About Us

Lakeland Montessori Schools are approved Polk County Charter Schools serving children age 3 through 8th Grade

Lakeland Montessori and District Student Demographic Data:

Mission Statement

Lakeland Montessori is a Montessori accredited school with a mission to provide an academically engaging and developmentally responsive environment; that develops character; that allows for individual expression; and encourages growth into active, responsible participants in society.

Vision Statement

Lakeland Montessori graduates are critical thinkers and collaborative workers that are lifelong learners and are prepared for future academic and social success.

Core Values: Respectful, Responsible, Resourceful

Children are encouraged to become respectful by being in an environment where children of mixed ages, abilities, and backgrounds work together to create positive relationships: where the school community models respectful behavior and where the manners and courtesies of our cultures are presented and practiced.

Children become responsible by caring for themselves, their environment, and their community and by experiencing the results of their choices.

Children become resourceful by directing the course of their own day, making decisions, and solving problems as they arise.

Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse
Age 3 through 6th grade

It is our mission to facilitate the well-rounded, advanced and challenging authentic Montessori curriculum that instills a sense of wonder and awareness about the universe and the child’s place within that universe. We wish to provide an educational environment that sparks curiosity and nurtures a love of learning along with teaching the skills to succeed academically. We are committed to providing a safe environment that is psychologically and emotionally nurturing and which is conducive to learning—equally about academics as well as oneself.

Lakeland Montessori adheres to the point-of-view that intelligence is not rare and that self-realization is the foundation for all future fulfillments. Lakeland Montessori is dedicated to teaching the core values of peace, integrity, community, and tolerance through a scientific and culturally oriented Montessori curriculum that reveals to the child the diversity and richness of human experience. The future for our children is one that holds a solid foundation in self-direction, interdependence, humanitarianism, and outreach to families and the community.

We are a community with students, parents, families, faculty and friends working together to assure the success of our mission. Montessori schools give children the sense of belonging to a family and help them learn how to live with other human beings. Children learn to be a part of families, learn to care for younger children, learn from older people, trust one another, and find ways to be properly assertive rather than aggressive. By creating a bond between parents, teachers and children, we seek to create a community where individuals learn to be empowered.

Our Unique Approach

Academically, children are encouraged to move ahead in a challenging curriculum that is supported by ingenious and time-tested materials designed by Dr. Maria Montessori and other Montessori-trained educators. Children are able to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen. They work either in small groups or individually.

While students are expected to master the same standards required of them in any public school curriculum, there is flexibility inherent in the system to accommodate each student’s academic interests and potential. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with group collaboration. Our pioneering spirit is strong and our enthusiasm for success is soaring!

Lakeland Montessori Middle School
Grades 7 & 8

Academic Design

Lakeland Montessori Middle School uses a proven Montessori curriculum which accents the integrated quality of education. All of the core academic areas are fully integrated within each other, resulting in a remarkably authentic education which mimics the nature of society. Integrated curricula tend to make the study of individual subjects or ideas more relevant and related, creating a natural and authentic education. The eccentricities of Montessori education are what make it innovative and effective.

Montessori education is also unique in the manner in which the school day is structured. Each student participates in the community by defining and pursuing his or her own needs and interests. It is truly student directed, teacher‐facilitated education. This differs from the traditionally teacher‐centered classroom and allows for more freedom and personal ownership of the process. For example, students choose their work plan—deciding which assignment and tasks to complete according to their own individual styles. Mixed in with individual work is expected group work which joins students together for opportunities to approach tasks with their peers. In these groups, students will learn to work cooperatively toward a goal while mentoring each other and being guided by the classroom teachers.

Service Learning

Service Learning is an integral part of authentic learning in a Montessori classroom. In service learning, students learn through their engagement in community service planning, action, reflection and demonstration. Students choose the projects in which they engage and share their results with the community. Service Learning allows adolescents to learn and develop skills that will make them better citizens in a local and global community.

Montessori at Work

Montessori education is innovative and effective. Students who attend Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse have excellent academic results in an authentic Montessori classroom. Lakeland Montessori Middle School follows in the tradition and example of Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse.

LMMS students are guided by their Montessori‐trained teachers and encouraged to develop individual strengths in a carefully designed work space. Students learn through individualized work plans that have been developed with that particular student’s academic needs in mind.

For those interested in reviewing our excellent State of Florida Department of Education standardized test scores and school grades, please visit our State Test Scores page.