Over the past month, our faculty, staff, and (at age-appropriate levels) students have been learning about trees native to the DC area for a new and exciting purpose: the naming of our classrooms.

Our Montessori philosophy tells us to follow the child, and to make the class that child's home. Our environments are prepared for the needs of the children they serve. We wanted the names of our classes to bring our school together, to set each class apart, and to reflect the beautiful city in which we live and our desire to be good and knowledgeable stewards to it. Most of all, though, we decided to name our classes because we wanted the children to know that each class has an identity formed by every branch, and not just the trunk, of the tree. We want the children to retain a sense of continuity in each class even if their teacher may, from time to time, change. We hope that this will be a start of new learning and traditions for decades to come.

Here are the names our classes chose. As you can see, we're also working on visuals to identify each class. We hope you enjoy.