Our School

Why MSLF?

At the Montessori School of Lake Forest (MSLF), we dedicate ourselves to Montessori principles in order to care for and provide an education in excellence to children and families from birth through age fourteen. From our Parent Infant Program all the way through our Adolescent Program, our highly trained and experienced faculty and staff offer developmentally appropriate education for children, and useful, inspiring information for parents. MSLF functions as a community that puts the needs of the children first, in service of Maria Montessori’s and our higher goal: an education for peace.

Facilities

The Montessori School of Lake Forest has many rooftops and long hallways. When the school was designed in 1989, discussions between members of the board, faculty, and students led to creating “a house within a school”. Specifically designed from the viewpoint of a child, and according to Dr. Montessori’s philosophy, the “miniature home” of each classroom includes an exterior patio and garden. The school’s long hallways signify the sidewalk that leads the child into their prepared home-like classroom environment.

The rooftops of the Montessori School of Lake Forest symbolize the importance of the unity of our faculty, staff, and families. The Montessori philosophy lends itself as well to the whole school as it does to the classroom. At the Montessori School of Lake Forest, we make sure that our school-wide culture takes a Montessori approach by focusing on connection, respect, and responsibility at every level.



Outdoor Environment

“The novelty lies, perhaps, in my idea for the use of this open-air space, which is to be in direct communication with the school room.”

– Maria Montessori

The Montessori School of Lake Forest launched its Outdoor Learning and Discovery Project (OLDP) in 2000, embracing Montessori’s philosophy that the classroom extends outward as children grow, from indoors into the natural world, to larger communities of people and other living things, to the universe. The OLDP master plan applied this principle, linking each classroom in age-appropriate ways with the wider world.

The goal of the OLDP landscape plan was to support children’s innately positive relationship with the natural world through increased positive exposure to the outdoors.

• Toddler offers an enclosed large space to explore, and classroom windows with large views of yard and play area, meadow and prairie.
• Primary private yards connect to the main path that leads to many places: the marsh, oak woods, savannah, play field, woodland stream, community gardens, and play areas.
• Elementary and Adolescent Program classrooms open directly onto the larger landscape and offer small nearby seating areas. Older children care for the Community Gardens using gardening skills they developed when they were younger.

The OLDP landscape reflects the style of Jens Jensen, a landscape architect and contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright. This Midwestern style emphasizes the simple beauty of our native landscape and plants. Jensen’s style of teaching was known as “The School of the Soil” and like Montessori, he believed that students “learn by doing.”

“First grow cabbages. After that, plant a flower. When you have successfully grown a flower, then you can start to think about growing a tree. After watching a tree grow for several years, observing how its character develops from year to year, then you can begin to think of a composition of living plants—a composition of life itself.”

– Jens Jensen

Accreditation & Affiliation

• American Montessori Society (AMS) - Fully accredited
• National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) - Fully accredited
• Association of Illinois Montessori Schools (AIMS) - Full member
• Montessori Census - The census is a collaborative project spanning the entire Montessori movement. Its purpose is to provide complete and accurate information about the state of Montessori in the United States.
• Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) - MSLF's Toddler Program is accredited and licensed for children age 15-36 months.
• Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) - recognized according to Policy and Guidelines for Registration and Recognition of Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools.

MSLF does not discriminate against students, applicants for admission, faculty, other employees, or parents on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, creed, age, disability, or any other characteristic. The Montessori philosophy creates communities of children in which each member is valued and respected. It is MSLF’s goal to place each child in the same group from year to year. To the extent possible, classes are balanced with respect to age, sex, and previous Montessori experience.