Admissions Overview

MCS welcomes applications at all levels from families who believe in the capability of children.

Parents are strongly encouraged to attend a Tuesday morning slide show & tour and observe before submitting an application. The slide show & tour includes a question and answer session with at least one Montessori director/ress, and we encourage your questions. Slide show & tours are scheduled every Tuesday morning except on days when the school is engaged in an unusual activity, such as the annual Opera shown at right. Please navigate to the Visiting Our School page for more information about the 2007-08 slide show & tour dates. Please call us to reserve a date, and to let us make sure that the appropriate level director/ress can be present for the question & ansswer session.

To learn about MCS or the application process, or to sign up for a Tuesday tour, call Carol Parker in the Admissions Office at (919) 493-8541 or email her.

MCS maintains a balanced enrollment of age and gender in each classroom. Children with special needs will be admitted as space is available and when those needs can be met in a mixed-age Montessori setting with reasonable accommodations.

Students who wish to transfer from another Montessori school are given preference in the admissions process. However, it is by no means necessary to have previous Montessori experience for a child to be successful at MCS. See at right.

When space becomes available, parents and children from the waiting pool are invited to participate in a school interview before final enrollment decisions are made. Re-enrollment contracts are distributed February 1st and are due back March 1st. Students in the waiting pool are generally notified by mid-March of their application status.

• To view our 2007 - 2008 calender, click here >
• To download an application form and Parent Questionaire, click here >
• To download a Teacher Recommendation form for Elementary/Adolescent Program applicants click here >
  

Open House dates during 07-08 are:

Sunday, November 11, 2007, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Sunday, January 27, 2008, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Sunday, March 2, 2008, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM

For information about what families can do to facilitate the transition to a new school or a Montessori school, click here.

Not from a Montessori School? We welcome you:

Many times a student with no prior Montessori experience can be quite successful, but this depends almost entirely on the student's learning style and initiative. All Montessori students learn to self-manage their behavior to work in a busy, student-focused classroom, take initiative and make choices for their own learning, set personal goals for work accomplished, and be respectful of others' learning. Primary students are taught how to do this, and older students have developed these habits, but new students without Montessori experience can learn to do this. Montessori children have learned to enjoy work and learning for its own sake in environments that do not give exernal rewards or grades. but new students without Montessori experience can, with the support of their parents and teachers, unlearn their reliance on external rewards or grades. This is why non-Montessori applicants to elementary or middle school visit for three consecutive days: this allows the student to get to know us well, and allows the teachers to work individually with the applicant, invite him or her to a number of lessons, and give the family a realistic assessment at the end of the visit. There have been many examples of non-Montessori students who have made this transition successfully, opening up a new world of individualized learning where their ability to progress is not held back by the group. If you believe your child would be enriched by the chance to work in this manner, we welcome your application.