The ‘Montessori Method’

On Jan. 6, 1907, Maria Montessori opened her first school, in Rome, Italy. Today, the “Montessori method” is one of the most well-known and widely used educational approaches in the world. Not only is SUIMA a Montessori school, it was the very first Native American Montessori school in our nation.

While 2020 brings 113 years of Montessori education to the world, SUIMA brings 20 years of education to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.  When the school first opened, we didn’t have a functional dining hall or completely built infant and toddler classrooms. Yet, just as that first day of school arrived for many students, building completion was soon to follow.  With a beautiful dining hall, one administration building and three educational buildings, SUIMA now has 115 students enrolled, ranging from seven months to 12 years of age.

In a Montessori school, children develop because essential truths regarding the purpose of childhood, and the necessary role of adults to guide children, as they fulfill that purpose are built.  The purpose of childhood is to become the adult you are meant to be.  This means to know who you are.

Here at SUIMA, in addition to: mathematics, science, history, language, Ute language, and PE, our guides and teachers support the students as they become adults. From the youngest child to the oldest student, it is a whole person education.

Upcoming events for SUIMA: 

• 1/6 – Students return to school
• 1/14 – Parent Advisory Group meeting 6 – 7 p.m.
• 1/20 – No school in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• 1/22 – Parent Advisory Group Family Night