Battery Park Montessori

Located on the riverfront at 21 South End Avenue in Battery Park City, Battery Park Montessori is New York’s first trilingual Montessori school offering Spanish, Mandarin, and English language immersive experiences from Nursery Ones through kindergarten.

Nursery Ones

At Battery Park Montessori, we know that our youngest learners need to be in a secure, attentive, loving, and nurturing environment – akin to their own family – to cultivate a positive sense of self.  Our Nursery Ones program aims to support children in their natural development. Caring, compassionate, and highly skilled early childhood education teachers are always there to gently comfort and assist children and encourage them to be exploratory and curious learners.

In this nurturing setting, the exposure to language is omnipresent. Children absorb sounds and vocabulary in English, Mandarin, and Spanish seamlessly and as naturally as they acquire their first language. The method is fluid and organic, integrating language into every activity, object, and emotion, tapping into the critical period when the brain's plasticity for learning sounds is at its peak.

Nursery Twos

As children progress to Nursery Twos, the transition is crafted with the utmost care. The change, whether from home or our Nursery Ones program, is made gentle and respectful, acknowledging the significance of this formative stage. Educators, well-versed in Montessori pedagogy, support our young learners through a balanced curriculum that caters to intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth.

Three to Six Years

Reaching the age of three to six years, children find themselves in what Maria Montessori described as the 'absorbent mind' phase, a time characterized by a natural and profound capacity to form knowledge, skills, and social bearings from their surroundings. The Casa spaces are designed as ecosystems of learning, where the environment is replete with Montessori materials poised to satisfy the instinctual educational cravings of children. Every element, every tool, invites discovery and engagement as children master new concepts and skills.

OUR LEARNING SPACES

Battery Park Montessori believes that physical development is as essential as intellectual growth. We designed our space to feel warm, airy and filled with natural light. Soft suede curtains push back to allow all children to work in the setting of the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty visible in the distance. All around the classrooms are views of the river and access to the patio that wraps around the school for a true theater of seasons experience! Spring blossoms, multicolored fall leaves, and big flakes of snow add a serene magical quality to every day. Inspired by the beautiful schools of northern Europe, we kept the tones warm and natural and made of wood and simple, elegant design. Our treehouse beckons children inside for imaginative play, a shared story with a friend and a new perspective. This physical engagement is crucial, contributing to the holistic development of every child.

The Montessori Prepared Environment: Subject Areas

Cultural Area

The cultural area is divided into geography, history, nature, and science. There are many geography materials in the classroom to teach a child their place in the world. History assists a child in learning about the concept of change. By looking at the seasons, studying the weather and changing the calendar daily it helps the child to establish a cycle of time. When a child’s birthday arrives there is a special lesson that occurs: a representation of the sun is placed on the floor and the birthday child holds the globe and walks around. Montessori nomenclature activities for vocabulary building, and a variety of other manipulatives to spark an interest in botany, zoology and geography and to help our Montessori preschool students explore and discover the world around them.

Math Area

We have two shelves that house our Montessori Math materials and a separate shelf that holds the Golden Bead Material. The first shelf houses materials and activities to reinforce quantities and numerals 1 to 10 (Large and Small Number Rods, Sandpaper Numbers, Spindle Box, Cards and Counters, Counting Puzzles, Bead Stair 1 to 9, Bead Stair Frame, etc). The other shelving unit holds materials for adding and subtracting as well as the Seguin Boards for teaching and reinforcing teens and counting by tens.

Language Arts Area

Our Montessori classroom has two shelves for the Language Arts materials and a variety of materials to teach and reinforce sounds, writing and reading. There are name tracing cards with tracing paper, “Eye Spy” Tray, Sandpaper Letters, Cornmeal Tray, Language Step Board, Moveable Alphabet, Wooden Reading Cards, Sight Word Bingo, and a variety of materials for reinforcing phonetic reading.

Practical Life Area

A beautiful dressing frame stands along with three shelves allocated for Practical Life – they are by far the most popular shelves in the whole Montessori preschool classroom. The Practical Life activities help students become responsible members of society. The activities help them learn and express a sense of order, independence, respect for the environment, respect for others, and at the same time, help to refine their concentration and hand-eye coordination. The Montessori Practical Life shelves are full of activities to reinforce pouring, spooning, tonging, dusting, sweeping, napkin folding, mixing colors, making bubbles, folding laundry, hanging clothes, using a screwdriver, locks and keys, screws and bolts, setting a table, using a whisk, and so much more. We change the activities regularly so there are always new and exciting activities to refine the children’s fine motor skills and promote increased concentration skills.

Sensorial Area

The Montessori Sensorial shelf is another popular area of the classroom with so much to explore and discover. Each scientifically designed material isolates a quality found in the world, such as color, size, shape, etc. which focuses the attention on that one aspect. Also available are the Pink Tower, Cylinder Blocks, Color Tablets, Knobless Cylinders, Smelling Bottles, Binomial Cube, Trinomial Cube, and countless more ways to explore through the senses!

Reading Area and Bookshelf

As part of the Montessori Language Arts curriculum, we maintain a vast library of award-winning children’s literature in all three languages: English, Mandarin and Spanish. Books are everywhere and every subject section has subject-related books to help learners build contextual understanding. Even our “treehouses” have book baskets, and children love getting cozy with a book in the treehouse.

Science Shelf and Nature Table

This part of the Culture & Science curriculum is where the children can feel like scientists and have plenty of opportunities to try new experiments, explore an assortment of nature items, use a magnifying glass and microscope, work with magnets, and experiment with the sink and float activity. Throughout the year we encourage our Montessori students to bring in new and exciting things for our nature table and we enjoy everything from tadpoles to fungus!

The Role of the Teacher at Battery Park Montessori

In addition to preparing the space, one will notice that our teachers’ roles are different from those found in traditional classrooms. Each one brings a wealth of experience and specialized education in early childhood learning. As credentialed Montessori educators, our teachers kindle the innate spark of independence, curiosity, and problem-solving potential that resides in every child. Instead of being the disseminator of information, our Montessori teachers act as facilitators, exemplars, and observers.

Facilitator: Our teachers provide guidance and support as children work at their own pace. Teachers balance their presentations by providing support when needed and then walking away to allow children opportunities for exploration.

Exemplar: As role models, our teachers exemplify grace and courtesy through their actions and statements. Whether it is walking through the classroom quietly or deliberately unfolding a napkin before lunch, our teachers are cognizant of the fact that our children are watching.

Observer: Teachers observe each child to extrapolate the child’s needs and next learning steps. At Battery Park Montessori, they input those observations into our shared observation platform and consistently meet in small teams to collaborate.

Beyond These Transformative Years

At the heart of Battery Park Montessori's philosophy is the harmonious integration of trilingual learning within the Montessori framework. The fusion of language immersion with this pedagogy does more than impart knowledge—it shapes the way children perceive and interact with their world. The trilingual approach enriches cognitive development, enhances empathy, and provides children with an invaluable global perspective.

Our children transition to elementary school with strong academic skills and they are empowered with foundational life skills that cannot be seen. These are the building blocks to future learning AND interactions with others. It is here that children are transformed into confident, capable, and culturally fluent individuals ready to take their place in the global community.

Learn. Explore. Grow.

Through our intentional program, we ignite a child’s natural desire to learn with an environment that is authentic, nurturing, warm, and ultimately transformative. Battery Park Montessori admissions is on a rolling basis and we welcome children throughout the year as long as space is available. To learn more, visit our website and complete the inquiry form to schedule a convenient tour today.

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