History

 Educational Philosophy

In 1985, the Unitarian Montessori School was founded by Mary Ann Keller, in cooperation with the Unitarian Society of East Brunswick, to provide the community with quality early childhood education based on the methods of Dr. Maria Montessori and to involve parents in the education of their children in school.
The new wing of the Unitarian Society opened in January, 2001, providing three classrooms for the Montessori School.
Since 1985, the School has grown from fifteen families to its present size of 60 children and 15 staff members.

During the early part of the 20th century, Dr. Maria Montessori observed and worked with children in Italy and concluded that the early years of life are crucial to the functioning and growth of the individual. Children are enormously capable beings. The Montessori approach offers a vision of education as an aid to life. Its flexibility provides a matrix within which each child's inner directives freely guide him or her toward wholesome growth.

• The premise of the Montessori philosophy is that all children carry within themselves the person that they will become. In order to develop physical, intellectual and spiritual potential to the fullest, the child must have freedom – a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline.
• The classroom environment is organized in an orderly, logical manner. The children choose work which they are capable of doing and are free to do it for as long as they wish without interference from others.
• This approach alleviates many problems of discipline which might be present in another kind of environment. In addition, the mixed ages provide the younger children the opportunity to emulate the older children’s more mature behavior.

Maria Montessori believed that children are sensitive to different kinds of learning at different times in their development. She called these times "the sensitive periods."
Thus we create environments to develop order, independence, coordination and concentration. We provide materials that respond to the individual needs.
The design of the classrooms helps in the creation of these environments.
The Unitarian Montessori School Board oversees the business and affairs of the school. The School Board is made up of seven individuals including Unitarian Society members and nonmembers, individuals with expertise in early childhood and parents of former students. This Board represents the vision of our Montessori school while providing governance and leadership to support its efficient operation. Day to day operation of the school is coordinated by our Director, Surbhi Saini, who also serves as ex officio on the School Board.