Our Community

The concept of community is so essential to Alcuin School that it is one of our core values. We see it in the involvement of our faculty, administration, staff, parents, grandparents, and alumni, but nowhere do we see it more prominently than in our students.

The Student Community

Class work frequently involves collaboration. Guides arrange chairs and tables in small groups so that instruction, as well as independent activities, occurs in a group setting. Each classroom has several area rugs so that groups of children can gather together to study math applications, write a paragraph, or complete the timeline of life. Classroom strategies—along with class trips, faculty collaboration, athletic teams, school clubs, family involvement, and alumni events—build community.

The Parent Community

Our parents support the school with tremendous generosity and unmatched vigor. Long after their children graduate, many remain loyal to the school as volunteers and philanthropists, even faculty and administrators. Montessori educational philosophy assumes reinforcement of its methods at home, as well as at school. Our parents participate in opportunities offered by the school to familiarize themselves with these expectations. At Alcuin School, parents work alongside guides to help their children attain their full potential.

The School Community

The visible happiness of the Alcuin School community—students, faculty, and staff—is noticed by parents and visitors on a daily basis. Voices are not raised except, of course, by exuberant children on the playground. Architectural features, such as curved wall surfaces and overhead skylights, encourage an atmosphere of beauty and harmony that affects the well-being of our community. Individual gardens outside of each classroom, tended by the guide and her or his students, provide an environment that brings about satisfaction and self-worth. Stained-glass windows, representing the four seasons and replicated in the wrought-iron gates of the school, carry out the Montessori philosophy of organic growth in both the child and those who guide Alcuin children.

A Great Place for Families

It is often said that Alcuin School is not just a good place for children, but that it is a great place for families. In keeping the child at the center of all that we do, we continue to foster relationships that build community for everyone at the school—students, faculty and staff, administration, and parents.