Is the school accredited?
Gateway Montessori is recognized by the Association Montessori International known as AMI. The organization is an Amsterdam-based global non-governmental organization dedicated to Montessori education. It was founded by Dr. Maria Montessori in 1929. Recognition by AMI requires schools to have approved materials, requires teachers to have completed rigorous post degree training and certification, and mandates routine review and consultation by AMI to ensure the school is closely following the original pedagogy of Dr. Montessori.
Link to AMI-USA.
Gateway Montessori is one of only two schools in Chicago to achieve AMI recognition.
Other affiliations and recognition include:
Association of Illinois Montessori Schools (AIMS) - Full member
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) - Community Program is accredited and licensed for children age 15-36 months
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) - recognized according to Policy and Guidelines for Registration and Recognition of Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools
When does the school year start/end?
Our school year begins with phase-in after labor day in September, and ends the first week in June. We follow Chicago Public Schools calendar for Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, and we offer 2 - four week long summer program sessions for children age 3 and up. Some children enter our programs in January, after winter break (tuition is prorated for later start).
All programs are five days per week, and our school day is 8:30am - 12:00pm or 8:30am - 3:30pm. Daily drop off begins at 8:20am.
Aftercare is available at an additional fee until 4:30 or 5:30pm for children who are 3 years or older.
What are the daily school hours?
How much is Tuition?
Current Tuition and payment options are listed HERE
Is there financial aid or sibling discount available?
Gateway is a non-profit school, and tuition prices for this level of quality education are set lower than many child care centers to allow more families to participate in Montessori education, however, we do not currently offer sibling discounts, financial aid or accept CCAP through Illinois Action for Children.
Are there any additional costs beyond tuition that are required?
There are no additional costs required throughout the academic year. Gateway does not require uniforms, or participation in fundraising activities. No material fees or supply fees are required. Aftercare programs and Summer programs do charge additional fees for enrollment but are not required.
How long has Gateway been around?
Gateway Montessori was founded in 2006 and was previously located on Montrose Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood. Gateway purchased three city lots, designed and constructed its permanent home on Pulaski Road in the Irving Park neighborhood in June 2017.
What makes Gateway Montessori different than daycare?
Gateway Montessori is a school, following typical school day hours and academic year schedule, even for very young children. Children follow their inner guides toward independent work that is stimulating, and appropriate for their development. We have very little circle time and organized activities where all children are doing the same thing. We encourage independence as Dr. Montessori noted, “The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self. Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow, and is working to create the adult, the person that is to be. Such experience is not just play... it is work he must do in order to grow up.”
Why are all classrooms “Mixed Age” ?
Dr. Montessori observed four planes of human development spanning from birth to age 24. Each six year developmental plane, includes two sub-planes, which respond to the child’s sensitive periods for learning and acquisition. The sub-planes involve three year cycles which the Montessori classrooms support. We start at 15 months, in the 0-3 sub-plane, and continue to Primary 3-6. The second plane of development is 6-12. The third plane of development is Adolescence, and we support the first sub-plane, 12-15 years, pre-high school.
Each plane of development is dependent upon the successful completion of the plane before.
Why is it important to complete the “three year cycle” in the Primary and Elementary classroom?
The first year in the primary (Children’s House 3-6yrs) classroom is the year of exploration and discovery, the second year is that of practice and experimentation, and the final year in the three year cycle is the year of mastery, when the child is an expert and becomes a peer leader. Children are comfortable in their classroom with the same teacher, who knows their strengths and weaknesses, and within a community of the same peers, and expectations. The knowledge gained from the previous two years is solidified and the child is ready for far more challenging work. Completion of the final year (Kindergarten year) of the three year cycle will set the child up for greater success to move into the next plane of development, much the same way a house needs a foundation, and walls for support, and the capstone of the roof as the final piece of the structure.
The Elementary program, although combined 6-12, offers a similar arc of development 6-9 and 9-12, with the first year exploration of the activities, the second year the practice and expansion of learning, and the third year offering mastery of learning. Additionally, the sub-plane 9-12 allows the child to truly master and expand on all the work they did in the first sub-plane (6-9).
Can my child attend Gateway Montessori from 15 months through age 12*?
