Our Approach

BHMS recognizes that fidelity to Montessori philosophy demands a constant assessment of our practices to ensure that we meet the demands and respond appropriately to our time, place, and culture. We are proud to be an urban, Independent, Montessori school serving children in Preschool through Eighth Grade.

Our child-centered classroom environments provide a wide variety of materials and experiences appropriate to a range of intellectual, emotional, and physical developmental levels. By learning in mixed-age groups, our students can focus on their individual progress, not the progress of their classmates. Students who have mastered work are encouraged to advance to new challenges beyond a standard curriculum. Struggling students are supported without stigma. Our teachers guide the learning by building on each child’s strengths and personality. The classroom offers the responsibility of freedom by promoting gratifying, meaningful work choices.

Concrete materials in our classrooms stimulate logical thought and discovery of abstract ideas. Classroom work is both self-directed and guided, so that children, whether two or thirteen, have the liberty to study how and what interests them within limits established by loving, practiced adults. The activities, projects, and assignments are designed to recognize and address different learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses. Materials are available for repetition and mastery, and children are encouraged to share their experiences with others in the School’s social setting.

Collaboration among students, teachers, and parents is essential to our success. In our classroom communities, children learn by doing and by watching others work. Younger and older children develop natural mentee/mentor relationships. Children remain with the same teacher for two to three consecutive years. In this way, the teacher-student and the teacher-parent bonds become exceptionally strong.

Montessori teachers are trained to be “firm at the edges and empathetic at the center.” BHMS teachers observe each child's development, noting particular interests and promoting individual passions. Our teachers recognize their responsibility to spark each student’s curiosity, imagination, and desire to observe, question, and explore. They facilitate the "match" between the learner and knowledge, and honor each child’s innate desires to learn and play. The BHMS teacher is not only an educational resource, but a clear communicator and a consistent role model of calm, caring, and respectful behavior. BHMS teachers create a classroom community with high self-esteem, kindness, and courtesy.

The child is at the center of our thinking at BHMS. As a Montessori school, we believe that education should awaken each child's spiritual nature. We respect all the different kinds of work that happen in the classroom, and encourage the constant consideration of our impact on others’ well-being. We emphasize service to others and global awareness. Teachers and administrators at BHMS model the values we expect from our students and children: respectfulness, honesty, integrity, and responsibility.

BHMS is fully accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and the BHMS Preschool program is also accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS). BHMS is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Educational Records Bureau (ERB), and a licensee of the New York City Department of Health.