About Us

Inclusion Statement

At Zora Montessori, inclusion means everyone is included, regardless of ability, age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social and economical status. Everyone has the chance to participate and no one is excluded. The benefits of inclusion vary for the children, families, child care staff, and everyone benefits from meaningful inclusion practices. The children learn to acknowledge and how to approach differences in everyone, develop mutual respect, learn different ways to socialize with peers, and engage in real-life experience on functioning in a community. The families have access to quality child care while expanding their expectations for their children through recognizing and appreciating individual differences. The child care staff gain valuable knowledge on how to work with children with individual needs, establish different learning techniques that benefit all children, and grow practical skills of how to work with different people with complex abilities. They also share knowledge about child development with other families or child care providers. Children with special needs will be accepted into our program under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

STUDENT/CLASSROOM

Montessori philosophy believes that the classroom belongs to the children. The environment is arranged for children of all abilities to move freely through each classroom. All items, art, materials, furniture, bathrooms, and more are at the children’s level to allow them to manipulate, explore, and rearrange according to their needs. There are various work surfaces: tables, floor work rugs, and lap tables. At the table a child may stand, sit or move furniture around to meet their needs. With rugs or lap tables a child may sit or kneel when working with the materials.

Montessori curriculum and classrooms are individualized to meet the needs of the children in the classroom. Inclusion is woven into every part of our day. Once a child is given a lesson on the material, they can choose that material anytime they would like. They can use the materials repeatedly and once they are finished, they return it to the shelf exactly the way it looked when it was taken off the shelf. This means it is ready for the next child to use. The routines vary according to age and abilities in the classrooms. Activities can be done individually or in small groups. Throughout the day children interact with each other to work collaboratively or to get their needs met. The Montessori classroom is built for the individual child as well as the community of children.

FAMILY

Zora Montessori understands and is aware that children are the number one priority in their families and these priorities are based on unique family values. Families are encouraged to share their priorities with lead teachers to allow collaborative successful support for children, families and staff. We accept every child because Montessori education is for the whole family, school and community. When our classrooms are full, we create a waitlist, on a first come, first served basis. If there is a child with Special Needs identified on the enrollment application, the lead teacher will meet with the family to develop a Special Health and Emergency Information plan.

To help parents stay engaged with the school, we provide monthly e-newsletters and parenting classes the second Saturday of every month during the school year. We use an online record keeping system, called Transparent Classroom, which allows the families to see daily progress of their child’s work choices. In the Pre-Primary and Infant classroom, the information about snacks, toileting, bottles, and meals are recorded. This information is emailed to the family at the end of the day. We schedule parent teacher conferences in the fall and spring. We require ten hours of volunteer time from families. We ask what their strengths are and how they can contribute to the school. The more involved a child’s family is in the contribution of the school, through volunteer work, the larger sense of community is fostered and instilled within the child.

After forty-five days of enrollment, the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQs) are sent home with the families to complete. ASQs are sent again after the child has been enrolled for six months. If there are any concerns, we meet with the family to provide them with local resources in our community to seek outside sources to meet the medical and behavioral needs of all children. If Early Childhood Cares, or any other early intervention agencies, are involved we ask questions about and follow the child’s individualized plan, to find the best way to support the children experiencing delays.

STAFF

Zora Montessori keeps all information regarding children confidential to protect the privacy of the child and the family. Confidential means, all current, potential, and formerly enrolled children will only be discussed between staff on-site. Written records are stored out of common spaces in the individual file belonging to the child/family. The staff will not release information, to another school or agency, about a child unless there is written permission from the parent or guardian of the child. The confidential policy does not apply to the suspicion of abuse or neglect. All staff are mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

Within the first two weeks of employment, the staff are given an orientation on the expectations at Zora Montessori. During the orientation we discuss our Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism statement, inclusion statement, and review the emergency plans. Once a year we close the school for an in-service day and review of procedures at the school. Once a month, all staff meet for a two-hour staff meeting and minutes are taken. During the meeting, diversity and inclusive practices, appropriate language, school policies, and debriefs on trainings the staff have attended are discussed.

The staff are sent the quarterly trainings offered through Quality Care Connections. We encourage staff to attend trainings related to Special Needs, Diversity and any other Core Knowledge Category they are lacking to move up in the Oregon Step Registry. We require staff to complete 24 hours of extended teacher training each year. We are members of Oregon Montessori Association and the information on their trainings is available by email to the staff. The lead teachers have scheduled preparation time every day and meet every other month. The Infant and Pre-Primary Teachers have time scheduled between 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM daily to collaborate or work independently.