Admissions
Admissions Process
South Suburban Montessori School offers a phenomenal Montessori education… an education for life… to children between 18 months and 14 years of age. Thank you for your interest in our school and we hope that you will seriously consider South Suburban as you research schools for your child. Below you will find helpful information on ways for you to learn more about SSMS as well as how our admission process works.
Information Packet
An information packet is available by calling our office at 440.526.1966 or by submitting a request through our website. The packet contains relevant information on South Suburban’s programs, the Montessori philosophy, our parent community, tuition schedules and admission procedures as well as an application.
Prospective Parent Open Houses
South Suburban’s Open Houses are wonderful opportunities to tour our school, learn about the Montessori philosophy and curriculum and meet our experienced faculty. Our scheduled Open Houses during the 2009-2010 school year are as follows:
- Sunday, November 8, 2009; 2pm – 4pm
- Sunday, January 31, 2010; 2pm – 4pm
- Saturday, March 13, 2010; 11am – 1pm
Parent Observation
One of the best and most impressive ways to learn about the Montessori approach to education is to observe a class in action. An observation allows parents and visitors the opportunity to see and learn more about how the children spend their time at South Suburban. Most people come away in true amazement at how the environment functions as a whole, at how the children learn and process their lessons and at how the children express empathy and concern for the common good of the community. Observations are normally scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday mornings starting at 9am. A Parent Observation is the first required step in our admissions process. To schedule your observation, please call our office at 440.526.1966.
Applications
We encourage you to submit an enrollment application after visiting South Suburban and observing our environments. Applications for enrollment can be downloaded from our website under the Admissions Forms tab, picked up from our office, or you may request that an application be mailed to you. Please complete the application and submit it to SSMS along with the requisite $30 non-refundable application fee. We encourage interested parents to apply early as spaces are limited.
Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received. An effort is made to admit as near an equal number of boys and girls to each class. The distribution of 3, 4 and 5 year olds will also be considered in our Primary Environments. Priority is given to siblings and students transferring from other Montessori schools.
If your child is applying to the Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary or Middle School, you will also need to complete and submit a Records Release form to your child's current school, which allows your child's records to be released to South Suburban. You may download this form through the website under the Admissions Forms tab.
Interviews and Classroom Visits
Once you have submitted an application, our office will coordinate a date and time for a child’s interview. The interview consists of your child spending some time in the environment with the directress and the parents meeting with the Head of School. Which program the student is applying for will determine the time of the interview and whether or not current SSMS students will be present. It is strongly recommended that both parents attend the interview and we also encourage the primary caregiver (if other than parent) to attend. PLEASE NOTE: the child may not necessarily be placed in the same class in which the interview takes place. It is the duty of the staff and Head of School of SSMS to assign pupils to the level and/or class which they are to attend.
Admission Decisions
Parents will be notified of South Suburban's admission decisions within two weeks of the interview, and where applicable, all student records have been received. A formal letter of acceptance will be the official means of notifying parents.
South Suburban may receive more applications than it has spaces available. If a space is not available, a child’s application will be included on our waiting list. South Suburban will fill enrollment space(s) from our waiting list as they become available with consideration to maintaining a balance of age and gender within the affected classroom.
South Suburban Montessori School does not discriminate by reason of race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or associational preference, religion, or national origin in the administration of educational and admissions policies or other school administered programs.