individual activities.

• Children's House (3 - 6 years)

  The Children's House – also known as the primary level – is a community of children who live and learn together in a prepared environment that offers choices of individual activities that aid the child's work of "self-construction." Children enter this program between two years and ten months, and three years and six months of age. No prior Montessori experience is necessary and children must be fully toilet independent and able to dress/undress independently. Children cannot be permitted to wear diapers or pull-ups while at school. 
  
  In this environment, the Montessori guide cultivates in the children the ability to choose freely, sustain focused and concentrated attention, think clearly and constructively, and express themselves through language and the arts. Through the active development of the will and the satisfaction of their authentic needs, the children become self-disciplined and socially cohesive.
  
  Areas of activity at the primary level include practical life, sensorial exploration, language, mathematics, and cultural subjects. The extensive sets of Montessori materials in each of these areas are designed to appeal to the children's deep interest and to inspire repeated activity. The children's absorbent minds take in vast amounts of information and grasp sophisticated relationships and principles wholly and effortlessly.

• Early Elementary (6 - 9 years) and Upper Elementary (9 - 12 years)

  This program is for children rising to grades 1 through to 6. Prior Montessori experience is needed.
  
  Maria Montessori called her plan for the elementary child the "Cosmic Curriculum." "Cosmic" in this context means comprehensive, holistic, and purposeful. The goals of Cosmic Education go far beyond the usual goals of skill development and knowledge acquisition to address the development of the whole person. Children who complete the Cosmic Curriculum have a clear understanding of the natural world, human knowledge, and themselves. These children are prepared to leave childhood behind and enter adolescence as independent, confident, responsible, emotionally intelligent individuals, balanced in physical, intellectual, and social achievements. They are academically and practically prepared to pursue self-education in many areas; to make responsible decisions and responsibly act on them; to recognize limits and give, ask for, and receive help, as needed.

• Adolescent Community (12 - 15 years)

  This program is for children rising to grade 7. Prior Montessori experience is preferred.
  
  In the Austin Montessori Adolescent Community, the adults collaborate in preparing an environment that meets the cognitive, social, and physical needs of adolescents so that they can continue their self-development. The students learn within a small community structure, taking on academic and community responsibility, and contributing their service and expertise. They are provided with avenues of self-expression and social interaction and opportunities for adult work and economic independence in the form of small business ventures. Austin Montessori School recognizes the value of work, both intellectual and practical, valued by the community as an avenue to self-construction and an enriched sense of self-worth.

  
  To orient the adolescent during this time of transition, we endeavor to articulate the history of knowledge, ideas, discoveries, and inventions that have shaped humanity's progress. We use an integrated project approach to engage students in pursuing ideas and expertise, encouraging them to become better thinkers, problem-solvers, and responsible and informed citizens.