About Us
Head. Hands. Heart.
Philosophy
At Highland Hills Montessori, we are dedicated to providing a nurturing Montessori experience for your child. Our philosophy is built on the foundation of respect for children's natural development, wonder, and curiosity. Our qualified teachers, fully equipped home Montessori environment, Enrichment play spaces, and over 6 acre woodland provides a world of adventure for your little one to grow and thrive.
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Montessori Time
At Highland Hills, you can rely on a joyful and warm Montessori experience for your child. As an AMI Montessori certified guide (teacher), I ensure every learning area is well-prepared and developmentally appropriate for each child. During Montessori Time, your child will be given individualized lessons with hands-on materials in different content areas (Mathematics, Language, Reading, Writing, Science, Practical Life, Art, Music, and Geography). After the child is presented a lesson, she/he can work with the material at any time. I introduce new lessons and materials based on readiness I observe from watching the child work independently on the lessons that were previously presented. This indirectly helps your child develop self-confidence, independence, responsibility, and problem solving.
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Outdoor Time
At Highland Hills, children spend time outside every morning and afternoon participating in our forest and outdoor program. Our forest offers children regular opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in our on-campus woodland environment spanning 6.5 acres.
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Charlotte Mason & Waldorf Time
At Highland Hills, children also have our beautiful play and art rooms to imagine and create, separate from our main Montessori classroom. In these spaces, we draw from Waldorf early childhood programs to curate a warm, inviting homelike play space for children to enjoy wonder-filled days together. In these spaces, you will find a focus on natural toys and open-ended play, handwork (felting, finger knitting, beeswax modeling, weaving, beeswax crayons, painting...), a daily group activity each week (like baking bread or chopping vegetables for soup together or wet-on-wet watercolor together), and sweet songs, poems, and stories.
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Our Charlotte Mason influence comes into play during our beautiful living books and literature. Imagine your child enjoying and memorizing nursery rhymes, classic poems, and warm traditional children's songs. During our mealtimes, we also have daily conversations around manners and character.
Health & Safety - Your Child's Well-being is Our Priority
At Highland Hills Montessori, while we love to get dirty outside, we keep a clean and beautiful environment. At all times, we take your child's health and safety seriously. In addition to regular background checks and Montessori certifications, all staff additionally maintain first aid/CPR. We follow vigilant health and safety protocols and meet VDOE licensing standards to ensure that your child is in a healthy environment.
Our children are offered a nutritious, primarily organic breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack every day. Your child's well-being is our top priority. We work closely with parents to ensure that all of your child's needs are met, and we are always available to answer any questions or concerns you may have.