one of dcps’s best kept secrets

…and there ain’t many.

it’s the thurgood marshall montessori program
with ms. lee and ms. mitchell.

according to the dcps website there are a few other schools
with public school montessori programs, but i’ve only heard of watkins elementary
in the capital hill area.
i’ve been told that there are 3 applications for every available slot there.

i don’t know if it is standard practice in montessori classrooms,
but the way sanaa was introduced to the classroom was great.
i think it can go a long way to making each child feel welcomed, special and comfortable.
returning students started school when the rest of DC students returned to school.
the returning students had about a week to get reaquainted to the classroom and with each other after the summer.

then each new student had a private 30 minute meet & greet with the teacher,
getting a personal intro to the classroom
while the teachered figured out what each student could do.
sanaa took her teacher, ms. lee,
like she’d met her before.
sanaa just grabbed the hand ms. lee offered
and walked with her into the classroom.
afterwards, when they’d finished, sanaa asked if she could go back.
ms. lee told me that a friend of mine’s daughter
actually cried because she wanted to go back into the classroom.
most times you hear about kids crying because they don’t want to go to school,
not ’cause they don’t want to leave.

next, each day, one new student was introduced and welcomed into the functioning classroom.
one day, as i was dropping sanaa off,
sanaa actually told me that i didn’t need to pick her up
and she’d come home by herself.

and this is so cute:
each day when i drop sanaa off
all the children greet her
and some even hug her to welcome her.
awww!
ms. lee told us in a parent’s meeting that the children do this,
but to see it is so heart warming.

sanaa fell down the other day.
i asked her if the teacher helped her.
she replied that another student put tissue on her scrape.
how sweet.

parents get to be a part of this little community too.
every week, a lucky parent gets to take home the linen bag on fridays
to wash and return to school the next school day.
(among the other towels and etc. the students use to clean up, learn how to fold, and etc.,
the kids use cloth placemats at the lunch table!)
it was my turn this weekend.
yippee! (yeah, right.)

the situation is almost perfect:
the school is 3 minutes away from home by car.
(30 minutes or so, if walking with children.)
it’s the montessori classroom i’ve always wanted for sanaa.
the teacher is muslim.
it’s free.

the only thing that could be better is if it was a muslim school.