Education for Life
Montessori schools in El Paso for children ages 18 months through 6th grade
Why El Paso Montessori Schools?
We Emphasize More than Just Academics
We honor your child’s individuality and focus on curiosity, independence, compassion, collaboration, and critical thinking, preparing him or her to take on the future with confidence, propelled by the gift of self knowledge and a passion for learning.
…but the Academics Are a Huge Strength.
It is not uncommon to see four-year-olds in our school reading, six-year-olds completing long division problems, and nine-year-olds classifying botanical specimens. Our curriculum presents skills at the time when children are most ready to learn.
We’re a Community.
Our school is a community for more than just the children. We view our relationship with you as a partnership, working together for the benefit of your child. Because children thrive when home and school work in harmony.
Our Programs
Journey to Independence
18 - 36 months
Some refer to this developmental period as “The Terrible Twos.” We disagree; toddlers are terrific. We love everything about them – their energy, determination and curiosity – and purposefully created a very special place for your toddler to learn.
A Love for Learning
3 - 5 years
The Pre-Primary program is truly a gift to your child. Designed for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years, it is an opportunity to nurture his individual development within the context of a group setting. The result? Self-confidence, joy and a lifelong love-for-learning.
A Love for Learning
4.5 - 6 years
The Primary program is truly a gift to your child. Designed for children between the ages of 4.5 to 6 years, it is an opportunity to nurture his individual development within the context of a group setting. The result? Self-confidence, joy and a lifelong love-for-learning.
Learning How to Think
Grades 1 - 6
The Elementary program offers your child an unparalleled opportunity for growth in this new period of life. Your imaginative, social and creative child needs an environment with appropriate freedom and limitations, with an expansive curriculum to support her curiosity and prepare her for the challenges of the future.
How to Apply
3
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Parent Reviews
Montessori Blog
Tears of happiness flowed down the cheeks of Marti Filley, the founder of Escuela Montessori Del Valle, as she thought about the impact El Paso’s first Montessori school has had on the community. “It’s pretty overwhelming,” she said, smiling through those tears. “I didn’t set out to do anything like this, it just came together.” Escuela Montessori, founded in 1974, just celebrated 50 years of serving the community. Filley was a first-grade teacher at St. Clement’s Parish School in El Paso and a busy mother of two children disenchanted with the state of education. “Teaching was so top down,” she said. “’This is how we do things; this is the curriculum.’ I wanted to do what was best for each individual child rather than everybody starts at point A and take them through all the way through. I was so tired of it, but yet, I love teaching.” She struggled with trying to figure out how to have it both ways. “I really liked working St. Clements, it was a good place to work but I began to really think about things that I would do differently if I had my own school,” she said. “That kept developing in my mind. I thought I could do better.” She was correct. Escuela Montessori now has two campuses — the original at 212 W. Sunset Rd. in the Upper Valley, and another, Coronado Montessori on the West Side at 7011 Westwind Dr., built in 1981. Filley’s son Steve and her daughter-in-law Jackie run the day-to-day operations of both campuses. “The thing that I am most proud of is that from my mom starting the business to my grandmother running the other locations, to my wife pretty much running both, it has been pretty amazing,” Steve Filley said. “You hear about women owning their own business, this exemplified it.” Jackie Filley calls her mother-in-law a pioneer in El Paso education. “She is a pioneer not only to have the vision for it, but to do it and each year and persevere,” Jackie Filley said. “She is still very much involved. We are a family business but it’s not just us, it’s all of us discussing and processing different ideas. For me, I’m so proud to carry on what she started and to make sure her vision stays the same. She had done such a great job, this is who we are, and it works.” Montessori education Montessori schools are educational institutions that implement Maria Montessori’s method of education, which focuses on child-centered learning and individualized instruction. They emphasize hands-on learning, student agency, and a prepared learning environment. “Research shows that 80% of a child’s natural intelligence is developed by age 8,” Marti Filley said. “A huge percentage of that by age 3, so early childhood education has become very, very important as people are beginning to understand that.” A Montessori education is designed to take advantage of a child’s sensitive years between 2 and 12, allowing them to learn at their own pace and pursue their individual interests. Marti Filley, who founded Escuela Montessori Del Valle in 1974, visits with students Gianna and Dominic Nino. Photo by Ruben R. Ramirez She said Maria Montessori understood that and incorporated that thought process into her method of teaching. “That’s kind of what we do,” Marti Filley said. “It’s important for children to learn how to work independently, it’s important for them how to concentrate, how to socialize, all the beginning things that you need to have before you can really start the learning process.” Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education, the Montessori method. She is celebrated for her innovative educational method that mirrors how children naturally learn. She opened the Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) in 1907 in Rome. Her educational method is in use today in many public and private schools globally. “Montessori was very aware of the importance of nature and a children’s development,” Marti Filley said. “At Escuela, we’ve taken that part to heart because they see what they learn. It’s not just that we teach them, it’s that they absorb it and internalize it by being in nature. What our teachers teach and present to the kids is based on nature and animals. Objects that they can see, touch and smell on our campus.” The Upper Valley school grounds include goats, chickens and a pollinator garden that is registered by the state of Texas as one of the places where it’s supposed to be a stopover for the monarch butterflies. “We basically home school these kids when the parents can’t,” Steve Filley said. “It’s kind of a home school environment.” Humble beginnings Marti and her husband Dwight Filley moved to El Paso’s east side from California in the early 1970s. She had been a first- and second-grade teacher in California, so she decided to start a summer program for her two toddlers. “We fixed up the garage at our house and I went door to door, knocking on every day and explaining to parents what we were doing,” she said. “We ended up with 12 to 15 kids. I didn’t have any further plans at the time.” A few years after teaching at St. Clement's Parish School, an old college