St. Helena Montessori School welcomed the community to an open house for the new TLCD Architecture designed campus on September 6th. As many as 200 attendees saw firsthand that this is no ordinary school, nor is it an ordinary Montessori School.

This 20-acre campus accommodates a much wider range of ages than most other Montessori Schools, from age 2½ to ninth grade, with an Adolescent / Farm School. The school follows Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education as an “aid to life” – viewing the child as a being whose physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual parts are interrelated, and whose educational environment must respect that unity.

Classrooms are large, with wood floors and open ceilings. Windows at each classroom building are scaled to the age of the students, and are placed at different heights above the floor accordingly. A State of California licensing inspector proclaimed them the most beautiful classroom interiors she had ever seen.

The school was constructed by Eames Construction of Petaluma, and construction management services were provided by Pound Management of Oakland. When complete the campus will feature boarding facilities, a working farm, and the new home for the Nimbus Arts Center.