Uncover the Advantages of Our Adolescent Community Program
Rebecca Lingo • February 3, 2025

7th-9th Grade


Designed for students spanning 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, this program continues building on the foundation laid in the previous Wheaton Montessori School years and introduces new aspects to challenge young adults’ rapid intellectual, social, and emotional growth. The program is structured to ensure that students encounter all components of the curriculum and overarching themes throughout their three-year tenure. 


Experiential Learning and Student Empowerment


The Adolescent Community’s educational approach is focused on experiential learning and encourages students to take ownership of their education. By providing adolescents with the tools and guidance they need to pursue their goals, the program empowers students to be confident, capable adults who know their wants and needs and are equipped to make positive contributions to society.  


The program has an integrated project-based curriculum in which classroom subjects are approached as interrelated and taught in an interconnected manner. As students study math, economics, science, humanities, language, and writing, they are simultaneously exposed to real-world issues and challenges, refining their problem-solving skills. Group activities such as sledding, ice skating, canoeing, and hiking help develop agility and strength as well as a sense of fun and confidence in meeting physical challenges.


Evolving into Joyful, Successful, and Confident Adults through This Program


One of the key developmental experiences of adolescents is working toward economic independence. This is fostered through systems of production and exchange where students learn how to start and manage their own small business. The program teaches vital skills such as bookkeeping, budgeting, purchasing, design, advertising, conducting surveys, research, writing proposals, and interviewing experts. These lessons instill critical values such as responsibility and the significance of hard work.


Beyond intellectual development, the classroom environment of the Adolescent Program supports the well-rounded social development of all students. This includes practice in social organization and division of labor through various experiences including cooking a community lunch every day and planning camping trips. The program guides students to become active citizens and fully informed problem-solvers. Students completing 9th grade in this program emerge as confident, well-adjusted, and happy, incredible adults.


It’s truly inspiring to observe how the Wheaton Montessori School Adolescent Program provides the ideal setting for students to expand their knowledge and experience real-world responsibilities while exploring their interests and pursuing their passions in an inclusive, supportive small environment. 


We invite current families to sign up for our Parent Discovery Night in our Adolescent Community on Wednesday, February 5 at 6:00 p.m. by clicking on this link. Adolescent Community Classroom is also available for observation which you can sign up for by clicking on this link. 


Prospective families with toddlers and children under 4 are encouraged to sign up for a school tour to explore the advantages of our programs, which lay the essential foundation for our Elementary and Adolescent Community Programs. Priority enrollment will be granted to those who enroll before March 15. Our waitlist for kindergarten-9th grade for Fall 2025 is currently closed. Please check back in April to see if the waitlist is open then. Individual tours will only be offered for kindergarten through 9th grade if the waitlist is open.


Two girls using a flat bead frame. Text:

Academic Materials Explained: The Flat Bead Frame

By Rebecca Lingo • December 1, 2025
Discover how the Flat Bead Frame transforms big-number math into a hands-on journey toward abstraction and true mathematical understanding.
A woman smiles with two children in a Montessori school. The sign reads,

Our Anchors of Love and Wisdom: Grandparents and Grandfriends

By Rebecca Lingo • November 24, 2025
To all the grandparents and grandfriends in our lives, with deepest gratitude: Thank you for being our family’s anchor, for your steady love, your wisdom, and for helping not just our children and adolescents, but us as parents and teachers feel supported. You are more than relatives; you are part of our community’s village. You are living bridges between today’s children and the deeper wisdom of experience. You are the unconditional love we need as grandchildren and are the support that we need as parents. Thank you. We see you holding a steady hand through the messy, emotional, and unpredictable work of raising children and adolescents. When one cries, whines, rebels, or acts out, thank you for not leaping to worst-case conclusions. You have seen the cycles, weathered the storms, and understand how often childhood’s turbulence is normal and simply requires time. Your calm confidence reminds us to trust the process. We are grateful. You embody calm truths. You offer a presence that affirms even when the young ones puzzle us or the adolescents forget “important” things. Having played this game before, you offer a comforting confidence in each child, adolescent, and young adult. You believe in us and our dreams. You know that children grow, heal, learn—and that today’s discomforts often resolve into tomorrow’s strength. Thank you for the meals you cook, the stories you tell, the adventures you lead, the rides you offer, the educational choices you support, the tears you soothe, the self-doubts you ease, and perhaps most of all, the patient witnessing of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood unfolding. You show us, grandchildren, caregivers, parents, and teachers alike, that we are not alone. Thank you for being keepers of continuity and reminding us that a struggle today is full of promise, young humans becoming who they are meant to be. Because of you, we are reassured that someone believes deeply in who we will each become. You accept us in our imperfections as we grow, and you show us how to live with grace. We are so grateful for all of you, our neighbors, chosen relatives, and family by bond and by love. Thank you, grandparents and grand friends. Your perspective is a gift beyond measure. During our annual Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day on Tuesday, November 25, at Wheaton Montessori School, we honor the grandparents and grandfriends who have touched our lives with their love, wisdom, and stories. This special day celebrates the generations who inspire, guide, and shape our children with their experiences and care.