Interdisciplinary & Selective Classes

Interdisciplinary Studies, known affectionately as our “ID Program,” includes all arts and athletic classes at BHMS. Our belief is that these studies are not separate but are an integral part of a well-rounded education for our students. Montessori education has a deep commitment to the arts and cultural awareness, and our ID program maintains this commitment by providing our students with an arts and athletics curriculum that complements and enhances their classroom work. The Interdisciplinary Studies program has three main components: mandatory performing and visual arts, selective performing and visual arts, and athletics.

Mandatory performing and visual arts classes for all Elementary and Middle School students include art, music, drama, and dance. While Lower Elementary students participate in these classes once a week for the entire year, Upper Elementary and Middle School students have them as “intensives,” meeting several times a week for the duration of a trimester or semester. The Interdisciplinary teachers work closely with the classroom teachers to bring to these classes links to the classroom studies.

Selective classes are offered to Upper Elementary and Middle School students and include photography, ceramics, drama, musical production, and piano keyboarding, to name just a few. These classes allow our students to pursue a particular artistic area in depth. The culmination of the selective class is a presentation to the community of the work the students have done throughout the term.

The third component of the Interdisciplinary program is athletics. All our Elementary and Middle School students have regularly scheduled physical education classes each week. These classes follow a curriculum of developing skills that are part of a lifelong program of sound physical activity. Through games, our Lower Elementary students not only develop their bodies, but they develop their ability to think strategically and to work cooperatively as a team. Our older students have the opportunity to participate in team sports as members of one of our “Mustangs” teams: soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and squash in the spring. All of our teams are co-ed and open to all students who want to play. The Montessori Mustangs compete against other independent and parochial schools.

The Interdisciplinary Program at BHMS affords our students the opportunity to develop skills and talents that enrich cultural understanding and artistic and athletic ability crucial to a solid Montessori education.