Our
Directress
Nelum Walpola, our Founder and Directress, is certified by the Association Montessori International, has 27 years of teaching experience and a certificate in Child Psychology. She is a lifelong painter and has decades of experience teaching art, and is known in the community for her passion for wildlife rehabilitation, environmental advocacy, and humanitarianism.
AMI Certified
Founded by Maria Montessori, AMI preserves her educational approach from over 100 years ago, applying it to diverse settings while maintaining its integrity. AMI’s Scientific Pedagogy Group and community promote ongoing study and reflection on Montessori’s work, ensuring it aligns with modern child development insights. This commitment ensures AMI teacher training and Montessori education uphold the highest global standards.
The Classroom
Our carefully designed environment encourages the student’s natural curiosity. We inspire a love of independent learning and foster critical thinking by engaging students in a challenging and meaningful curriculum.
A Familiar Space
A classroom within a home setting provides an extra level of comfort, allowing our students to focus on learning.
Quality Over Quantity
Only 12 students are accepted per school year. A small class size ensures a more intimate and tailored attention to each individual’s needs, and allows for the formation of stronger relationships– between students, teacher, and parents.
Mixed-Age Classroom
By bringing together a range of ages at different levels of education, we encourage students to learn from and assist one another in their daily activities. Through this process students cement their own mastery of subject matter and build more meaningful relationships with each other.
The Garden
A welcoming place for discovery and boundless imagination, our garden is shaded by a magnificent large Texas oak tree, vibrant pink crepe myrtle trees, and a recently planted apple grove. Our art-filled solarium wraps around the north side of the garden, seamlessly connecting it to our classroom and creating an enriching environment for learning and creativity.
The Vegetable Patch
Each spring, our students plant our school vegetable garden from seed, nurturing the plants through every stage of their development– from germination all the way to harvesting and enjoying the fresh vegetables. Through this process, they not only gain first-hand understanding of where food comes from, but develop a greater sense of responsibility, patience, and self-sufficiency, and develop practical skills that can be used for a lifetime.
The Solarium
Sun filled throughout the seasons, our solarium doubles as an art studio where students learn the foundations of creative expression through visual art.
Green Space
In addition to the private garden, the school faces a green belt with a creek and 2.2 miles of walking trails, and is a 5 minute walk from a park with 8 acres of greenery.
“There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature”
– Maria Montessori
Appreciation
For Nature
Ms. Nelum instills in all of her students a love for animals and an appreciation for their place in the world. We believe that nurturing a child’s love for all living things leads to a stronger sense of connection to, and care for, the world around them.
