September is always an exciting time in the Montessori environment. At MSOSV our schools begin the school year with “Me and My Community”. The topic of learning about Me and My Community offers the children the opportunity to learn about themselves, their community, and how it all connects within social contexts. This will allow them to expand their understandings of their community and the role others play to be helpful members of society. If you drove by Cantera Montessori today and saw a fire truck in the front of the school,

As the Founder and CEO of four private Montessori schools in the Bay Area and our newest one in Texas, I am often asked how I keep myself grounded. Well, it is pretty simple.  I stay very connected to my first school, Calaveras Montessori (2001) very much like the founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, who still carries in his pocket the key to his first Starbucks location in Seattle so he can start his day there before any of the employees arrive for the day. Our staff at Calaveras Montessori are quite

In the journey to bring Cantera Montessori to life, we have transformed what was an empty building into a warm, safe environment for young children. From top-to-bottom, our Montessori leaders have meticulously redesigned the space to create a place that feels like home. Whether it’s the fireplace that has been turned into a bookshelf or that corner that needed a little something extra, we are so pleased with how we’ve created a space where your child can thrive in their learning experiences. Developmentally appropriate furniture has been specifically organized around each

Here at the Cantera Montessori, we can’t wait to provide opportunities for children to learn and explore, even during outside play. As we were developing our outdoor play area, we put together an ideal space for children to let their imaginations lead to their own unique discoveries. This new outdoor play area offers children vast opportunities to grow and nurture their developing bodies and mind. Each feature was chosen to help your child reach important developmental goals. The large, open play structure promotes social play and develops your child’s ability to

As we watch the final elements come together, we have become pretty nostalgic about what it’s meant to us to open Cantera Montessori. As founders of MSOSV, Colleen and Mike have loved the Austin area for over a decade. There’s something about the beautiful hills and friendly culture that really called them to this location. As longtime leaders in the Montessori education world, they saw a need for authentic Montessori education in the greater Austin area. This inspired Mike and Colleen to collaborate with long-time business partners (and friends) Trey and

The new MSOSV Cantera Montessori signs are up, and we are thrilled to make this new campus official. The arrival of these signs marks the next level of enthusiasm and excitement for our leadership and staff. We’ve spent the past few months working diligently to make the dream of opening an authentic Montessori campus in Texas a reality. It is wonderful to take a moment to admire the hard work that our team has put into establishing this new opportunity for the children. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width:

We are so proud of the progress we’ve made with our new location in Georgetown, TX: Canterra Montessori. This new location will bring a new authentic Montessori program to families with young children. Nestled in an idyllic location, on two acres of rolling hills, we’re thrilled to develop this amazing location to be a uniquely natural learning environment for young minds. We selected this location to serve Georgetown families with this distinctly Montessori vision. We are currently in the midst of remodeling each room individually to enrich the Montessori experience we’ll

When considering a program for the ‘founding’ families at our new Cantera Campus, the Montessori of Silicon Valley looked to the meaning of the word Cantera and were struck by the alignment with our core values, the CARING model. COMMUNITY All individuals – child, parent, staff – who join our incredibly diverse school community are treated with respect as individuals. Each is expected to take responsibility for their personal contribution to the group’s collective success. Like each opal gemstone, every family who joins our Cantera Opal founding family community bring a set of unique characteristics

We’d like to welcome you to take a peek behind the scenes. Many times, families don’t get a chance to see all of the hard work and extra attention-to-detail it takes to build a conscious education center for children. We’d like to invite you to see what it looks like as we build up this unique school.

When I drafted the initial version of this blog in late September, I set out to provide visibility to the data being reported by the State of California in regards to the actual number of confirmed cases of COVID19 in Childcare centers across the state. Based on the response and the subsequent wave of articles being published in various media that spans both sides of the political spectrum, I am more resolute than ever in my assertion that schools are safe, posing negligible risk to exposure of COVID, not to mention