Welcome to North Park Montessori (PK-8)

Four Programs. Two Buildings. One School. 

North Park Montessori Academy is a Pre-K to 8th grade program serving hundreds of scholars in the city's Northeast quadrant.  We are one school, two buildings, and four programs.  Our Tier I instructional model is based on the three main tenets of a high-fidelity Montessori program: care of the whole child, an uninterrupted three-hour work cycle, and multi-age classrooms spanning three grades.  We have four Primary/Children's House learning environments (pre-K-kinder), six Lower Elementary learning environments (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades), and six Upper Elementary learning environments (4th, 5th, and 6th grades). We also have three middle school learning environments (7th and 8th grades) which prepare our scholars for high school.  

North Park follows the Montessori Cosmic Education curriculum, which aligns with state and federal curriculum standards but teaches children using stories that include the Birth of the Sun, the Timeline of Life on Earth, the Timeline of Human Life, the History of Language, and the History of Math. These stories spark curiosity and engage scholars in important reading, writing, biology, chemistry, physics, and history work each day.  Our highly competent and well-trained Montessori-certified staff also encourage the use of hands-on materials to explore these topics and promote scholar-centered learning. 

We also have a dynamic, culturally diverse, and engaged parent community eager to support learning in our building and promote the growth of public Montessori programming across Western Michigan.

North Park Montessori Program Highlights:

• A 12-acre forest used to teach plant and animal identification, remove invasive species, and make room for endangered species (Wellerwood Campus); each classroom makes monthly visits to the forest--"silent journeys"--to be with nature
• Three acres of play space used for recess each day: three playgrounds; tennis courts; basketball courts; football, baseball, and soccer fields; and a snow hill 
• Scholar-led and managed gardening program 
• Middle school Theatre, Community Service Learning, and Self Expressions programs 
• A strong Music program kinder to 8th grade (attending state competitions)