A Montessori and IB World School
Signature Programs
The Montessori School of Raleigh offers several signature programs, unique opportunities that enhance learning and the overall student experience. Grounded in Montessori and IB philosophy, MSR's signature programs engage students in developmentally-appropriate activities that build on and intersect with grade-level academic curriculum.
Explore MSR's Signature Programs
Exploration Week
Each year before Thanksgiving Holiday, Grades 7 - 10 curriculum at The Montessori School of Raleigh (MSR) pauses for Exploration Week, a one-week period when students — accompanied by MSR teachers, staff members, and sometimes parents — participate in full-immersion, interdisciplinary studies.
MSR is fortunate to be part of the greater Raleigh-Durham community and able to take advantage of the wealth of educational, technological, medical, cultural, and other resources available here and which provide valuable real-life learning opportunities. MSR’s Middle School Intersession program, a signature program designed to introduce students to new experiences, places, people, and ideas, connects students with Triangle-area organizations, destinations, and experts in a variety of disciplines allowing students to take a deep dive into areas of interest outside the typical academic program. Each Intersession course offers opportunities for on- and off-campus experiences and include working with and learning from area experts.
Intersession offerings are as varied as student interests and have included:
- Robotics – Explore the origins, applications, and future of robotics and then put the fundamentals of robot mechanisms and dynamics into action! Collaboratively design, build, and program robots that respond to light, motion, sound, or other human-machine interfaces.
- Entrepreneurship - Enjoy a business breakfast on campus with career development professional from Google and Silicon Valley. Learn how to start a small business with a program manager at First Flight, a science and technology business incubator. Visit First Flight in Research Triangle Park to hear medical and biotech companies pitch their business ideas. Develop and pitch your own business ideas and launch your own mini-business.
- Gardening - Explore the Brier Creek Campus (BCC) and surrounding areas, conducting experiments to learn more about seed germination and soil requirements. Dissect seeds and flowers to understand growth and reproduction and explore flower anatomy to learn about pollinators and how their compatible structures allow for more successful fertilization and fruit production. Design and plant a pollinator garden to attract organisms beneficial to the BCC garden and its productivity.
- App Design – Create an engaging mobile app design from start to finish, working through the design thinking process to develop and explore your original app idea and building the technical proficiency and planning skills that take your idea to finished product.
Land & Livestock
Land and Livestock is an experiential program designed to not only cultivate the earth, but cultivate students' appreciation and understanding of the natural world and guide them in becoming stewards of the environment.
Through hands-on activities and student-led initiatives, Land and Livestock engages students in the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of herbs, vegetables, berries, and eggs from its on-campus gardens and chicken coop. The program also teaches students about healthy eating and cooking. During seasons of harvest, students plan and prepare dishes from the garden. They gain cooking skills and create food challenges and tasting competitions to test their knowledge of the herbs and vegetables they have grown from seed.
The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to live in harmony with the Earth.
—Dr. Maria Montessori
The Farm
The Farm at MSR's Brier Creek Campus is composed of acres of cultivated and uncultivated land. It includes:
- Multiple raised garden beds
- Multiple in-ground gardens
- Hydroponic seed starter
- Greenhouse
- Chicken coop
- Wild berry plants
- Pond
- Miles of wooded trails
Land...
Vegetables
Arugula, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, beans, corn, garlic, mustard, peas, peppers, squash Spinach, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon.
Fruits
Blueberries, blackberries
Herbs
Basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, rosemary, thyme
Grains
Wheat, barley
...and livestock
Chickens
Fresh organic eggs from chickens living in our on-campus chicken coop
Program Goals
Objectives
- Observe and understand the natural world through her own senses and first-hand experiences and observations
- Develop a confident expectation and a virtue of patience in tending, growth, and change of the natural world around him
- Cultivate and grow in the role of caretaker of her natural environment as the foundation of all other creations of our community and industry
- Work with his hands and body to contribute meaningfully to the community and natural world in a way that brings dignity and value to one’s labor
- Provide opportunities for observation and contemplation of the larger natural world, the minutiae of soil and flora, as well as of oneself
- Find a space for application and experimentation of academic pursuits, questions, and explorations.
- Explore food literacy by familiarizing themselves with locally grown foods, understanding how to grow, harvest and prepare natural, healthy foods.
Ethics
- We are partners with the environment. We are in a relationship with the natural world. In order to develop that relationship, we must observe, feel, hear, and experience the natural world by our own hands.
- Our land and its resources are to be cherished, protected and replenished. We will use resources wisely, reuse and recycle wherever possible, and create sustainable practices for our own land and communities.
- If we pay attention, our relationship with the land has the potential to change us. Direct contact with the natural world is crucial in the personal growth of our ability to extend our ethics beyond our own self-interest. The more we see ourselves as a part of something larger, the broader will be our understanding of community, responsibility, and ourselves.
Suzuki Violin
The Suzuki Violin program was established at The Montessori School of Raleigh during the 2021-2022 academic year beginning with students in the school's Children House. The program has continued to grow, now offering instruction to all students in Lower Elementary (Grades 1 - 3).
In keeping with the Montessori emphasis on a balanced, whole-child learning experience, the program continues to expand as students progress with their violin studies from year to year. Two Suzuki-trained music educators guide the children in the Suzuki method which uses listening, imitation, and repetition to help students learn to play the violin. Each year students enjoy performing in recital for an audience of peers and family.
