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Thank you for joining our community. You will recieve an email confirmation shortly. In the meantime, please explore our site.
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Admissions
Apply for 2024-2025
Urban Montessori Charter School (UMCS) is a free, TK-8th grade, public charter school open to all students, including students who are too often underserved in public education, including students of color, students with disabilities, language learners, and students from families with low-income. There are no tests or other barriers to admission. If more applications are received than spaces are available, enrollment is based on a lottery. To enroll in 2024-2025, children must be five years old by June 2, 2025 and reside in California.Our school, along with 90% of other charter schools across the city, uses a common application called Enroll Oakland. The application is available online at https://oaklandenrolls.org/ and first round applications are due FEBRUARY 16th, 2024. Applications are always accepted. and applications received after the deadline will be added to the wait list in the order they are received. Please reach out to 510-842-1181, ext 2, or email [email protected] if your family needs assistance applying.
For more information, please click Application Information. We look forward to receiving your application!Are you looking to transfer this year? We are also accepting applications for 2023-24!
Aplicar para 2024-2025
Urban Montessori Charter School (UMCS) es una escuela pública autónoma gratuita, desde jardín de infantes hasta octavo grado, abierta a todos los estudiantes, incluidos los estudiantes que con demasiada frecuencia están desatendidos en la educación pública, incluidos los estudiantes de color, los estudiantes con discapacidades, los estudiantes de idiomas y los estudiantes de familias con bajos ingresos. No hay pruebas ni otras barreras de admisión. Si se reciben más solicitudes que espacios disponibles, la inscripción se basa en una lotería. Para inscribirse en 2024-2025, los niños deben tener cinco años antes del 2 de junio de 2025 y residir en California.
Nuestra escuela, junto con el 90 % de otras escuelas autónomas de la ciudad, utiliza una aplicación común llamada Enroll Oakland. La solicitud está disponible en línea en https://oaklandenrolls.org/ y las solicitudes de la primera ronda vencen el 16 de FEBRERO de 2024. Siempre se aceptan solicitudes. y las solicitudes recibidas después de la fecha límite se agregarán a la lista de espera en el orden en que se reciban. Comuníquese con el 510-842-1181, ext 2, o envíe un correo electrónico a inscripció[email protected] si su familia necesita ayuda para presentar la solicitud.
Para obtener más información, haga clic en Información de la solicitud. ¡Esperamos con interés recibir su solicitud!
¿Estás buscando transferirte este año? ¡También estamos aceptando solicitudes para 2023-24!
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Parker Thomas commented on School Calendar 2013-08-23 22:52:12 -0700Anna – you are correct. It is 530. I will change the page. Thank you.
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FAQ
What is Montessori? How is it different from traditional classrooms?
Montessori education is child-centered, offers independence and freedom within clearly defined guidelines and respects a child’s natural stage of development.
Primarily available in the United States as a private school option, a growing number of public Montessori schools have sprouted up across the country, serving diverse learning communities.
Montessori classrooms are:
- mixed age
- self directed — children select activities from a prepared environment
- organized around uninterrupted blocks of work time
- places where children learn through discovery
What is Design Thinking?
Design Thinking is a process where students build empathy with others, reframe real-world problems and create innovative solutions.
What is Arts Integration?
Arts Integration is the use of fine/performing arts as part of the traditional subject areas.
What will my child(ren) gain by attending UMCS?
Our children work hard, are held to very high standards and perform on a wide range of assessments. Students and their families work together to build an inclusive learning community that is reflective of our culturally diverse city.
UMCS seeks to develop:
- Self-directed learning, so that children are capable of forming their own questions and adept at assessing the broad range of available resources to uncover answers.
- Emotional intelligence, so that children respectfully interact and engage with the most diverse cohorts across every conceivable category, from geography to religion to politics.
- Creative confidence, so that children have a process that they use to tackle challenges they are confronted with in and out of school.
How does UMCS address the culturally diverse, multi-lingual and varying socio-economic class levels of the student body?
