Welcome!

Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse is a diverse and engaging educational partnership of parents, teachers, children and community. Our school was founded in the Fall of 2004 by sisters Anna and Josephine Salvatico, who bring to it over 20 years experience each teaching toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners with the Montessori approach. At the schoolhouse, we nurture a child’s love of learning and sense of responsibility, using child-centered philosophies, curriculum and materials to develop the intellectual, physical, moral, artistic, emotional, and academic excellence inherent in each child. Over the course of the year, our children grow in a Montessori environment to become self-assured, independent, vibrant students who love to learn. We encourage the parents of both prospective and enrolled students to visit! Contact us to set up a time.

 

Our Location

Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse is located on the rolling hills of the founders’ family farm in Tivoli, NY (at the corner of 9 and West Kerley Corners). The building is based on the old one-room schoolhouse originally located in Gallatin that now stands at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. Our school was designed and equipped according to the Montessori principles of order, simplicity, and beauty, yet it also reflects the personality and philosophy of our teachers. The classrooms — the upstairs ones for primary students, the downstairs ones for toddler students — are brightly decorated, clean, child-sized and child-centered. The classroom materials the children work with are all natural. And the rural setting inspires the curriculum to include gardening, nature walks, and the occasional feeding of our sheep and goats.

Class Schedules We Offer

During the school year, we offer half day-classes from 8:30 to 11:30 am for students aged 18 months to 6 years, either three, four, or five days a week. The 3-day program is either Mon-Wed or Wed-Fri; the 4-day program is Mon-Tue-Thu-Fri; the 5-day program is Mon-Fri. (Depending on enrollment, we may be able to customize a schedule.)

Students aged 3 to 6 years are upstairs in the primary classroom, where maximum enrollment is 21 students. Your child must be within the 3 to 6 span by September in order to enroll in the primary program. Students aged 18 months to 3 years are in the downstairs classroom, where there’s a maximum enrollment of 10 students.

The mixed-age approach of both classrooms exposes younger children to a wide variety of materials and instruction from older children, while allowing older children to share (and thereby reinforce) their knowledge and skills and to develop a wider range of social skills.

We also offer a flexible summer camp program in June and July.

Praise for Our School

“Our daughter has spent three years at Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse, including summers, and she’s thrived there. I love that the small class size ensures each child gets individual attention, that the school is situated on a working farm with animals, and that the teachers are flexible, straightforward, and open to feedback. Plus, they occasionally offer parents an affordable date-night drop-off!”
— Lorelei & Joey, Red Hook

“My daughter spent two happy years at Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse — she adored the cheerful and bright classroom, the warm and kind students, and most of all the fabulous teachers that cared for her while allowing her the freedom to grow and develop. They were excellent about handling her serious food allergies, and I always knew she was in safe hands when she was at school. I’d certainly recommend this Montessori to any family seeking a space for their child to dream, explore, learn, and play.”
— Andrea, Rhinebeck

“Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse gave our son the confidence he needed to succeed socially and academically in kindergarten.  We all had a strong sense that his Montessori teachers knew him well and got a kick out of him too!”
— Susan & John, Red Hook

“Montessori at the Old School House is an incredibly warm, kind, and welcoming place. Our daughter is very shy and sensitive and we weren’t sure how she’d adjust to a pre-school program. But from her first day there she loved all the teachers and talked about them constantly at home. We really like the program and enjoyed the creative ways that Josephine and Anna get the parents involved, like the “Walk Around the Sun” tradition for each child’s birthday.”
— Emma & Rob, Rhinecliff

“Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse is not only an idyllic place to send your child — the old country schoolhouse surrounded by meadows filled with sheep and goats — but it’s also a place to build a community and friendships that will last well beyond the years your child is in attendance.”
— Rachel, Germantown

“Over the course of three years, Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse taught our daughter to be confident and independent and concerned about others. Plus, she came home happy and smiling every day.”
— Arlene, Tivoli

“We are so pleased with the approach of Montessori at the Old Schoolhouse — since she’s been enrolled, we’ve watched our daughter’s independence grow and her interest in learning blossom.”
— Dana & Michael, Germantown