Middle School at Maritime

The Children’s Tree Montessori school was founded as a preschool in 1995 in the home of its founder, Marci Martindale. The school quickly expanded to include an elementary school in 2004. In 2006 the school moved to its forever home on Essex Road in Old Saybrook. By 2014 after assessing the needs of the community, the school added a toddler program. In 2024 we are expanding our school to include a Montessori Maritime based middle school. 

The elementary school will take classes just ½ mile down the road at The Maritime Education Network, 203 Ferry Road, in the back building. This building was completely renovated in 2022-23. Over the next few years the elementary school will begin to incorporate a maritime focused curriculum and will grow to include a middle school.

The adolescent experience will be rooted in our school’s mission: to nurture and empower a loving community of global thinkers, who embrace and honor each other. 

We will authentically engage each aspect of our middle school students’ development - physical, cognitive, psychological - and provide them with time, space, and security to grow into the people they’re intended to be. We understand the developmental needs of adolescents and intentionally prepare our classrooms, curricula, and community around meeting these needs. This approach is in stark contrast to conventional, middle-grade learning which requires students to conform to the structure of the educational system in order to feel successful. 

As middle school students move into and through adolescence, it’s imperative they receive authentic support for their philosophical questions, curiosity in the world around them, and deep desire for belonging within their peer group. Our school honors these needs through the concept of valorization, which is a pillar of the middle school program. 

Our program will be organized around Dr. Maria Montessori’s four Planes of Development. Within each plane are two three-year cycles. The first cycle is a period of intense change and growth. The second is one of understanding and assimilation. Our classrooms are organized by these three-year cycles, which positions students who are reaching maturity within their development cycle as leaders within this classroom. 

Why is this important? Students who would be at the “bottom of the totem pole” in conventional education - Kindergartners, sixth graders, and ninth graders - are role models in their Montessori classroom. They’re the leaders of the community, setting and modeling academic, social, and emotional expectations in the classroom. They use their knowledge and skills to boldly explore new topics and apply their academic mastery in creative and innovative ways. They are teachers, peer coaches, and mentors for their younger classmates, which enhances their own understanding of complex ideas.