By John Breech / Staff

Unbeknownst to most parents in the area, there’s a school that’s tucked away behind the silos on Crabapple Road that just happens to be one of the most modern pre-kindergarten educational facilities in all of North Fulton, Crabapple Montessori School. The Montessori teaching style owes its origins to Dr. Maria Montessori, who developed the concept over 100 years ago and few schools in the area have embraced it quite like Crabapple.

The school, which is able to accommodate children from age 18 months to six years, focuses on nurturing children. They do this by embracing the concepts that Dr. Montessori created over a century ago, which included helping each child develop academic and social skills while expanding and strengthening their sense of independence.

Crabapple is unique among its peers in that it offers an exceptional curriculum and many extracurricular activities. Crabapple Montessori Director Maria Haider explains that the toddler curriculum, designed for students in the 18 month to three year age range, emphasizes “social interaction, music and movement and development of language skills.”

The primary classrooms, generally for children aged 3-6, “combine concrete academics and practical life activities,” says Haider. “Mathematics, reading and writing are presented in a concrete way. It offers a calm, structured space where the child experiences a blend of freedom and discipline facilitating optimal development.”

As for extracurricular activities, Crabapple Montessori offers a few that you might not even find in a local high school. Some of the after-school enrichment programs that the school offers are: Spanish, music, cooking, ballet, soccer and tennis.

One of the most important figures in any classroom is the teacher, and a Montessori classroom is no exception. The teacher plays an even more important role in a Montessori classroom because they must carefully observe each student’s progress, while also facilitating the learning process by showing students how to do things rather than telling them. In conventional schools, almost all students graduate to the next grade level whether they’re prepared or not. Rarely is a student’s educational development taken into account. Haider points out that children progressing at a faster rate than other children can hinder a child’s education at a regular school, but not at Crabapple, “Each child’s developmental path is unique and, in the Montessori environment each child progresses at [their] own pace.” In laymen’s terms, this may mean that an older student is grouped with a younger student and in that instance, the older student might become the ‘teacher’ and show the younger student how to solve something that can be beneficial to both young individuals.  Haider also points out that each and every teacher at her school is AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) trained and certified.

Sure the curriculum is great and the teachers are second to none, but the icing on the cake at Crabapple is the building itself, as the school is only six and a half years old. “The facility has been designed and constructed to support the best Montessori environment,” says Haider. “The school has large and bright classrooms with walkout gardens.  It also has a beautiful playground area.  The walkout gardens and the playground area provide the outdoor learning and growing experience.” Also, as most parents know, children can be a breeding ground for germs, especially during flu season; Crabapple Montessori calms any qualms on that front by bringing in a professional janitorial service every evening.

 If for some reason you’re still having doubts about what a Montessori education can do for your child, consider this; some of the internet’s most popular websites were invented by former Montessori students. These include Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

Parents are invited to visit Crabapple for a tour to learn more about what the school has to offer. Call 770-569-5200 or go to crabapplemontessori.com for more information.