Every page on this site
All 205 pages, grouped the way you would look for them. If you cannot find what you need, call the school office at 650-616-9000.
Main pages 3
Where most visits start.
Programs 12
Toddler through fifth grade, plus summer and enrichment. Every elementary year has its own page.
Why Montessori 5
The method, and how to tell a real Montessori school from one that borrowed the word.
Admissions 5
How to enroll, and every fee published in full.
Our School 5
Who we are, who teaches here, and what families say.
Areas we serve 118
Mills has one campus, in South San Francisco. These pages give an honest distance from each town — none of them implies a second location.
Questions Parents Ask 19
Straight answers to what parents actually ask on a tour.
- Questions Parents Ask
- Do Montessori children do well in traditional schools afterwards?
- Do Montessori schools give homework and grades?
- Does my child need to be potty trained to start Montessori?
- How do I know if a Montessori school is genuine?
- How much does Montessori preschool cost in the Bay Area?
- Is Montessori good for a very active child?
- Is Montessori worth the money?
- Does Montessori accreditation matter when choosing a school?
- Is Montessori elementary worth it, or should we switch at six?
- Do Montessori schools work for two working parents?
- Should we stay for Montessori kindergarten or move to public school?
- Is there a Montessori school near South San Francisco?
- What is the difference between Montessori and daycare?
- What age should a child start Montessori?
- What does a Montessori school day actually look like?
- What does ‘normalization’ mean in Montessori?
- What should I ask on a Montessori school tour?
- When can we enroll — is there an application deadline?
Montessori Glossary 23
Montessori vocabulary in plain English, since the jargon is half of what makes the method sound closed.
- Montessori Glossary
- Absorbent mind
- Concentration
- Control of error
- Cosmic education
- Directress or guide
- Follow the child
- Freedom within limits
- Going out
- Golden beads
- The Great Lessons
- Mixed-age classroom
- Montessori-trained
- Why ‘Montessori’ is not protected
- Normalization
- Pink tower
- Practical life
- Prepared environment
- Sensitive periods
- Sensorial materials
- Three-period lesson
- Three-year cycle
- Work cycle
Blog 9
Longer pieces on choosing a school.
- Blog
- California TK is free. We are not. Here is the honest comparison.
- Four Montessori words that worry parents, explained
- The case for one school from two to eleven
- Why we don't require potty training to start
- The kindergarten year nobody explains until you are leaving
- What three uninterrupted hours actually buy a four-year-old
- What to actually look for on a Montessori tour
- Why we publish our tuition when almost nobody else does
Site information 6
Policies, accessibility and this page.
Come see a morning at Mills
Tours run during the school day, year-round, by appointment.