This school is fantastic. I am a former Montessori child and parent to twin 10 year daughters. One of my daughters attends a local public school's magnet program. The other daughter attends Evergreen and is in the Elementary Program. Her sister, who's learning style is perfect for "the linoleum sweatshop" as I call her public school, is gifted and was selected for the Duke University Early Talent Identification Program in the 4th Grade . . . . yet her internally-directed Montessori sister has surpassed her in several subject areas at Evergreen and frequently helps her with homework.
The staff at Evergreen is superbly qualified. In fact, the Head of School and the lead Primary teacher were trained by Dr. Annette Haines in St. Louis. Dr. Haines is considered one of leading Montessorians in the US, if not the world, right now. Even the ASSISTANT in the elementary classroom is currently being trained by J. McKeever through the Montessori Institute of Atlanta. Both Dr. Haines and Ms. McKeever were trained by the legendary Margaret Stephenson, who was tapped by Dr. Maria Montessori and her son Mario to lead the Montessori Movement in the United States several decades ago. Rest assured, there are no better trained Montessorians in the Mid-South than those at this school.
Every lead teacher is certified by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), which largely considered the Gold Standard of Montessori training. It is an INTERNATIONAL certification and the organization administering the training centers was founded by Dr. Montessori herself. The certification is very difficult to attain and equates to 29 hours towards a Masters degree in education at several universities including Loyola outside of Baltimore.
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