UMCS is an inclusive and connected learning community that is reflective of one of the most diverse counties in the country. One of the powerful aspects of the Montessori approach is that it allows for different learning styles to flourish within the same classroom. We understand that different students have different ways of learning, some of them being culturally based. Our teachers and staff are all trained in cross-cultural communication regardless of background. We honor and respect the different members of our community and know that each member is a valuable component of our school. Our enrollment lottery has weighted preferences for students who attend program improvement schools. We support healthy cross-cultural relationships among all members of the Urban Montessori community.
What is a charter school?
Charter schools are public schools, free and publicly funded like district public schools.
What is the difference between Urban Montessori Charter School and other charter schools?
Our school was founded by a grassroots group of Oakland families, community leaders, seasoned educators and school administrators who have extensive experience starting up schools and advocating for students. We endeavor to realize an accessible public option for Montessori education in Oakland, as no such option currently exists.
What grades do you offer?
Multi-age classrooms serving children in grades TK-8.
- Primary: TK + K
- Lower Elementary: 1-3
- Upper Elementary: 4-6
- Middle School: 7-8
What are the school hours for students?
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:15-3 p.m.
- Wednesday is a minimum day, from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Is there an after school program?
Yes we have a safe and fun after school program for the UMCS community available until 6pm each school day.
Is there a before school program?
No. Children may be dropped off at 7:45 a.m. for supervised play on the playground. Classrooms open at 8:00am, and school begins at 8:15am.
If one of my children attends UMCS, will my other children receive preference in admission?
Yes. Siblings of current students must submit an application and are then exempt from the lottery.
Can I select Urban Montessori as part of the Oakland Unified School District options process?
Urban Montessori Charter School's admissions process is technically separate from Oakland Unified School District. In order to apply for UMCS, you must submit an application online.
What is the teacher-student ratio? Do you have small class sizes?
Montessori classrooms are designed to enable and empower children as independent learners. The teachers in the classroom act as facilitators of learning, working with small groups or individuals to deliver targeted lessons while monitoring the classroom’s learning. At UMCS, there are a minimum of two teachers in every classroom of 27-34 students, for teacher: student ratios from 1:14 to 1:17. We also have support teachers and specialists who rotate through the classrooms at different times of day, working with individuals or small groups of children. Ratios are even smaller in Primary classrooms (TK & K)
What electives are being taught at this school? Will there be P.E., music, art, foreign language?
All children at Urban Montessori receive instruction in art, music, design thinking, and P.E. Our lead teachers are trained to integrate music, the arts, and Design Thinking into and among the classroom projects and activities. In addition, character and peace education is a major component of the UMCS curriculum.
Want to see Montessori in action?
Check out our video. Check our School Calendar for upcoming tours. Or reach out to [email protected] and let us know what you need!
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Inclusion and Diversity
Throughout the world and across the country, free public Montessori programs have proven successful in serving children of all backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. Our goal is to replicate and build upon this success in Oakland.
We work to create a truly inclusive school community reflective of the racial and socioeconomic diversity of Oakland. We recognize that maintaining a respectful community where all students achieve, differences are valued, voices are heard, and power is shared requires constant dialogue and hard work; that we must create the safe spaces to openly check each others’ biases and assumptions, and talk openly about power and privilege, in order to model the society and community we wish our children to become part of. We hope that families choosing to apply to Urban Montessori will share our dedication to these values and goals.
The Montessori Approach and Diverse Learning
One of the powerful aspects of the Montessori approach is that it allows for different students to flourish within the same classroom. We understand that different students have different ways of learning, including being grounded in different home cultures. We seek to honor and respect different members of our community and know that each member is a valuable component of our school. We support healthy cross-cultural relationships among all members of Urban Montessori.
We believe that through outreach, education and the intentional creation of access - we will grow and maintain an inclusive and diverse community – so that it will be the foundation upon which we will build a powerful and vibrant community of learners. Through our recruitment and outreach effort we put our ideals into action.
Greater access is built into our enrollment process by:
- School lottery weighted preference for children attending program improvement schools
- Translated materials and information sessions
- Prioritizing a significant portion of our outreach efforts within communities that are underserved
At the turn of the century, Maria Montessori’s approach was intended to serve all children and was born out of observing the specific needs of vulnerable children in that society. Today our commitment is to make Montessori an educational option available to all children; and to create and sustain an inclusive and connected school community that will honor and build on the vision of Maria Montessori.
