The School
Cuarto Creciente Montessori School was founded in 2017 as a private, co-educational and secular school.
Through the Montessori method, it teaches the curriculum of the Second Cycle of Early Childhood Education and Primary Education, from ages 3 to 12, as established by the Autonomous Community of La Rioja. In this way, our pupils learn the same content as in traditional schools, and their studies have the same validity, but this is a school where that content is learned differently, through the Montessori method. Cuarto Creciente, in compliance with Royal Decree 806/1993, is authorised by the Regional Ministry of Education of La Rioja with school code 26008827.
Our school is also an international bilingual school, SPANISH/ENGLISH, always with native-speaking teachers.
Accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC, Boston, USA), an accrediting body for high standards of educational quality in schools and universities across 90 countries worldwide. It was founded in 1885 by Charles W. Elliot, president of Harvard University, and other leaders from Yale and Wellesley College, with the aim of creating an organisation that would evaluate and accredit the quality of educational institutions. Therefore, studies at our school are not only valid in Spain, but in any country in the world, and constitute added value in the admissions processes of international secondary schools and universities.
As an authentic Montessori school, our entire Teaching Team is made up of accredited Montessori guides with official master's degrees. In our classrooms, the maximum number of pupils is 20, and they are always accompanied by 2 guides in each classroom at the same time — that is, we do not work with assistants, but rather the pupils are at all times attended by qualified guides. In this way, the teacher-to-pupil ratio in our classrooms is 1/10.
We guarantee that we are a true Montessori school.
Cuarto Creciente Montessori School is an associated centre of the International Montessori Institute, with registration code 2012/053 IMI. This is an organisation with a clear objective: to preserve the legacy of Maria Montessori through classical and rigorous training, based on the original sources of the doctor, which in turn adapts to current educational needs through continuous research in educational matters, bringing together in a single body the best of the Italian and Anglo-Saxon traditions.
Furthermore, at our school a daily evaluation and record of each pupil's performance is carried out, using an educational platform that is specifically designed for Montessori schools. This digital platform is called Transparent Classroom, and each family has their own password with which they access exclusively the information related to their children, whenever they wish.
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To let a child who has not yet developed their will do whatever they please is to betray the true meaning of freedom.
— As explained by: Maria Montessori
We are not only a Montessori school that knows the method rigorously.
We do not forgo the essential knowledge provided by neuromotricity and psychomotricity, which are the foundation of brain development, hence the importance we give to our psychomotricity room, as we are trained as experts in this field by UNIR.
We are also trained in Arno Stern's Creative Education, by Diraya Expresión de Bilbao, official trainers of this technique, which we put into practice in our painting room.
Our pupils also learn music through active learning methods, with which we provide them with stimuli that generate experiences that lead to their learning. The ultimate goal is the enjoyment of music, and learning takes place in this process by placing the experience on an unconscious level thanks to the playful channel, so that when the time comes to theorise it, they access it without difficulty, since it is already integrated in their brain.
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Don't follow me; follow the child.
— In the words of Dr: Maria Montessori
Cuarto Creciente Montessori School is an international school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC, Boston, USA), an accrediting body for high standards of EDUCATIONAL QUALITY AND INTEGRITY, recognised globally for its excellence.
Founded in 1885 by leaders of Harvard, Yale, Wellesley College and other renowned institutions, the fundamental priorities of NEASC are to promote educational excellence, innovation and equity. It establishes rigorous quality standards for all its accredited centres in more than 90 countries worldwide, through exhaustive audits of schools that wish to offer their pupils a meaningful education.
In this way, the studies taught at our school not only have full validity in Spain, as a school authorised by the Regional Ministry of Education of La Rioja (school code 26008827), but also in many countries around the world, and constitute added value in the admissions procedures of international secondary schools and universities, derived from the recognition that comes from successfully completing a lengthy accreditation process with this prestigious American institution.
This process is carried out through the ACE protocol (Architecture of learning, Culture of learning and Ecology of learning), which consists of 5 Foundational Standards and 10 Learning Principles that must be met to obtain NEASC accreditation.
The ACE Foundational Standards constitute the relationships, structures, systems and policies necessary for a school to ensure adequate operational functioning. These are:
- The learning structure.
- The organisational structure.
- The structure for health, safety and care.
- Facilities, finances and resources.
- Ethical practice.
Furthermore, the ACE Learning Principles encompass the design necessary for a school to become an authentic educational community focused on effective learning. These Principles are developed in the following areas:
- Learning objectives.
- Dimensions of learning.
- Assessment for, of and as learning.
- Perspectives of learning.
- Student participation and autonomy.
- Research and reflection on learning.
- Inclusivity in learning.
- Governance and leadership for learning.
- The time and space of learning.
- The learning community.
At Cuarto Creciente we work by rigorously applying the method developed by Dr. Maria Montessori with qualified staff, as an associated centre of the International Montessori Institute, with registration code 2012/053 IMI.
IMI is an organisation with a clear objective: to preserve the legacy of Maria Montessori through classical and rigorous training, based on the original sources of the doctor, which in turn adapts to current educational needs through continuous research in educational matters, bringing together in a single body the best of the Italian and Anglo-Saxon traditions.
The International Montessori Institute therefore issues certifications with international recognition and validity. For a school to become an associated centre of the International Montessori Institute, it must meet a series of requirements, including:
- Applying 100% Montessori pedagogy in its classrooms, in mixed-age groups.
- Having adequate spaces to apply the pedagogy in its facilities, according to the Montessori prepared environment.
- Having complete Montessori material equipment for each educational stage.
- Teaching staff must hold qualifications in Montessori training, although some team members may also be in the process of training.
In the words of the International Montessori Institute itself: 'Continuing the work of Dr. Maria Montessori, at IMI we champion an educational proposal whose mission is to provide the necessary support for children to achieve a harmonious development of skills, knowledge and attitudes; to be autonomous and in turn capable of integrating into social life. Being part of our network of associated centres carries a great responsibility for us, both towards our associated centres and towards interested families, as it represents a symbol of trust, recognising through this accreditation a centre with an educational system where children become the centre of everything, respecting the different learning rhythms, focusing activities on that rhythm, giving them security and self-confidence and also providing them with the necessary tools to develop to their fullest potential'.
The British institution Cambridge University Press and Assessment English barely needs an introduction. Our school, Cuarto Creciente Montessori School, is a Cambridge Preparation Centre where our pupils learn English naturally every day, in a privileged bilingual environment of 10 pupils per teacher, always with native English-speaking Montessori Guides.
In this way, when our pupils finish Year 6 of Primary, they are prepared to successfully pass the Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools examination. We choose the most suitable examination dates for our pupils and they are examined at our own school, with the right to special prices on the fees for said examination as a Preparation Centre.
The guarantee of our fully bilingual learning environment is based on the application of the Montessori method, supported by our very low teacher-to-pupil ratio of 1/10. In each of our classrooms there are at all times 2 Montessori guides simultaneously for a maximum of 20 pupils. One of them will address the children in Spanish, and the other will be a native English speaker who will always address the children in English. This is because each pupil receives an individual explanation of how to work with each material (the Montessori presentation) while the other classmates are working autonomously with their materials. Presentations are received repeatedly, because the brain learns through repetition, and the pupil will end up receiving the presentation of the same material several times in both languages. In this way, an authentic linguistic immersion in Spanish and English takes place, integrating and generating true bilingualism in our pupils.
