At Murray-LaSaine Montessori (MLMS), we are dedicated to educating the whole child by encouraging independence and social responsibility to inspire a lifelong love of learning.
We help all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate in our beautifully prepared environments with highly trained, well-qualified teachers and teaching assistants. We do our work in partnership with our students’ parents and guardians, the child’s first teachers. We hold a deep respect for the child, meeting their needs wherever they are along their developmental path. We keep in mind Dr. Montessori’s belief that “Within the child lies the fate of the future.”
We strive to create Montessori environments that promote rigorous standards in academic areas in addition to promoting creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Our students learn self-direction and develop a strong work ethic starting at a very young age as they choose their work, focus for long periods of time during the uninterrupted work cycle, and direct their learning in the classroom.
At all levels, MLMS teachers create meaningful reading and writing experiences based on student interest and grade-level standards. MLMS students participate in Read Around the Bases and Battle of the Books, which encourage our students to read beyond the required texts. Our Upper Elementary students practice their poetry skills during their Spring Poetry Slam. We support struggling readers with daily intervention and challenge advanced readers with engaging texts and activities.
Staff participate in robust professional development opportunities, including OGAP (Ongoing Assessment Project) and LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training. We work to ensure all students are reading on grade level by the fifth grade. By aligning the Montessori scope and sequence with grade-level standards and using adaptive digital content to supplement instruction, our reading instruction supports our students as they develop as readers who think critically about the text, ask questions about what they are learning, and expand their horizons through a variety of texts.
We continue to work on improving math instruction in all classrooms, integrating high-quality curriculum lessons in a manner that honors Montessori materials and philosophy. With all of our classroom teachers having OGAP training, students experience strong tier-one instruction. With the district’s innovative weighted student formula funding, MLMS added a reading teacher to our team who supports, in large part, our first-grade students. Marked achievement gains were seen in our first graders with this additional targeted reading support.
Our Adolescent students practiced Profile of a SC Graduate skills through their Beyond the Classroom Walls efforts by planning a fall fun day for Primary students, creating a business to earn funds for off-campus trips, participating in 8th-grade internships at businesses throughout Charleston, attending career fairs, and learning from guest speakers from the community to explore careers.
Meredith Wallace, Principal
Lori Mose & Ariel Brooks, School Improvement Council Co-Chairs
