Bower Elementary School

I am a parent of a current student at WSD and also a WSD graduate who was so well prepared for high school that my oldest will be the third WSD alum to graduate from the high school in our town with an Associate of Arts degree from the local community college at the same time as receiving a high school diploma. (Thank you to the previous two alumni for showing us the possibility of Dual Credit.)My family's experience of WSD is that school is enjoyable, interesting, and engaging. Two weeks into summer break, my oldest would ask, "when do we get to go back to school?" WSD feels like a second home to my children. A place where they feel cared for and seen, and also an environment they get to contribute to and take care of. A place where they play an important part and make a difference. As a parent, I see a vibrant, caring, kind, enthusiastic, interested student community. My oldest experienced several different academic settings before thriving at WSD. We continually choose this school year after year. I marked Special Education as a 4 of 5 instead of a 5 only because as a small, private school, WSD does not have the capacity for supporting the range of needs that a public school can. That said, my experience is that WSD teachers are well educated to recognize and support diverse education needs in many different directions, including both accelerated math and supporting students with dyscalculia. Each student is challenged and supported to do their best. One of my favorite parts of the academics as a parent is the thorough and multiple-paged semiannual "report card" that we receive. The student's report contains a skills/performance evaluation matrix by each teacher they have, and also a paragraph or two by each teacher about how the student is performing in that subject and developing in the classroom community. Through these mid- and end-of-year reports, it is clear to me that my children are seen and known for who they are and are becoming. WSD faculty and staff are top notch. I recommend this school to anyone, especially if you are interested in fostering a lifelong love of learning and in nurturing the whole child.

Our son was in this school from 2 1/2 through 8th grade. His education was extraordinary. He is now a sophomore in Plainfield North Highschool taking 4 honors and advanced placement classes. Because of the work ethic he developed at DuPage Montessori and the excellence of his education, he often gets his homework done WHILE STILL AT SCHOOL! As a child, he was very active and needed to move a lot. If he had been in a normal school, they would have called him ADHD and demanded he go on Ritalin so he could sit drugged at a desk all day. At DuPage Montessori, the education is tailored to each child, and what some reviewers call "chaos" is actually brilliant insight into the nature of how children learn best by active doing rather than sit-at-the-desk passive absorption. The education is so efficient that it is not necessary to send a lot of homework home. That said, the younger children are given worksheets they can take home to do with their parents, and the older ones are given web-based math, reading, and vocabulary assignments to do at home, and those are monitored by the teachers so they can give students help in their weak areas. In lower elementary, grades 1 through 3 are together, and in upper elementary, 4 through 6 are together. The older students are engaged with helping the younger students learn. That interaction provides tremendous support for the younger children and reinforces the learning for the older students and also gives them the rewarding experience of helping others succeed. The focus is on success at the student's own pace. While the teachers do provide assessments to the parents and have parent-teacher conferences, lack of A through F grades allows the students to see each other as equals and gives them room to accept each other's differences as normal. Also, if a parent has any concerns, the teachers are more than willing to meet with the parents and address their concerns. In my opinion, our investment in our son's education at DuPage Montessori is the best investment my wife and I will ever make in our lifetimes.