New Preschool Brings Montessori Method to O'Fallon

Last month’s ribbon-cutting at Bella Montessori Preschool may have seemed a long time coming, given that the enterprise opened its doors in September.

“We waited for the warmer weather actually,” said Leslie McGhee.

McGhee, 29, along with co-owner Shawna Benne, 41, run Bella Montessori. The school takes its name from Maria Montessori, who founded an educational concept now followed by a string of institutions across the country.

“It’s a ‘follow-the-child’ philosophy, which basically means that we have a prepared environment for the children, and we follow when they are ready,” McGhee said. “We do not sit down, and everybody does the same thing as in a traditional setting.”

That means the school does a lot of individual and small group lessons.

We start phonetically before we teach them the names of the letters,” McGhee said. “When it comes to math, we teach quantity and then symbol. It’s a very concrete concept, and then we move into the abstract.”

The preschool initially started in 2009, McGhee said, but has since expanded to new facilities on the north side of O’Fallon. Beginning with five students, it now has 16 students, with 18 enrolled for the session beginning in August. Ideally the pair, who are the only teachers at the preschool, hopes to grow to about 23 students.

At present, they are only using half the building in which the school resides but could expand to the other half if enrollment warrants.

Bella Montessori accepts students ages 2-6. Three and five-session packages are available as are half-day options, which run from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and all-day care, which goes from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. There is no enrollment fee.

McGhee said that the Montessori concept is hands-on.

“Children at this age are in a very sensitive period for learning, and most children need to be able to touch and feel in order to really grasp the concept and hold onto it for the future,” she said.

To that end, one play area has a two-person toy kitchen designed to promote working together and language acquisition. There is also an art area for painting.

Another area can be used for sensory work and “practical living” applications that build coordination, concentration and independence.

“One of our rooms has tile floors, so we do a lot of sensory work with water and sand,” McGhee said. “In the room with our carpet area, we do a lot of rug work with math and language.”

A key part, however, is the atmosphere.

“One of Maria Montessori’s biggest goals was to make sure the school felt more like a home, so we’ve created a space here that feels like a home, where children feel safe when they come to the classroom,” she said. “We’ve really created a very comfortable, inviting environment.”

Parents are part of the equation as well. McGhee said that while she and Benne are the only two employees, sometimes parents come in as volunteers to answer the phones.

“Montessori isn’t just about the children in our classroom,” she said. “It’s also about the families, too, and we really are trying to include the families as much as we can. It’s really about building community.”

And they enjoy the community they’ve chosen.

“We really like the north side of O’Fallon,” McGhee said. “It’s very quiet. The area we’re in has a lot of mature trees. It’s very pretty. It’s got a lot of character and is very charming.”

Benne was actually McGhee’s mentor in the Montessori movement. Between the two of them they have more than 20 years of experience in the field.

“I just knew it was for me,” McGhee said. “It was an instant love.”

As was the facility. Both live nearby, McGhee in Wentzville and Benne in Lake Saint Louis.

“This was the space we kept coming back to,” McGhee said. “We looked all over St. Charles County at different buildings, and this just felt like the right place to be.”

Bella Montessori Preschool is located at 203 Church Street.