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Hillside Montessori has a home of their own. The school cut the ribbon on their new facility on Tuesday. The school is located on Hills and Dales Farm Road. 

Hillside had been leasing a location since 2012 when it was opened. Around six years ago they began looking for properties to expand. Monday marked the first day of classes at the new school. 

The students, from the toddlers to the eighth-graders gathered outside to celebrate the occasion. 

“We are so grateful for days like this when we can stop for a moment and celebrate and reflect. But the truth is that the most important days are often the ones when we don’t have a ceremony when we just show up here and do our best work,” said Bethany Headrick, the Head of School.

After thanking the donors, board members and staff at the school, Headrick addressed the students.

“As a tribute to those people…acknowledge the importance of teamwork and the power of collaboration, patience, empathy, listening to one another and finally, trusting the process. Students, those are things that happen in your classrooms every day and will remain essential all of your lives.”

The property is 13.5 acres. Along with indoor classrooms for each of the levels, there is an attached outdoor classroom. There are also separate music, theater and art spaces as well as a learning kitchen for the students. Headrick said the campus will include nature trails and an outdoor learning program in the wooded area surrounding the school. 

At the Montessori School, the students are broken up into levels. 

“We are in three-year age cycles in the classrooms. So in our lower elementary, we’ll have first, second and third graders all together,” Headrick explained. “It creates a really unique learning community, where the younger students learn from the older students, and the older students reinforce their learning by teaching the younger ones.”

According to the American Montessori Society, Montessori is a teaching philosophy that is, “student-led and self-paced but guided, assessed, and enriched by knowledgeable and caring teachers.”

Headrick uses the term, ‘follow the child’ saying, “Students learn at their own pace.  As soon as they master concepts, they may move on to the next one. And if they need more time learning a specific concept, they have more time.”

Inside they held another dedication. Terri Codlin, a longtime teacher and contributor to the school was present to see the unveiling of The Colin Children’s House. The wing is named after her and her husband, Jim for their work in helping make the new location possible. An emotional Terri heard from former students as they thanked her and recalled memories outside the center.

“I encourage people in the community to come and to visit and to see what Montessori is all about,” Headrick said. “I think there are a lot of misconceptions about Montessori, and I would love for people to see how empowering it is for children to be in an environment like this, and how they excel, both academically but socially as well.” 

After the festivities, the students returned to class to take advantage of all the new location has to offer.