Butler Montessori School community adjusts to new space
BUTLER TWP — One of the tenants of education at Montessori schools is a consistent routine, so children easily understand when they have to do tasks and learn. So when Butler Montessori School was moving locations, its staff prepared students for the move, and got it done over a holiday break.
Christine Love, one of the two teachers at the school, said she and the other teacher, Germaine Schaeffer, had the students help with packing, so they understood that their things would come with them to the new school building.
“We were fortunate, and we talked about the move with the children, so they wouldn't be shocked by it,” Love said. “We tried to prepare them for that. We told them everything was the same; Mrs. Love and Mrs. Schaeffer would be there, it’s just the rooms are different.”
The community of Butler Montessori School is now almost two months into inhabiting the new space on Shockey Lane, after being at the Covenant United Presbyterian Church on East Jefferson Street in Butler for about 25 years, and Butler Catholic School for 25 years before that.
According to Schaeffer, the move to a building inside a storage complex off New Castle Road allowed the school to have its own space, while still remaining close to its old location in Butler.
“We wanted to find a location that was to ourselves,” Schaeffer said. “We looked a long time before we found a location we thought would be suitable. We looked at a lot of places that were maybe a little farther away, but this seemed to be a good centralized location.”
Butler Montessori School takes children ages 3 to 6 years old, and currently has 12 students enrolled — an average number for the school. Its new location houses two classrooms, a hallway for students to put their belongings in, a kitchen area and, not one, but two restrooms — doubling the number from Covenant Church.
Love said the administrators of the school got to have some input on the new space’s layout, which she and Schaeffer appreciated.
“Our landlord let us come, and it was great that we could see, or imagine at the time, what it was going to be,” Love said. “And it was beyond our expectations.”
School hours are from 9:15 a.m. to noon Monday to Friday, and Love said the new building can hold more students than the previous building could hold. The additional space has allowed Love and Schaeffer to store items in more convenient places, which has complimented the school’s emphasis on courtesy and cleaning after one’s self.
“It’s a much larger facility and we’re able to display more of the Montessori materials,” Schaeffer said. “At the other place we had to do a lot of changing in and out. Now everything has its own spot.”
Schaeffer also said the extra space can not only allow more students to enroll in the morning session school, but it could allow the school to create an afternoon session, if there is demand for it.
“We would hope to have an afternoon group. We would like to see our enrollment increase,” Schaeffer said.
Collaboration between the two teachers and the two classes at Montessori school is integral to the experience there.
First-year students spend a year in Love’s classroom, where they learn the basics of education, like letters, numbers and sounds. After a year — or when they are ready — the student goes to Schaeffer’s classroom, where they expand their education to include reading and writing, and delve more into Montessori teachings on manners and respectfulness.
The school format also relies heavily on sensory experiences, and learning through action, according to Schaeffer. The new space is better in this aspect because of its expanded space.
“We work really close together, and Montessori is a program that is individualized, so we work with a child until they are ready to move on,” Schaeffer said. “It’s all about using your senses to discover the world around you, so we do a lot of hands-on.”
Love and Schaeffer’s classrooms are next to each other, just like they were in Covenant Church. Schaeffer’s classroom is decorated with learning materials — like a white board, posters, books, letters and creative supplies — which children have access to throughout the day. Students learn by having a letter and number of the day, which lessons are based around.
Students also convene in a common area to have snacks and do other activities, which is a large hall area flanked by windows that open like garage doors on either side. Schaeffer commented that the natural light in the building is a nice feature, and having that large space to put child-size tables and chairs and gymnasium objects is a plus as well.
“It’s more of a Montessori cooperative than it had been at the other location,” Schaeffer said. “We just have more room now and things are at their level.”
As Schaeffer explained, the parents of the school’s students helped move supplies from the old to the new school, instilling a sense of pride for the entire school community. Love said the school community has given nothing but positive feedback about the move.
“We’re very happy. We were biting at the bit to get here,” Love said. “This is what we do. This is our school. We’re very proud of it.”
It’s not just the teachers who are proud to educate in the new building.
“The children are proud as well,” Schaeffer said. “We stress that this is your room, so you help clean it up.”
