Our History
The Montessori School of the Finger Lakes was originally known as the “Montessori Children’s House.” The Montessori Children’s House was opened in Auburn in 1981 as a preschool/kindergarten. It expanded to include first through third grades in 1995 and again in 1996 to include fourth through eighth grades. The school was recently purchased in 2015 and sits on 9.5 acres in the Town of Sennett, within the Auburn City School District and is chartered through the New York State Education Department to house children ages 3 through eighth grade.
Our Foundress
Gilda D. Brower, Teacher/Directress, has been certified by the American Montessori Society since 1971, and is a member of the American Montessori Society and the North American Montessori Teacher Association. Gilda has been a faculty member of the Center for Montessori Teacher Education for the past three decades. After many years of service, Gilda retired in 2014.
Our Vision
The Montessori School of the Finger Lakes is a peaceful community passionately invested in teaching the whole being in a diverse and interdependent manner. We see a world of respect, dedication and integrity.
Our Mission
To inspire each student’s excitement and wonder and to create an academic environment that lifts limits setting the stage for life-long learning.
Our Values
How are we different from other schools? The answer is both simple and profound: we are a values-driven school. We’re not driven by status, or statutes, or educational tradition. We serve each student’s gifts and challenges, support parents, and nurture the “whole child” — socially and emotionally, as well as academically. Every practice at Montessori School of the Finger Lakes is in the service of providing our students with the tools they need to become independent lifelong learners, ethically and environmentally aware.