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Admissions


Dear Parents,

Discover the value of a FWM education! Walk through the doors of Fraser Woods Montessori School and you will feel welcomed and inspired. You will find a community of teachers, administrators, students and parents coming together to explore, learn and grow.

We welcome you to visit us, schedule a classroom observation, meet our Head of School and walk through our beautiful campus to see just how good a small school experience can be!

Our website is a source of information about our school yet we are happy to answer all of your questions about FWM or the admissions process. Please contact us either by telephone or by using the Contact Us link listed above.

Thank you for your interest in Fraser Woods Montessori.

 

Fraser Woods Montessori School welcomes students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the programs and activities offered at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic or other school programs.

 

Thank you for your interest in our school. Our admissions process is designed to ensure that our school is a good fit for both your child and your family. We are delighted to share a timeline that we hope will assist you!

  1. Schedule Parent Visit: Please call Paromita Dutt- Kunzweiler, Director of Admissions and Parent Relations at 203.426.3390 ext 305  to schedule a campus tour, observation and an opportunity for informal discussions about the school and to learn about your child.
  2. Submit Application: Families expecting a March decision are asked to submit your child’s application online by February 1st. Due to limited openings in certain programs, it is advised to submit your child’s application sooner rather than later.
  3. Schedule Student Visit: Once we receive your child’s application, you will be contacted to schedule a short visit for your child. Toddlers visit the environment with their parents, and most Primary children will have a brief visit in the classroom without their parents.  Elementary and Middle school students often spend an entire day at the school.
  4. Enrollment Contracts Issued:  Once your child’s student visit is completed, an enrollment contract is issued. In order to guarantee a spot for your child, a non-refundable tuition deposit is due by the date stated in the enrollment contract.

 

Toddler, Primary (Preschool & Kindergarten) 

  • Toddlers must be 15 months old by September 1st and are not required to be toilet trained. They should be walking before the start of school.
  • Primary students must be 3 years old by December 31st and toilet trained.

Elementary (grades 1-5) and Middle School (grades 6-8)

  • Submit Recommendations Forms from your child’s present school/teacher.
  • Submit Report card: We ask that you submit a copy of your child’s most current report card.

Middle School only: 

  • Complete and submit Parent Questionnaire.
  • Submit a writing sample: We ask that a graded writing sample from your child’s teacher be sent directly to us.
  • Complete a math placement test during a student visit.

Fraser Woods Montessori School admits students of any race, religion, ethnicity or orientation to all the programs and activities offered at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion, ethnicity or orientation in its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic or other school programs.

Tuition 2024/25

Academic Programs Duration Schedule Tuition
Toddler Half Day (15 months – 3) 4 days 8:30 – 11:30 $13,070
5 days 8:30 – 11:30 $16,020
Toddler Full Day (15 months – 3) 4 days 8:30 – 3:00 $18,555
5 days 8:30 – 3:00 $22,775
Primary Half Day Ages 3 and 4 4 days 8:20 – 11:30 $12,620
Primary Half Day Ages 3 and 4 5 days 8:20 – 11:30 $15,435
Primary Full Day Ages 3 and 4 4 days 8:20 – 3:00 $18,555
Primary Full Day Ages 3, 4 & 5 5 days 8:20 – 3:00 $22,775
Primary Kindergarten 5 days 8:20 – 3:00 $22,775
Lower Elementary School (grades 1 –3) 8:10 – 3:00 $25,375
Lower Elementary School (grades 4 –5) 8:10 – 3:00 $27,070
Middle School (grades 6 – 8) 8:00 – 3:00 $28,760

*Ten percent of tuition is due upon signing the enrollment contract.

 

Additional Information:

  • Parent Association Fee: $100
  • Overnight Field Trips: Overnight field trips for Elementary & Middle School students will require an additional fee.
  • Books (Middle School): Textbooks are purchased by the parents though the online bookstore.
  • Annual Fund: Fraser Woods Montessori School asks each family to consider a tax-deductible donation to the Annual Fund. This fund helps bridge the gap between tuition and the cost of educating each student.

Tuition Assistance

We believe that diversity enriches our school community and that every child has the right to access quality education in a Montessori environment regardless of his/her family’s socioeconomic standing. While it is not possible to ensure this right for all children, it is our objective to avail that right to children who would otherwise be denied. FWM does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, or ethnic origin with respect to the admission of students and the employment of staff.  Download FWM’s Tuition Assistance Policy.

