About The Spokane Falls Montessori School
Montessori education began in Eastern Washington in 1962 with Maryetta Liggett opening “The House of Children” in Kennewick, Washington. In 1965, Maryetta’s daughter, Hope Caprye-Boos co-founded and opened the Spokane Montessori School which represented the first Montessori school in Spokane, Washington. At that time, the school opened up with 24 children enrolled. In 2002, the school was purchased by Hope’s son and his wife. In 2011 the school was closed and reopened by Sundi and James McIntire and became the Spokane Falls Montessori School. Sundi was originally hired and trained by Hope Caprye-Boos. She worked as a lead teacher in the infant and toddler program for 11 years prior to purchasing the school. The school is certified through the International Association of Progressive Montessorians (IAPM).
It is our goal to continue on the legacy of Hope Caprye-Boos. We follow the Montessori philosophy to the best of our abilities while maintaining best practice in the field of early childhood education today. This means that we prepare the environment and help guide the child into “purposeful work”. This preparation goes on forever and is constantly changing. No Montessori teacher just learns how to do it. It is a continuing cycle of observing the child, adjusting the environment, keeping records, reading and then observing the child again.
In our school, education is not something the teacher does, but is a natural process, which develops spontaneously in the child – if we have done our preparation well. The child learns mainly by acting on the environment rather than by just listening to the words of the teacher. Montessori has found that individual activity is the one factor that stimulates and produces development, so most of our day is spent in independent work and lessons. Most parents report seeing much growth in all areas of their children’s development after being at our school.
Our school provides quality care and education for children between the ages of six weeks to six years old, which includes the Kindergarten year. It is extremely important for the child to complete their Kindergarten year of school in a Montessori classroom, once they have started in the Montessori environment. Everything they do prior to that Kindergarten year leads up to the amazing learning explosions that take place during that final year. To pull them out of that environment prior to completing Kindergarten has been considered by others to stump their educational growth. After graduating from Kindergarten, families often enroll their children in an Elementary Montessori school. There are many private schools in the Spokane area, as well as, an existing program in the Spokane Public School District #81.