The Applegarden Montessori School is located in a charming single-family dwelling on the property of the Montclair Presbyterian Church. We are 4 blocks from the Warren Freeway and one-half mile from downtown Montclair. We are located directly on a bus line. Parking is available in the Church parking lot next door to our school.

See Yahoo! Maps for location and driving directions.

We have an annual school-development fee of $300. Parents deduct this fee from any tuition payment when they have completed twenty hours of service for the school. This work may be professional or other services such as construction, sewing, school site development or substituting for a sick teacher. Parents are also invited to volunteer additional time sharing their talents with the school by attending a class session and sharing a special skill or interest. We hold several parent meetings throughout the year on topics related to Montessori and childhood development. Guest speakers are often invited to meet with parents. In addition to regular parent meetings, we have special social events at school such as:

• picnics
• a Halloween party
• a Holiday Party
• a Parents' Night
• a Mother's Day Tea
• a Kindergroup Parents' Dinner (prepared and served by our kindergroupers!)

These are announced in a monthly newsletter. And, as a matter of course, parents are always encouraged to observe in the classroom.

To ensure a developed Montessori curriculum, our staff devotes one day a month (not including vacation days) to preparation of the environment. Childcare is offered on most of these "teacher workdays."

There is no school or childcare on:

• national holidays
• the week before Labor Day
• the week following Christmas Day
• or during the month of August

Please send the registration form and the fee for the program(s) of your choice. We will contact you prior to enrollment. Following confirmation of your child's enrollment, you will owe one full tuition installment and the school development fee. At that time you will receive a Parent Handbook and enrollment materials. Make checks payable to: The Proludium Corporation. Send to our school's business office at: 5667 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA 94611.

For Registration Form Click Here.

School year (September through mid-June) tuition and childcare fees are paid in 10 monthly installments. A deposit of one full tuition installment is due at the time your child is accepted for enrollment. It pays for the final month of the school year. The remaining nine installments are due the first day of each month, September through May. Special fees are charged for our summer programs. Adequate written notice to the school business office is required to make a withdrawal from any school program. June 1, 2009, is the final date notice may be received by the school with regard to school year or summer school withdrawal. Summer or school year tuition deposits (due in March) are credited only with one month's advance notice by June 1st, 2009. After October 1st, 2009, one month notice only will be required to withdraw a child from a school program until February 1st, 2010. After that date no withdrawal from the school year programs is accepted. Registration and school development fees are not refundable.

We have only ONE LONG summer session. It includes two morning preschool options, a full-day childcare program, and a Montessori/art-exploration program in the afternoon. Children may enroll in a full afternoon of Montessori, art and childcare on a regular hourly basis from 1 p.m. on. Children attending full time (9 hours per day) have the option of attending for only 3 weeks of the summer session. The school is closed July 5th and during the month of August.

MORNING SESSION
June 18 to July 30, 2010

Children will explore with their friends the major animal groups of the world: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The value of being good stewards of our earth will be developed through stories and activities designed for and by the children from their specific interests related to animals.  Activities with animal mothers and their babies will help our youngest children as they begin the separation process from their own mothers during their first days of preschool.  We will study the body parts and life cycles of examples from each of the major animal groups, sing songs and read or tell stories about animals, listen to music inspired by people’s love for animals, make animal cookies, draw pictures and murals about animals and their homes, care for animals, and relate animals to their natural habitats: exploring the different regions of each continent where they are found and asking: why there?  We will watch our own wild garden birds caring for their young in the nests of Applegarden’s trees.  We’ll put on plays with animal characters. We’ll talk about the cycles of life, food chains, and endangered species.  We’ll create clay and/or paper maché replicas of our favorite creatures, invent imaginary animals, and culminate our studies with a field trip to the zoo.

From 1:30-4:30 p.m. daily, children enrolled in the afternoon Montessori program will enjoy a special "art exploration" period in which extended art activities not ordinarily available during regular preschool sessions can be fully explored and integated into our Animals of the World summer curriculum. Clay, mural painting, collage, wood painting, printmaking, and many other experiences will be developed. Children will create independently and in collaborative groups. The concluding session “Art Exhibit” will feature the work of each child artist as well as group projects we have accomplished.  We hope your child will join us!!

Fees for the 30-day summer session are:

Registration fee: $30

Registration Fee: $50
School Development Fee: $300

Registration in the above full-time "Option b" program entitles your child to care for 5 days during Christmas vacation, on most teacher workdays, and on 7 midwinter and spring vacation days for no additional charge.

There is no childcare provided August 1 through September 2, December 24 through January 1, or June 15, 16, or 17.

Registration Fee: $50
School Development Fee: $500

Parent Education Program Fee: $75 (due 10/1/10)

Sibling Discount: 5% reduction per child

Registration in the above full-time "Option b" program entitles your child to care for 4 days during Christmas vacation, on most teacher workdays, and on 7 midwinter and spring vacation days for no additional charge.

There is no childcare provided August 1 through September 3, December 24 through 31, or June 14, 15, or 16.

We invite you to visit our school on the following Sundays in 2010 from 2 - 4 p.m.

• January 10
• February 7
• July 11

Please call us at 510-339-9666 to arrange appointments to observe our classrooms at other times.