Description
Alexander Graham Bell Montessori School is a classic Montessori school that follows both the method and the philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori. In the spirit of Montessori education, all children are treated with dignity and respect. Care for ourselves, care for others and compassionate activism are the touchstones of beliefs at AGBMS. Here children are encouraged and challenged to develop their own unique gifts. The student/teacher ratio is better than 15:1.
AGBMS was founded in 1986 by a group of dedicated parents and educators whose goal was to build a school where children could experience the very best Montessori education. This specialized school offers an individualized learning experience and an enriched curriculum including fine arts.
AGBMS is also a model full-inclusion program where we provide the combined benefits of: a challenging, mainstream Montessori curriculum; individualized and small-group instruction; unlimited opportunities for interaction with hearing peers; an intense focus on oral communication skills; and Cued Speech as a supplement to English -- especially in difficult listening situations, in cases where new and/or complex information is being presented, and in cases where there are language delays that must be resolved in an accelerated fashion.
Our school serves children from birth to twelve years old: parent support for infants; a toddler program for children ages 15 months to 3 years; a pre-primary Children’s House program for ages 3 to 6 with a continuum of classrooms for children with varying language needs; and an elementary program for ages 6 to 12. In addition to our regular staff of certified teachers, we work with a team of specialists, including certified teachers of the deaf, a speech/language pathologist, an Auditory-Verbal and Listening and Spoken Language therapist, Early Interventionists, and a certified Special Education teacher. These specialists collaborate with each other and the classroom teaching staff to provide on-site therapeutic and educational services in accordance with each child’s IEP or IFSP. We work with families and children to go above and beyond their needs. AGBMS is approved by the Illinois State Board Education (ISBE) to provide services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children.
AEHI is the outreach component of our program. AEHI provides Cued Speech workshops, individualized parental training and support, educational consulting, professional development opportunities, and access to a wide variety of information on Cued Speech and its benefits.