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Our Charter
Our charter petition was approved by the Alameda County Office of Education on October 11, 2011. The school opened in the fall of 2012 in Oakland.
Urban Montessori Charter Petition
Click the link below to download the current version of the charter petition.
UMCS Charter to OUSD (original) (approved by ACOE on appeal)
UMCS Renewal Charter to ACOE (2nd five-year term, including Material Revision July 2017 and again in July 2018 pursuant to address changes)
- UMCS Charter Material Revision June 2020 due to address change (approved by UMCS Board on June 25, 2020, and approved by ACOE Board)
California Charter Law
The Charter Schools Act of 1992 states that:
It is the intent of the Legislature…to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure, as a method to accomplish all of the following:
- Improve pupil learning.
- Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.
- Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods.
- Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site.
- Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system.
- Hold the schools established under this part accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes, and provide the schools with a method to change from rule-based to performance-based accountability systems.
- Provide vigorous competition within the public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all public schools.
- From the California Education Code Section 47601
UMCS Local School Wellness Policy
Our school wellness policy can be found here: Local School Wellness Policy
Additional required postings of other Public Documents are available in the Documents section of our BoardOnTrack portal. As needed, please also check our Governance page and this archive folder. Please email [email protected] if you need help finding a document.
You can find information from our SELPA here: https://charterselpa.org/governance/.
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Our Mission
Urban Montessori Charter School's mission is to develop self-directed and engaged learners who are academically, socially and emotionally prepared to succeed in any high school. Nurturing the innovators of tomorrow to creatively meet the challenges of today’s world with confidence, compassion and grace, Urban Montessori cultivates individual curiosities and strengths, while holding children to a high standard of excellence. At Urban Montessori, children deepen their understanding of what it means to live responsibly in a diverse urban community.
Whom we serve
Urban Montessori Charter School is a public charter school serving TK through 8th grade. The school is located in Oakland and is open to all children residing in the state of California. We serve a socio-economically, racially and culturally diverse community of children because we believe that all children learn about different backgrounds and perspectives by living and working with people from those backgrounds and perspectives.
MISION
La misión de Urban Montessori Charter School es desarrollar estudiantes auto-dirigidos y participativos que están preparados académicamente, socialmente y emocionalmente para ser exitosos en cualquier escuela secundaria. Urban Montessori fomenta los innovadores del mañana para alcanzar de forma creativa las metas del mundo de hoy con confianza, compasión y gracia. La escuela cultiva las curiosidades y fortalezas de cada estudiante mientras que exige un alto nivel de excelencia. En Urban Montessori, los niño/as pronfundizan sus conocimientos sobre lo que significa vivir responsablemente en una comunidad diversa y urbana.
A quién servimos
Urban Montessori Charter School es una escuela pública charter que sirve TK hasta el octavo grado. La escuela está ubicada en Oakland y está abierta a todos los niños que residen en el estado de California. Servimos a una comunidad de niños desde el punto de vista socioeconómico, racial y cultural porque creemos que todos los niños aprenden sobre diferentes orígenes y perspectivas viviendo y trabajando con personas de esos antecedentes y perspectivas.
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Enroll for the 2024-25 school year!
Does your child turn 5 before June 1, 2025?
They are eligible for free TK!
New to UMCS? Read more about applying and schedule a tour.
Newly enrolled? You may be looking for our Enrollment Information Page.
View Jobs & Apply Online! We encourage CA Credentialed Teachers to apply & we will support them to complete their Montessori Training!
Urban Montessori is a tuition-free TK-8 public charter school located in Oakland. Our school is based on the teachings of Maria Montessori. We invite you to click through and learn more about what children experience at Urban Montessori, and read our Frequently Asked Questions.
We are actively creating a truly inclusive school community reflective of the racial and socioeconomic diversity of Oakland. We recognize that maintaining a respectful community where all students achieve, differences are valued, voices are heard, and power is shared requires constant dialogue and hard work; that we must create the safe spaces to openly check each others’ biases and assumptions, and talk openly about power and privilege, in order to model the society and community we wish our children to become part of. We hope that families choosing to apply to Urban Montessori will share our dedication to these values and goals.
Urban Montessori Charter School is authorized by the Alameda County Board of Education.
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