School Profile

The Montessori School of Raleigh prepares students for competitive college-preparatory secondary schools locally, regionally, and nationally.

Established: 1974 (Middle School, 1999)
Enrollment: 465
Grades: Toddlers (from 18 months) – Grade 9
Middle School: Grade 7-9 on 35 acres campus
Diversity: 28% students of color; 2 % staff of color
Financial Aid: 28% of students receive Financial Aid
Hours:
Early Care 7:30am
Children's House Morning Session 8:30am-12:00pm
Children's House Full Day 7:30-6:00
Elementary 8:15-3:00 and Middle School: 8:30am-3:30pm
After School 3:00-6:00 pm
Summer Camp: 18 months - 15 years
Faculty: 62 full and 10 part time teachers
Trustees: 15
Students' Native Languages: 20

Mission, Methodology, & Environment
The development of engaged and responsible citizen-scholars and curious and successful intellectual explorers who read great works with understanding, calculate with accuracy, write with clarity, solve problems, and think critically is at the heart of MSR’s work with children. The Montessori methodology inspires a love of learning and an understanding of abstract concepts through the use of manipulative materials in the early years and “learning by doing” in Elementary and Middle School. A 9:1 student/Faculty ratio at the Middle School level assures strong instruction and high accountability in small group lessons where students learn through application in seminar-style classrooms and where there are no “back rows”.

Curriculum
The rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum allows students of above-average ability and achievement to accelerate beyond “grade level” while developing as scholar-citizens in a close educational community organized in three-year developmental cycles (Early Childhood Development [18 to 36 months and 3-6 years old], and Grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9) of high standards and expectations. All Middle School courses offered follow both an Honors and Regular track. Students are matched to appropriate classes according to their skill sets.

Testing & Secondary School Admission
The Secondary School Admission Test is administered each fall to all 9th Year students. The average SSAT score for the graduating classes of 2002-08 was at the 92nd percentile nationally. Members of the graduating classes were admitted to: Ravenscroft School, Cary Academy, Durham Academy, East Chapel Hill High School, St. David's School, St. Mary’s School, Broughton High School (IB), Enloe High School, Leesville High School, Wakefield High School, Sanderson High School, Cardinal Gibbons High School, Raleigh Charter High School, Phillips Academy (MA), Phillips Exeter Academy (NH), and Walnut Hill School (MA), St Paul's School (NH), Taft (CT), Hill School (PA), Dana Hall School (MA), Deerfield Academy (MA), National Ballet School of Canada (Toronto).

Memberships: American Montessori Society, National Association of Independent Schools, North Carolina Association of Independent Schools

Accreditation
The Montessori School of Raleigh is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the American Montessori Society, and the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, and meets or exceeds North Carolina and national association standards in every core curricular area.

Montessori classrooms are the perfect example of the “real world.” From the minute the children arrive they are evaluating priorities, making choices, and juggling to keep the balance between their social needs and goals as well as meeting the expectations of their community. Practicing these skills now means they will be able handle challenges as they mature. —Upper Elementary director