


"WHAT THE HAND DOES,
THE MIND REMEMBERS."
-MARIA MONTESSORI
New Leaf Prep Academy is a public charter with a Montessori soul.​
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"We're not just another school,
I can promise you that."
NEW LEAF PREP ACADEMY MISSION
New Leaf Prep Academy (NLPA) is a public charter school serving 4k through 8th grade, offering a Montessori and nature-based education in a safe, eco-friendly, and self-directed learning environment. The school focuses on nurturing the whole child—academically, emotionally, socially, and physically—through individualized learning experiences and a high-fidelity Montessori curriculum.
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NEW LEAF PREP ACADEMY VISION
To be a leading educational institution that seamlessly blends Montessori philosophy with rigorous academic standards, fostering confident, capable, and compassionate learners.
"curating critical thinkers, problem solvers, & self-motivated learners."
Our curriculum helps students to make sense of the world around them without gaining skills at the expense of actual knowledge. Our holistic approach to learning examines all avenues that will affect lifelong student success including each child’s academic skills, such as math and literacy skills, but also their social, emotional and cognitive skills. A minimalist environment free of technological distractions aids in calming student's mind and body and enables them to focus on the lessons and material at hand. New Leaf Prep Academy features low teacher to child ratios maxing out at 1:18 so students can safely learn through trial and error. Sensory-based and self-directed learning through nature exploration is a major component of our programming in addition to learning practical life skills such as tieing shoes and caring for one's environment.
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Our classrooms, indoor and out, act as a second teacher with carefully chosen developmentally appropriate works and self-correcting materials which are organized to support maximum growth and exploration in a diverse range of fields cohesive with the traditional Montessori Method. In addition these works and self-correcting materials accommodate the developmental needs of each individual student within the classroom allowing them to learn and grow at their own pace and according to their own interests. All aspects of our curriculum will be carried out in a toxic-free, natural minded environment with very limited use of technology.
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SCHOOL DESIGN
Classrooms designed to enable child independence.
Natural enviroments to curate curiosity of the living world.
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Communal spaces to allow for multi-interest development.
MONTESSORI CURRICULUM
Our curriculum is based on the highly researched Montessori Philosophy and helps children to develop through a holistic, whole child approach to create confident leaders, problem solvers and self-driven successful individuals! But don't take our word for it. Many successful accomplished CEO's, business leaders, artists, and innovators received education in Montessori Schools, and often credit their success in part to the methodology. This includes people such as Larry Page and Sergei Brin, the founders of Google; Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon; Grammy Award-winning artist Taylor Swift; inventor Thomas Edison, and Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. Even Harvard credits Montessori as an essential building block for success in later life!
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With more than 300 public schools in the United States using the Montessori Method, 150 of them being charter schools, there is a great deal of backing behind the highly researched method. In a longitudinal Study conducted by individuals from the Department of Psychology and Department of Education found that although test scores started at a same base point between traditionally educated children and children taught through the Montessori Method over time the children educated through the Montessori Method made greater strides in academic achievement, social understanding and mastery orientation. Montessori students also scored higher on executive function when tested at 4 years old.
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SOURCES
Lillard AS, Heise MJ, Richey EM, Tong X, Hart A and Bray PM (2017) Montessori Preschool Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study. Front. Psychol. 8:1783. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783