All learning begins in wonder. The wonder of a child as he encounters God’s creation is the awakening of a desire to know, love, and serve his Creator. A child’s first encounter with the wonder of creation is in the family, and a child’s first and final school is the home. Before long, however, children begin to reach for experiences beyond the home and family.
 

Montessori Toddler & Primary

The St. Jerome Montessori Children’s House serves children aged 18 months – 6 years old as they begin exploring the world outside their homes. Both the Toddler and Primary rooms provide beautiful, peaceful spaces for children to pursue their natural human desire for knowledge. They are guided by teachers who are filled with the wonder and joy of observing the children at work. Our teachers are lovers of wisdom who devoted themselves to pursuing all that is good, beautiful, and true.
 

Montessori's Catholic Anthropology

The St. Jerome Children’s House strives to authentically embody Maria Montessori’s methods. However, it exceeds rigorous academic standards of excellence by emphasizing the distinctively Catholic anthropology at the foundation of Maria Montessori’s insights. The  Montessori method, stripped of Montessori’s spiritual vision, is not a full realization of what  Montessori intended.
 

Atrium: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

The St. Jerome Children’s House preserves the full integration of spiritual,  physical, and mental learning in everything it does, especially in the Atrium – a space devoted to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. In the Atrium, children joyfully encounter the treasures of the Catholic faith, laying a firm foundation for a virtuous and faithful life. 
 

Harmony between the Montessori Method & the Classical Plan

The St. Jerome Children’s House is housed in St. Jerome Academy, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s pioneering classical school. This means that the St.  Jerome Children’s House is the only Catholic Montessori school in the United States designed to realize the harmony between the Montessori method and a classical curriculum. 

Both Montessori and the Classical curriculum are founded in the recognition that the true nature of the human is to be found in the Incarnation of Christ, the Word made flesh, which confirmed the dignity of the whole human person – body, mind, and soul. Both ground themselves in transcendent truth and practical wisdom. Both are ordered for the good of the children, guiding them to realize their full potential in themselves, their families, and the larger community.