We are all aware of the intense impact that the first few years have on that child’s future success and happiness. Most educators and experts in the area of child development agree that the first five years determine the course of the next fifty. It is based on this principle that I started to develop my ideas about early education, around thirty years ago.

Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an exceptional educator and physician- she was the first Italian woman to receive a medical degree when graduating from the University of Rome in 1896. My respect for Dr. Montessori is enormous, for she was the first educator that transformed the discipline of education into a science. I admire her respect for children, and the way she emphasized the child’s dignity. By creating the method and materials that we use in our classrooms today, Dr. Montessori enabled the young students to unfold by discovering the pleasures of learning.

I was also inspired by Dr. Glen Doman. He is a human developmentalist who began to create prodigies. He studied in one hundred nations, was honored by several of those nations, and is currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through his work he proved to humanity that extremely successful, high-achieving, and bright people are not always a genetic coincidence, but are developed through appropriate motivation in the first five years of life.

Here at Red Hill Montessori School, our goal is to provide the child with the basic foundation for a successful life. To meet the child’s emotional needs, we provide a nurturing, loving atmosphere, balanced by set limits and consistency. On the other hand, we also meet their intellectual and vocational needs by providing academic excellence, including enriched programs like art, Spanish, computer, dance and music. During the summer months we continue to provide academics, and add many special extra curricular activities, including regular swimming lessons.

It is important to mention that our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the increasing number of working mothers. We very much support the idea of woman having their own careers- when Mom is happy, the child is happy, and is only benefited as a result.

The children of working parents spend so much time with us, we have created a nurturing, loving school that provides children with a strong academic foundation to prepare them for a life of success and educational achievement.

Leila Charlesworth
Director & Owner