Since 1967, Spring Bilingual Montessori Academy (SBMA) has protected and encouraged children, and at the same time challenged and stretched them to the limits of their intellect and imaginations. Children arrive at SBMA as 2-year-olds, and leave after kindergarten at the age of 6: confident, assured and well-educated, possessing qualities of mind and character which serve them well as they continue to learn and achieve.
Within the walls of our school children become literate and numerate. They develop pride in their own accomplishments and respect for the talents of their classmates. This is, above all, where children learn how it feels to do one’s best work, and to have the effort as well as the product recognized and celebrated.
Spring Bilingual Montessori Academy seeks to create a learning environment in which the student is encouraged to explore his own innate sense of curiosity and eagerness to gain knowledge.
Founded in 1967, by Ms. Anna Neri, a direct pupil of Dr. Maria Montessori, Spring Bilingual Montessori Academy has innovated and refined the concept of integrating a Montessori education with the acquisition of proficiency in a second language.
Our program is carefully designed to meet the individual needs of each child. The difference between our environment and that of other Montessori institutions lies in the parallel instruction of a second language to all facets of the learning process.
It has been shown in countless educational research studies that the child is most sensitive and receptive to a second language during the period from birth to age six. During these crucial developmental years the child tends to learn most effectively not through conventional teaching means, but by absorbing information through activity within the environment to which he is exposed. This is a natural process, embraced by the child with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm.
We believe that children learn best when they learn with others who are both similar and different from themselves. It is with great pride, that we note that both our student population and our staff are diverse racially, socio-economically and geographically.
The advantages of this added understanding go beyond the simple acquisition of a second vocabulary. SBMA believes that to know something of the spoken and written language of another group of people is akin to being acquainted with them. Language enables us to penetrate into another culture’s philosophy, folklore, literature and music. Through this understanding, we can begin to bridge the unnatural barriers separating the world today. We wish to give our children the inspiration to create a better world tomorrow.