Montessori School of Northampton

Your children will join our skilled and inspired staff for fun in the sun, shade and water. Each two-week session features a field trip and a resident artist in music, crafts, nature, movement or theater who works with the children on theme-related projects.

Our program has a low child-to-teacher ratio so our staff can give lots of individualized attention and create a relaxed summer pace for the children. The program features fun outdoor play in a park-like setting with a garden, nature exploration areas, wading pools, water play (PM only), and a large children’s playground. We offer indoor fun in one of the best-equipped, most beautiful classroom environments in the Pioneer Valley.

Our Children’s House program offers different themes for each 2-week session. Register for as many sessions as you would like.

Each day we’ll take a different groundbreaking artistic concept and show the children how it’s done! Daily units will include the cubism of Picasso and Braque, the impressionism of Monet, the modular sculptures of Constantin Brancusi and more. Students will take these concepts and expand on the artist’s original ideas: painting the same object under different lighting conditions (Monet), using cardboard objects to create shape and the illusion of volume (Picasso) and the like. A fun 5-day art exploration designed for children to experience the ideas and techniques of the masters.

Barbara Neulinger received her MFA in painting from Indiana University. Her November 2009 A.P.E. Gallery exhibit was made possible by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council. Barbara recently exhibited her artwork at the Primo Piano Livingallery in Lecce, Italy. She has been the art teacher at the Montessori School of Northampton since 2000.

Can’t take your kids to all the cool places in Western Mass that you’d like to? Let us do it for you! We have our very own mini-bus and we’ll travel to places like the Ecotarium, local arts museums at Smith and Amherst Colleges, Central Rock climbing gym in Hadley and other exciting destinations. Spaces are limited so sign up early! Destinations subject to change.

Matthew Anderson has been a Montessori teacher for 11 years and currently works in one of our Children’s House classrooms. He’s returning for his fourth summer as a program leader. When he’s not teaching, Matthew is a prolific painter and artist. His work can be seen at mattspaint.com.

Where does yarn come from and how is it made? This is the question we explore together through story, instructional materials and hands-on activities. Spinning, knitting, felting and needlework techniques will be studied throughout the week as the children create a woodland fantasy world. The boys and girls will come away with a deeper understanding of the entire process of fiber arts, from raising the animals and plants used for dyeing the yarn all the way through finished pieces of art.

Johanna Greenough and Marian Parker have a combined 19 years Montessori teaching experience between them and currently co-teach our Upper Elementary classroom. Johanna has a master’s in education from Smith College and Marian is a graduate of UMass with a degree in elementary and art education. They both love to knit and dabble in other areas of the fiber arts while balancing their lives as teachers.

Can’t take your kids to all the cool places in Western MA that you’d like to? Let us do it for you! We have our very own mini-bus and we’ll travel to places like the Amherst Natural History Museum, Sturbridge Village, the Eric Carle Museum and other exciting destinations. Spaces are limited so sign up early! Destinations subject to change.

Chris Scanlon has been the director of the Montessori School of Northampton’s Summer Programs since 2001. In the summer of 2013 he will begin his 16th year at MSN.

Junior Board Gamers (Morning): We’ll introduce your child to a new breed of board games that are easy to learn, promote critical thinking, and are a lot of fun. A great variety of games will be chosen, including ones with cooperative designs, dexterity challenges, visual activities and interesting strategies. You may have heard of games like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan - that millions play around the world. If not, you may find yourself thanking us for introducing games that are just as fun for an adult to play as for a child (not just rolling a die and moving a piece!). No previous board game experience is needed.

Pre-Engineering with LEGO (Afternoon): Students will build cities, bridges, and motorized cars/planes and explore the many creative possibilities of engineering with the LEGO® system. With access to over 100,000 pieces of LEGO, your child will have the opportunity to build what they have only dreamed of, with the support of an experienced Play-Well Engineering instructor to guide them.

Winner of Best Board Game store in the Valley and the largest gaming store in the region, Greenfield Games has two locations – downtown Greenfield and the Hampshire Mall. Greenfield Games offers a huge selection of family games, roleplaying, miniatures, board games, active games, mind benders, puzzles, graphic novels…and a lot more. Our instructors just don’t run Greenfield Games: they’re gamers as well.

Play-Well TEKnologies was founded in 1997 and has run LEGO® building system programs for summer camps and after schools all across the country. Through the use of fun-filled LEGO ® engineering and architectural projects, Play-Well helps children learn problem-solving skills and self-reliance while fostering creative expression.

Engineering FUNdamentals with LEGO (Morning): Students take on real-life engineering challenges that explore concepts in physics, architecture, mechanical and structural engineering with over 100,000 pieces of LEGO® material. From racecars to Battle-tracks, this is a hands-on and minds-on camp suitable for LEGO novices to "maniacs." Designed by engineers, the curriculum challenges both new and returning students to reach the next level of engineering comprehension, all while having fun.

Apprentice Board Gamers (Afternoon): We’ll introduce your child to a new breed of board games that are easy to learn, promote critical thinking, and are a lot of fun. A great variety of games will be chosen, including ones with cooperative designs, dexterity challenges, visual activities and tricky strategies. The Game Gurus running the camp will provide strategy ad-vice, and the apprentice class will include games with even greater depth than the junior group. No previous board game experience is needed.

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread. It is also one of the oldest prepared foods dating back to the Neolithic era. How did our ancient ancestors learn to make bread and why? In this class students will learn about the history of bread, and will make a variety of leavened and unleavened breads from all parts of the world. At the end of the week you’ll take home a cookbook of the bread recipes you’ve learned.

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For over 35 years, MSN has offered exciting and engaging programs for children in the tradition of Italian educator Maria Montessori. The school is located in a peaceful, residential area convenient to downtown Northampton, Route 9 and I-91. Families often commute and carpool from surrounding towns such as Hatfield, Amherst, Williamsburg, Easthampton, Hadley, and the hilltowns.

For the Summer Program, we welcome children between 2.9 and 6 years of age for the Children’s House pro-gram. For ages 6 to 9, we offer Visual Arts, Fiber Arts I, Daytrippers II, Pre-Engineering with LEGO/ Junior Board Gamers and Bread Baking. Programs for ages 9 to 12 include Musical Cabaret, Daytrippers I, Fiber Arts II, and Engineering FUNdamentals with LEGO/ Apprentice Board Gamers. Many Montessori students attend, but Montessori experience is not required for the summer sessions.

Chris Scanlon has been the director of the Montessori School of Northampton’s Summer Programs since 2001.
In the summer of 2013 Chris will begin his 16th year at MSN.

A 75 percent refund will be given to those withdrawing prior to June 1, 2013.
A 50 percent refund will be given to those withdrawing after June 1, 2013 and before summer program begins.
No refunds will be given after summer program begins on June 24, 2013

All refund requests must be submitted in writing to the Business Office by the dates listed on the refund policy.