A
Mind Once Stretched With a New Idea is Forever Enriched.
An Approved Polk County Charter School Serving Children
Age Three through Sixth Grade
Welcome to Lakeland Montessori! In September
2003 our Charter School Application was approved by the Polk
County School Board, the Polk County School Board Charter
Review Committee, and the Polk County Desegregation Oversight
Committee. In June 2007 our school was again reviewed in all areas and granted an additional 7 year renewal charter due to our excellent results and reputation. As required by the U.S.
Department of Education and the State of Florida Department
of Education, Charter school applications are inspected for compliance with educational
laws in 25 areas such as Academic Design, Student Performance,
Governance and Management, and Charter Implementation Plan.
What is a Charter School?
All charter schools are fully recognized as public
schools. Cost to families for grades K-6 is the same as attending any other
public school in Polk County—there are no fees that
parents must pay for their children to attend. For students age 3 and 4, please see our Admissions sections for fee information.
Charter schools
are held strictly accountable by the FL Department of Education and the local school board for
academic achievement and financial management. The difference
is that they are allowed to have flexibility in certain areas
such as curriculum. Most charter schools focus on some identifiable
area of education. In our case we have chosen the Montessori
Method, a highly respected educational program. All charter
schools are offered as a choice to those who participate—parents,
students and teachers.
Our Mission: Learning that Sparks Curiosity
It is our mission to facilitate a well-rounded, advanced and challenging
curriculum that instills a sense of wonder and awareness about the universe
and the child’s place within that universe. We wish
to provide an educational environment that sparks curiosity
and nurtures a love of learning along with teaching the skills
to succeed academically. We are committed to providing a safe
environment that is psychologically and emotionally nurturing
and which is conducive to learning—equally about academics
as well as oneself.
Lakeland Montessori adheres to the point-of-view
that intelligence is not rare and that self-realization is
the foundation for all future fulfillments. LMS is dedicated
to teaching the core values of peace, integrity, community, and
tolerance through a scientific and culturally oriented Montessori
curriculum that reveals to the child the diversity and richness
of human experience. The future for our children
is one that holds a solid foundation in self-direction, interdependence,
humanitarianism, and outreach to families and the community.
We are a community with students, parents, families, faculty
and friends working together to assure the success of our
mission. Montessori schools give children the sense of belonging
to a family and help them learn how to live with other human
beings. Children learn to be a part of families, learn to
care for younger children, learn from older people, trust
one another, and find ways to be properly assertive rather
than aggressive. By creating a bond between parents, teachers
and children, we will seek to create a community where individuals
learn to be empowered.
The mission statement of Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse
is to provide an environment which emphasizes the development
of character, particularly the virtues of Respect, Responsibility,
and Resourcefulness.
Respectful, Responsible, Resourceful
Children are encouraged to become respectful by being in
an environment where children of mixed ages, abilities, and
backgrounds work together: where adults model respectful behavior
and where the manners and courtesies of our culture are presented
and practiced.
Children become responsible by caring for themselves, their
environment, and their community and by experiencing the results
of their choices.
Children become resourceful by directing the course of their
own day, making decisions and solving problems as they arise.
Our Unique Approach
Academically, children are encouraged to move ahead in a challenging
curriculum that is supported by ingenious and time-tested
materials designed by Dr. Maria Montessori and other Montessori
trained educators. Children are able to work at their own
pace with materials they have chosen. They work either in
small groups or individually.
While students are expected
to master the same Sunshine State Standard reading, writing,
and computation skills required of them in any public school
curriculum, there is flexibility inherent in the system to
accommodate each student’s academic interests and potential.
The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and
to strike a balance of individual mastery with group collaboration.
Our pioneering spirit is strong and our enthusiasm for success
is soaring!
For those interested in reviewing our excellent FCAT and performance scores, please click on the links below.
