Dr. Lindsey Pollock, Principal
Houston Independent School District
Garden Oaks Montessori
with an emphasis on
Environmental Sciences
Thanks to Donda Slaydon for
encouraging this project and
topic for today’s presentation!
Video Clip
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Public neighborhood school - 1942
69% free and reduced lunch
65% Hispanic, 10% African-American, 22%
White and 3% Asian
98% average daily attendance
696 students – (PK3 – 7th, adding 8th grade)
27 Montessori (9 Children’s House, 11 Lower
Elementary, 6 Upper Elementary and 1 MS)
2 Traditional classrooms + PALS/PSI
Parents send their very best!
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Provides daily challenges
Opportunities to work independently
Subject and grade-based acceleration
Differentiation
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Content, process, product, learning environment
Advanced level work
Flexible grouping
No grades – emphasis on personal best
Who was Maria Montessori?
Italian
Only child (1870 – 1952)
Engineer first, then studied medicine
Single mother (son, Mario)
Physician – first woman to qualify
“… they know intuitively when someone really
cares about them.… It is only the upper classes
that have a prejudice against women leading a
useful existence.” [1]
Casa de Bambini - 1907
Nomad – Advocate for children
Nobel Peace Prize 3 time nominee
Died in the Netherlands
“The subject of our study is humanity; our
purpose is to become teachers. Now, what
really makes a teacher is love for the human
child; for it is love that transforms the social
duty of the educator into the higher
consciousness of a mission”[2].
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System of education and a philosophy of life
Found worldwide – 100+ years old
Focus on emotional, intellectual and
developmental mind/body connections
Profound respect for individual child
Belief that learning is innate
Internal locus of control
Environments in which children are self-directed
learners and collaborate with others
Hands-on, inquiry-based
Multi-age classrooms
Children’s house
Lower Elementary
Upper Elementary
Middle School
Individual Work Plans – personalized, differentiated
Peace Education – personal, community, global
Cosmic Education
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5.
God with No Hands – Laws of Nature
Coming of Life – Progression and adaptation
of life on Earth
Coming of the Human Being – Power to
reason and think and the power of the will to
choose the good of others and serve
Story of Communication in signs – Power of
Language of communication
Story of Numbers – Language of Invention
----Miller, 2006
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Cosmic Education – perceptions and choices
Service to others – community in classroom, at
school and away from school
Academic language – language of the
disciplines
Cosmic potential – who am I? what is my
purpose to self and others?
Interdisciplinary – multi-cultural
Perseverance (grit)
No grades – emphasis on personal best
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Sensitive period 3yr – 6yr (PK3 – Kinder)
Constructivist – the hand is the chief teacher of
the child
Students work independently on
individualized tasks and with other students
Normalized classrooms are buzzing with
activity
Development of concentration, coordination
and working habits
1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade
 Social Relationships
 Sense of wonder in how the world works –
growing awareness of roles and responsibilities
 Use of tools and machines – purpose
 Instruction is a living thing as children explore
real-life application of learning
 Interdisciplinary connections
 Reading and math
4th, 5th and 6th grade
 Justice and morality
 Human culture and membership in the human
family
 Sense of how the world works and where they
belong in the world
7th and 8th grade
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Data-driven accountability
PK Assessment
 TPRI/Tejas Lee
 Stanford/Aprenda
 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness
 Naglieri Non-verbal Abilities Test (NNAT)
 Grades
 Competition
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Brain-based – whole-child
Interdisciplinary
Connections
Creativity – igniting a child’s sense of
discovery and imagination
21st Century Learning skills
Cultural connections – values all people
Differentiated, individualized
Follow the child
Follow nature
Listen to the universe through you
advocate for equity and justice
Montessori Teachers
Administration
Recruitment/Parent Education
Curriculum and Environment
Assessment
Professional Development
This document was drafted and endorsed in the late 1990s by several Montessori
organizations* wishing to help guide the growth of public school Montessori.
*The American Montessori Society, the Association Montessori Internationale, the
North American Montessori Teachers’ Association, Montessori Educational
Programs International, and the Southwestern Montessori Training Center
Garden Oaks Montessori
www.houstonisd.org
American Montessori Society
http://www.public-montessori.org/resources-library
Bangel, N. Moon, S. & Capobianco, B. (2010, Summer). Preservice teacher’s perceptions
and experiences in a gifted training model. The Gifted Child Quarterly, 54(3), 209-221.
Gordon, C. (2007). Together with Montessori: The guide to help Montessori teachers,
assistant teachers, resource teachers, administrators & parents work in harmony to create
great schools. Minneapolis, MN: Jola Publications.
Haines, A., Baker, K. & Kahn, D. (2006). Optimal developmental outcomes: The social,
moral, cognitive and emotional dimensions of a Montessori education. Retrieved from:
http://http://amshq.org/
Hertberg-Davis, H. (2009, Fall). Myth 7: Differentiation in the regular classroom is
equivalent to gifted programs and is sufficient. The Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(4), 251-253
Kaplan, S. (2007, Summer). Differentiation: Asset or liability for gifted education? Gifted
Child Today, 30 (3), 23
Lillard, A. (2007). The Science Behind the Genius. New York, NY: Oxford Press
Lillard, A. & Else-Quest, N. (2006). Evaluating Montessori education. Science, 31, 1893-94
Mendoza, C. (2006, Fall). Inside today’s classrooms: Teacher voices on No Child Left
Behind and the education of gifted children. Roeper Review, 29(1), 28-31
Lindsey Pollock, LMSW, Ed.D.
Garden Oaks Montessori – Houston ISD
901 Sue Barnett
Houston, TX 77018
(713) 696-2930 office
(713) 822-2274 cellular
lpollock@houstonisd.org
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Private and public school background
Educational perspectives
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LMSW –Licensed Master’s in Social Work
M.Ed. – Educational Leadership
M.Ed – Montessori Integrative Learning
Ed. D. – Educational Leadership
Montessori found me (again) - GO
Federal grant application - MSAP
Transition to an all-campus Montessori Magnet
Fidelity to Montessori in a public setting