ACHA, in collaboration with S. Barzin Architects, prepared this schematic and feasibility study for a Montessori school in Rhode Island. The school, whose student body was growing to upwards of 200 students, is located on a sloping site in a wooded clearing. The students range in age from early childhood through middle school. The project takes its cues from Maria Montessori’s pedagogy which looks to develop a child’s natural interests and activities, rather than to use formal and conventional teaching methods. The schematic design supports the Montessori pedagogy by emphasizing independence and views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment.

The proposed new school consists of four separate buildings connected by covered walkways, totaling approximately 15,000 sq ft, and organized around a central courtyard. Constructing individual buildings allows the school to be built in different phases depending on the available budget and other parameters. The cluster of four buildings is oriented with the central courtyard on the east-west axis. This allows for cooling summer breezes to travel through the courtyard from the area of thick pine trees to the east and out to the western slope and its hiking paths. The configuration also gives protection from the northern winds of the region.

All of the buildings connect to this natural environment – be it the direct outdoors with its trail paths, pine tree groves, hiking trails, wooded areas, and grass courtyards, or the semi-protected toddlers’ play area and stage. This arrangement is in keeping with the Montessori goals to facilitate movement and activity, beauty and harmony, cleanliness of environment, and nature in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Providing a sensory experience is integral, as is the belief that children learn by personal experience and interaction with their environment. Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play and the many different flexible spaces in this design support that pedagogy.