Eligibility

  • Any family with a child attending FWM
  • Any new family entering the school
  • Tuition assistance is not available for the Toddler Program

Basic Requirements

  • Families must demonstrate financial need due to an annual income level or an unexpected financial crisis.
  • A child’s admission application is only required for newly entering students.

How to Apply

  • Complete the Tuition Assistance Application online. For prospective families, your child’s admissions application must be completed and returned to the school prior to completing your tuition assistance application.
  • Send all other paperwork including a copy of your most recent filed tax return, nontaxable Income Worksheet, and Business/Farm Statement (if applicable) to School and Student Services for Financial Aid.

When to Apply

  • By February 1st

Classroom Observations

“When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than of questioning.”  – Maria Montessori

Observation is one of the Montessori teacher’s greatest tools, and one of the keystones of this approach to education.  It has many levels of application.  It can become a life-long tool to help us evolve, as parents, as teachers, and as human beings.

A teacher observes the class as a whole many times throughout the day, in a scanning, all-inclusive way.  She watches for the flow of traffic, groupings of children, places where movement may be inhibited, and difficult interactions among children. A teacher also carefully observes the work of individual children, as they manifest themselves one by one:  what material is he using, how is he using it, is he concentrating, should the teacher or assistant step in to help, is the child ready for the next step and challenge?  He or she uses this observed information to plan lessons, to bring out new materials or to vary an existing activity, and to approach the child in a fresh way at a different time.  Observation can be inspiring and energizing.

Parent Observation Guidelines

The teachers are happy to have observers in their classrooms.  In order to help keep the classroom situation as natural as possible during your visit, we would like to recommend the following:

  1. When you enter the classroom, you will be given a seat.  We encourage you to observe from this vantage point, rather than standing or walking about the classroom.  It is important for your presence to be as unobtrusive as possible.
  2. The Montessori classroom is one that is active and invites participation; however, we ask that you please refrain from conversation.  There are occasions when a child will approach an observer.  If this happens during your visit, please answer the child naturally, but briefly.
  3. To help children feel comfortable while you are there, please watch the activities that are further away from you rather than directly in front of you.  While we encourage your interest and questions about the Montessori materials and approaches, it is better for the children that individual work projects are not questioned and classroom materials are left on the shelves.
  4. Should you have any questions, please write them down.  We will be happy to answer them in your meeting with the head of school and the director of admissions.

Montessori vs Traditional

“We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child’s spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active.  We may even suffocate life itself.  That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration.  It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning bloom.  Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.”  -Maria Montessori

The Story of MARIA MONTESSORI Excerpt from AMS

Maria Montessori was born in the town of Chiaravalle, Italy, on August 31, 1870.  She became one of the first female physicians in Italy upon her graduation from medical school in 1896. In her medical practice, her clinical observations led her to analyze how children learn, and she concluded that they build themselves from what they find in their environment. Shifting her focus from the body to the mind, she returned to the university in 1901, this time to study psychology and philosophy. In 1904, she was made a professor of anthropology at the University of Rome.

Her desire to help children was so strong, however, that in 1906 she gave up both her university chair and her medical practice to work with a group of sixty young children of working parents in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. It was there that she founded, on January 6, 1907, the first Casa dei Bambini, or “Children’s House.” What ultimately became the Montessori method of education developed there, based upon Montessori’s scientific observations of these children’s almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on what she observed children to do “naturally,” by themselves, unassisted by adults.

Children teach themselves. This simple but profound truth inspired Montessori’s lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching, and teacher training–all based on her dedication to furthering the self-creating process of the child.

Maria Montessori made her first visit to the United States in 1913, the same year that Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home. Among her other strong American supporters were Thomas Edison and Helen Keller.

In 1915, she attracted world attention with her “glass house” schoolroom exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. On this second U.S. visit, she also conducted a teacher training course and addressed the annual conventions of both the National Education Association and the International Kindergarten Union. The committee that brought her to San Francisco included Margaret Wilson, the daughter of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times–in 1949, 1950, and 1951.

Transportation

Newtown/Sandy Hook children in grades kindergarten through eighth grade are eligible for bus transportation provided by the town at no additional cost.