Respect for ourselves and others - We do this daily through a foundational curriculum component, beginning with our infant students and continuing through sixth grade, 12 months each year. We call those lessons Grace and Courtesy. At our school, interpersonal skills are just as essential as academic skills. Children learn how to greet others, how to say please and thank you, how to take turns, and how to resolve conflicts using the Peace Rose. These lessons help children develop social skills, build relationships, and create community. We model and directly teach Grace and Courtesy in all we do with our students and one another.
United in Faith and Community as we begin Catholic Schools Week
Jan 27, 2024
Since 1974, Catholic Schools Week has provided Catholic schools nationwide with a way to come together to celebrate our many offerings through traditional educational models and Montessori schools such as ours. The Felician Sisters of North America founded Montessori Center of Our Lady 47 years ago! When the school outgrew the Mother House, the Felician Sisters constructed our current home on campus, steps away from their residence—beyond the tall and low windows that even our infants can look out from, the Sisters made sure to surround us with ample green spaces that include our playgrounds, gardens, and wooded trails.
Montessori Center of Our Lady is among over 40 Felician-Sponsored Ministries in North America, Canada and Haiti. We are part of The Felician Sisters Child Care Centers, Inc., focusing on educating and nurturing children in a peaceful and faith-based environment.
This year's nationwide theme for Catholic Schools Week is United in Faith and Community. Here at Montessori Center of Our Lady, we will celebrate the week with daily activities that allow us to celebrate faith and community with our students, families, and staff. Our Mission Director will guide students through a scavenger hunt created just for them based on their weekly Young Children's Worship Enrichment class.
Many of us know that Catholic Schools typically offer a dynamic curriculum. Did you know that we have a 99% high school graduation rate and that 85% also graduate from college? We know from the National Catholic Education Association that this proves to be true. It may be partly because we provide a balanced academic curriculum with key fundamental human factors, including culture, life, and faith. A Montessori Catholic education actively uses an individualized approach to learning, emphasizing hands-on activities and focusing on child-led learning. One of our parents recently shared,
“Our family chose Montessori Center of Our Lady (MCOL) for our children in order to weave the tenets of Catholic faith into a solid educational foundation. Our children are lovingly cared for in a peaceful and safe environment as they appreciate and learn to care for God’s creation. Graduates of MCOL in our family still fondly reflect on their own teachers, their classrooms, and time in the chapel.”
While a balanced academic curriculum certainly matter to a child's life in school, other components
integral to human development at a young age provide the child with experiences and opportunities
that can influence and carry over into their adult life. Let's explore a few –
As the children are developmentally ready, our team teaches moral development related to "right from wrong" based on society's written and unwritten social and cultural laws and norms. For example, our elementary students hold weekly community meetings to discuss rights and wrongs that concern them individually, the community, and the world. Students begin the meeting with compliments and acknowledgements and each student has an opportunity to participate. Next, the students address concerns and discuss solutions to those problems together. Doing so teaches the students that they can problem solve and speak for themselves and on behalf of others. We do this in partnership with our families...our community.
We instill in our students the value of service to others. Whether it is a toddler helping a friend to put on their shoes, a Children's House student lending a hand to a friend who spilled something on the floor, or Elementary students serving hot lunch to the school or doing art lessons with the Felician Sisters at the Mother House, service is an integral part of our students Catholic Montessori education.
We would be remiss if we did not mention our collective community service on behalf of our planet. We embrace the Felician Sisters' steadfast commitment to Care of the Earth. Here are a few ways our team and our students share in our collective responsibility toward the planet each of us shares - community communication is 99.5% electronic to reduce paper waste, we recycle, we repurpose and reuse various items (i.e., tires become garden planters, tree stumps become playground fun for core stabilization and proprioceptive feedback, children eat on plates, use utensils, drink from glasses pick up windblown debris from the Sisters campus and more.
We are so ready to let the fun begin as we celebrate Catholic Schools across our country, each bringing faith and community to the forefront of their daily work, individually and collectively. How can you incorporate faith and community into your own life or that of a person needing compassion?
We share Catholic Schools Week with you with this thought in mind - Our world is vast, and each of us has something unique within us to share with another person, whether it be as simple as a smile, the generosity of a hug or more...we can do great things by taking small steps!
We are Montessori Center of Our Lady and together we are better!