Yes. Once your child is enrolled in Gateway Montessori, your family will have priority sign up for enrollment in March, before new family applications for the following school year are reviewed.
*What about after age 12? Is there an Adolescent program?
Gateway Montessori currently offers a hybrid adolescent program, during a multi-year process to start the Montessori Adolescent program in the Fall 2026. Children will be able to continue their study through age 14, and complete ‘middle school’ at Gateway Montessori.
What is the average classroom size and ratio?
Our Community (15 m - 3 years) generally has 12-14 children with one Lead Teacher and two full time assistants. The Primary program (Children’s House 3-6 years) enrolls 20-25 children (depending on the ratio of older/younger children), with one Lead Teacher and one assistant. Our Elementary program is in it’s regrowth stage after pandemic and currently has one Lead Teacher, and a Teacher in training, with a maximum of 25 children.
What does diversity look like at Gateway Montessori?
Our community has truly come back from the pandemic forced restriction of enrollment, and our growth has allowed our classrooms to better represent the vibrant, multicultural neighborhood surrounding the school. In the 2024-25 academic year, children of color make up 42% of our enrollment; the highest percentage being children of who identify as Bi-racial, followed next by children who identify as Asian.
Gateway Montessori also welcomes children identified as neuro divirgent, who may be involved in various therapy with outside professionals. We encourage therapy visits within our school day where appropriate and beneficial to the child. Parents find that the Montessori classroom is a natural fit for all children because it allows freedom of movement, freedom to follow their interests, and individualized lessons that meet the child where they are, and not where they are expected to be.
We support families who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Gateway Montessori actively works to encourage tolerance, and compassion within our community.
Dr. Montessori was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace prize. Dr. Montessori’s writings on peace:
“Everyone talks about peace but no one educates for peace. In this world, they educate for competition, and competition is the beginning of any war. When educating to cooperate and owe each other solidarity, that day we will be educating for peace.”
“Preventing conflicts is the work of politics; establishing peace is the work of education.”
Maria Montessori, Education and Peace
Is lunch provided?
Yes! For children who stay full day (8:30-3:30pm or later) we offer a NUT FREE, organic, vegetarian catered meal daily. The children eat family-style, helping to put out a table cloth, set the table with real plates, glasses or cups, and silverware. They use cloth napkins, and sit together, passing first a vegetable course, a vegetarian protein meal, followed by fruit for desert. Eating together helps to reinforce our community spirit while allowing the children to model good table manners, and patience, and try new foods they see their friends enjoying! The meal service was suspended under COVID protocols but returned to Gateway in the 2023-24 school year. Monthly menus are given to the families in advance, and ingredients lists are available upon request. For children with documented allergies we allow families to send a nut free alternative on the day.
Is snack provided?
Yes! For all children at Gateway, each classroom has on hand an assortment of healthy snack items, and, children and families also select when to take home a “sharing basket” to return to the classroom the next day to offer a few fruits or vegetables the child would like to help prepare and share with others. This allows children to have a greater variety in both the food preparation practical life activities, and to increase the variety of foods they eat. Sharing a favorite food, that the child has helped to wash, clean, cut, chop, peel or dice, is a great joy for children. Additionally, children who stay full day (8:30am-3:30pm or later) have Tea Time in the afternoon with warm herbal tea, fruits and biscuits they made themselves!
Is there outdoor play space?
Yes! Gateway has a fenced in garden space with planter boxes, benches, a climbing dome and space to run and play at the south end of the building. There is also a grassy area with an ornamental pear shade tree along the back of the building. Children use the garden daily, weather permitting. Elementary children walk to nearby Independence Park for recess daily.
What’s next? Where do children go after Gateway Montessori School?
Families who have gone through Gateway Montessori’s programs, either Children’s House, Elementary, or both, report their children have been accepted to Lane Tech, Northside College Prep, Von Steuben Scholars, DePaul College Prep, and The Chicago High School for the Arts, among others. Our founder’s grandchildren attended Gateway Montessori and the oldest is currently enrolled at the University of Michigan.
Don’t see your question answered? Contact the office with any additional questions, via email: office@gatewaymontessorischool.org or phone: 773-539-3025