Treasure Village Montessori is located in the beautiful Village of Islamorada in the Upper Florida Keys. The school is housed in a building once known as Art McKee’s Treasure Museum; hence the name of the school, Treasure Village Montessori. Built in 1950, the building originally housed millions of dollars of gold and jewels salvaged by Mr. McKee from the various Spanish Galleon wrecks once located in the waters just off Islamorada. The facility resembles that of a castle and rests on 2.5 acres of land. It features a naturally occurring estuary, and from the 40 feet high tower or “Keep”, both ocean and bay views can be seen.
Treasure Village Montessori was established in 1998. The school offers Voluntary Pre-kindergarten through 7th grade, adding 8th grade in 2009. The average student body enrollment is 160 students. It has grown considerably in the past decade into a well established, tuition-free charter program.
In Florida, charter schools are public schools and are free of tuition. Treasure Village Montessori, like most charter schools, was created by local educators, parents and community leaders. The school is funded by the state according to the number of students attending.
Unlike traditional district schools, charter schools do not receive funding to cover the cost of securing a facility. As a result, Treasure Village Montessori Board of Directors is responsible for raising additional funding for the facilities.
Charter schools are held accountable for how well they educate children in a safe and responsible environment. Since Treasure Village Montessori is a school of choice, it is held to the highest level of accountability: it is the parents’ decision to send their children to a charter school.
Multi-age, Multi-grade Classrooms Benefit Students
The various stages of development in children occur in roughly three-year cycles. That is why at Treasure Village Montessori, classrooms consist of multiple-year age groups. Most educators agree that younger children learn well from older children, and older children learn, in part, by teaching younger children.
The multi-age classroom environment allows children to work cooperatively as they assume roles that correspond to the different positions within the classroom community. The multi-age classroom offers a rich educational environment providing a wide range of social and academic diversity through multi-age, multi-grade classrooms.
Non-discriminatory Policy
Treasure Village Montessori is a Florida Charter School that admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin and honors all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, athletic and other school administered programs.