roommate called her from Phoenix and asked her if she knew the Montessori method of teaching. “I had heard about it, but I really didn’t really know or understand much about it,” Marti Filley said. “She told me a lot about it, so Dwight and I went to Phoenix to see her school where she already set up as a Montessori school. I loved it, this is what I was thinking about.” She already set up the little garage summer school for the neighborhood children so opening up a Montessori in El Paso was the next logical step. Dwight, who was in commercial real estate at the time, found a plot of land in the Upper Valley off Sunset Road. “He brought me out here and that’s when the lights went on, this could be a school,” Filley said. The first class was 15 children, 3- and 4-years old and the following year was 30 to 35 students. “We needed more space so built another classroom,” she said. "Then a few years later, these pre-school children needed to move on so we built the kindergarten building next store in 1997." Escuela Montessori Del Valle, which includes children 18-months to 6th grade, averages about 90 students, while Coronado Montessori on Westwind averages 70 students from 18-months to 3rd grade. Enrollment is year-round, as long as they have spots available. Moving forward “When we got started in 1974, there were a lot of exciting things going on,” Steve Filley said. “Now, you have so much competition with the public schools, you have charter schools, you have church schools, you have a lot of Montessori schools in El Paso with directors and teachers who she trained, by the way.” Steve Filley is excited about the future. “It’s really a great time because parents are looking for alternatives in their child’s education,” he said. “We have two and three generations of children coming to the school where my mom was the teacher and now the grandkids are in the school and even not far away from great-grand kids in the school. “ Jackie Filley said the Montessori education is attractive to young parents who are disenchanted with the public school system. “We have a certain appeal, especially to younger parents who are seeing how the public system is going and don’t agree and have different morals goals and ideas on how to raise their children and who are looking for something different.” Sitting in a small square space that serves as her office, the tears return to Marti Filley’s eyes when asked how many lives does she think she has touched. “I’m not good with math, so I would say thousands,” she said. Her son Steve quickly weighs in, “try 5,000 to 10,000 lives, maybe more.” Looking out the office window, watching parents with their children walking the grounds, Marti Filley smiles. “We have many examples of people who have come back and told us so and so is a doctor or working in D.C. or such and such is an engineer,” she said. “They all have taken some good things from the school and gone forward with their lives.” And they are in peace. “One of the things that I love about our school, and that I’m proud of, is when young people come back to visit the school and they are showing new parents around, they always say how peaceful it is here and how much the love the atmosphere. It makes them feel at home and comfortable and peaceful, which is an important thing to feel.”
Sometimes it’s easiest to begin by explaining what a Montessori teacher isn’t. A Montessori teacher is less like the traditional idea of an instructor, and more like a gentle guide. They don’t consider it their job to give a child information. They rather lead children in the general direction and give them the tools they need to find the information themselves. Maria Montessori once said, “The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’” Montessori Teachers Cultivate Independence In a Montessori classroom, rather than seeing a teacher at the front of the classroom giving the same lesson to every child, the teacher will be working quietly with individual children or small groups. While that is happening the rest of the children are free to spend their time doing the work that calls to them. A Montessori teacher works hard to create structures that allow children to be independent and to trust themselves as learners. One large part of what a Montessori teacher does is to intentionally prepare a classroom environment that is developmentally appropriate, is inviting to children, and supports them on their journey to work independently. This environment is constantly changing in tiny ways as the teacher notices new and evolving needs of the students. Montessori Teachers are Trained to Think Like Scientists Parents should know that Montessori teachers are highly trained. Most have recognized Montessori credentials in addition to their college degrees. Montessori certification programs are intensive and demanding; one might compare them as being the equivalent of another college degree. These training programs don’t just teach Montessori educators how to use the specialized materials; there is extensive coursework about Montessori philosophy, child development, and integrating the arts. When it comes to assessments, Montessori teachers don’t rely on standardized tests; they rely on the power of observation. They have notebooks brimming with evidence of what their students have mastered, need more support with, and are curious about. They are constantly recording what they notice children working on, how that work is being executed, and ideas they might have in anticipation of a child’s next steps. Montessori teachers literally sit beside a child and determine exactly what they know about a wide range of content areas. Montessori Teachers Think Long-Term Because of Montessori’s three-year cycles, teachers have the unique ability to consider their big picture when working with students. There is a natural tendency to allow the children to genuinely learn at their own pace. Getting to know a child and their family well over the course of a few years really supports this approach. Montessori Teachers are Often Called ‘Guides’ ...and for good reason. While children in Montessori classrooms have an abundance of choice in their educational pursuits, Montessori is based on the idea of ‘freedom within limits’. It’s the Montessori teacher’s job to carefully craft those limits. Children rely on having a certain amount of structure in place. This gives them comfort and a safe place in which they can take risks and try new things. Montessori teachers set some boundaries and then carefully help students navigate within them. What if your second grader loves to read but tends to avoid math? Their Montessori teacher will find ways to ensure the math still gets done. Sometimes this involves a gentle discussion with a child about time management skills, priorities, or setting goals. Sometimes the teacher will find a way to integrate the child’s interests into the less desirable work. Sometimes all it takes is a minor change in the environment. Montessori teachers gives children freedom, but they assist children in finding their way to success in this environment. Montessori teachers value independence, self-reliance, and intrinsic motivation. They also value cooperation, kindness, and strength in community. Still curious? Call us to set up an appointment today to observe in a classroom. See what Montessori is really all about.