Program areas at The Post Oak School
The Post Oak School provides a comprehensive Montessori education, based on the principles and practices of Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and accredited by the International Schools of the Southwest (ISAS), to a diverse population of approximately 500 students from infancy to high school. In keeping with Dr. Montessori's ideals, children work in multi-age classrooms with a high level of freedom in choosing their own foundations in language, math, geography, science, music, and other disciplines. The Middle School and High School are located on a second campus in the museum district of Houston which incorporates the principles of Dr. Montessori as well as the International Baccalaureate.
Community service is deeply ingrained in the Montessori curriculum, from infancy through adolescence. By the time of Middle School, the entire class spends a half day each week working in small groups at various service agencies around Houston. Elementary students have ongoing relationships with other agencies, whether through regular site visits for volunteer work or by working on projects to benefit needy people in more distant places. Older children routinely learn the benefits and blessing of aiding others in the school's multi-age classrooms. Even the infants, living in a small tight-knit community, discover early on that other people have feelings.
The Post Oak School offers an extensive program of parent education. A free series of four classes, repeated throughout the year, offers general information about Montessori education to both prospective parents and interested visitors. The infant-parent program helps parents of toddlers raise happy, self confident children. A variety of other classes, lectures, and other presentations during the school year, some free and open to the public and others by reservation, afford a variety of perspectives on the School's primary purpose of raising intelligent, confident, caring, and self-motivated lifelong learners.
Faculty and Staff regularly present at national Montessori conferences and attend both national and international Montessori congresses. The School's administration has led the formation of a national Montessori administrators association. Multiple organizations, whether devoted to Montessori or traditional education, like the North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA) or Independent School Management (ISM) recommend Post Oak materials, policies, and procedures as models of best practices for similar schools.