What does a Montessori school day actually look like?
A long uninterrupted morning work cycle from around 9:00 to 12:00, then lunch, then afternoon work, outdoor time and enrichment — with no bell chopping the morning into pieces and no point at which everybody does the same page.
At Mills the doors open at 7:30 am for extended-day children and the formal day starts at 8:45 or 9:00 depending on the program. The morning work cycle is the heart of it: children choose work they have been shown, teachers give individual and small-group presentations inside the cycle, and nothing interrupts it.
Lunch is set, eaten and cleared by the children. Afternoons hold outdoor time, rest for the youngest, and project work and enrichment for the older ones. Extended day runs to 6:00 pm.
Where to go from here
Other things parents ask
Still deciding?
Call the school office at 650-616-9000, or come and watch a morning.