“Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual and is acquired not through listening to words but experiences in the environment.“ 

- Dr. Maria Montessori

The Damariscotta Montessori School provides a rich, nurturing educational environment for pre-school and elementary aged children.  The school was founded in 1991, and in 2006 became the first accredited Montessori school in the state of Maine by the American Montessori Society.

Nestled along an expansive row of majestic maple trees that line Center Street, our beautifully converted turn of the century farm house and barn house the classrooms and offices of the Damariscotta Montessori School.  Outside the children play and learn on our beautifully landscaped 4.5 acre campus.  The school serves children ages 2 1/2 -14 in our primary, elementary, and adolescent/middle school programs.

The Montessori philosophy is based upon mutual respect and belief in the child and hands on educational experience. The basic aim of the Montessori approach is to cultivate the natural curiosity and delight in discovery that is present in all children.

Certified Montessori teachers, who are specially trained in the philosophy, curriculum, and use of Montessori materials, head our classrooms.  The most important attribute of  these special people is that they understand the inner need of the child to explore and know the world.  They dedicate themselves to the preparation of a warm, inclusive classroom environment that fosters creativity, cooperation, independent thinking, self-discipline, and respect oneself and for others.

Studies have revealed that children who are motivated from within, opposed to being continually prompted by outside forces such as teachers or strict curriculum requirements, tend to be life long learners whose goals continually expand as do their interests and passion for understanding their environment.  Dr. Maria Montessori believed that every child carries within herself the unseen person that she will become. In order for children to develop their physical, intellectual and spiritual powers to the fullest, the child must have freedom. This freedom, she felt, flowed from the development of cooperation, independence, self-discipline and respect one another.