Ivy Montessori Children's House

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Call (925) 232.1760 to schedule a tour!

Welcome to Ivy Montessori Children’s House, a Wildflower School in Pittsburg, CA. We provide an authentic Montessori education for children 15 months – 5 years.

Ivy Montessori is a member of the Wildflower Network of schools. Wildflower is an ecosystem of decentralized Montessori micro-schools that support children, teachers, and parents.

Ivy Montessori offers a high quality Montessori education in a beautiful home learning environment, designed to facilitate effective early childhood growth and development for our youngest learners. We seek to integrate families into an educational community that reflects the rich diversity of the East Bay.

Please contact us to receive more information about our school.

School Details

Full Day

Monday – Thursday, 8:00am – 5:00pm

Fridays, 8:00 – 12:30pm

Extended Care: Monday – Thursday, 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Infant/Toddler

8:00-8:15 Arrival, hand washing, greetings
8:15-8:45 Breakfast
8:45-11:30 Work Period: Social skills, snack, toilet learning, language development, care of self/environment, outdoor classroom
11:30-12:45 Hygiene skills, lunch, preparation for nap
12:45-3:00 Nap/rest period/quiet work
3:00-6:00 Afternoon Work Period: Hygiene skills, snack, music, movement/physical activities, art, outdoor classroom. Dismissal.

Ivy Montessori operates year-round with the following school closures in 2022:

January 17 Martin Luther King Day
February 18, 21 AMI Montessori Refresher Course
March 21 Dr. Tracy’s Birthday
April 25-29 Spring Break
May 30 Memorial Day
June 20 Professional Development Day
July 1, 4 Independence Day Weekend
July 11-15
 Mid-Summer Break
August 26 – September 4 End of Summer Break
September 5 Labor Day
October 10 Indigenous Peoples Day
November 11 Veterans Day
November 24-25  Thanksgiving
December 19 – January 2 Winter Break

Transportation is provided by parents or caregivers.

We provide breakfast and lunch, as well as healthy mid-morning and afternoon snacks.

Our Head of School

Tracy Epps
Founding Head of School of Ivy Montessori Children’s House

Tracy Epps began her Montessori journey 20 years ago as a parent with her now adult son, Greylon, and continues the journey with her two toddlers, Joaquin & Vioney. She has three diplomas from the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI): Assistants to Infancy (birth to 3), Primary (3-6) and Montessori for Aging & Dementia. She holds a M.Ed. in Montessori Education from Loyola University of Maryland, a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a masters and doctorate in Psychology from DePaul University.

Dr. Tracy is very passionate about giving children the best start for a healthy life. She has a special interest in promoting healthy relationships between children and their parents, families, and caregivers. Dr. Tracy‘s extensive training and early childhood certifications include:

  • Infant-Parent Mental Health, UC Davis
  • Resources for Infant Educarers® (RIE): Foundation Course
  • SonRise® Autism Treatment Center of America
  • Music Together®
  • Suzuki® Early Childhood Music Education
  • Monart® Draw and Learn
  • Zumbini® (fitness, music, and dance for 0-4 year olds), and
  • Pikler Advanced Intensives:
    • Engaging in Dialogue w Infants/Toddlers
    • Respectful Care and Relationship with the Adult
    • Self-Initiated Motor Development.

Previously, Dr. Tracy served as faculty in management and psychology at DePaul University, a personal and executive coach, an organizational consultant, and a research psychologist (active duty) and education specialist (reserves) for the U.S. Army.

Dr. Tracy is especially enamored of infants and toddlers, who she sees as fearless explorers filled with wonder. She is excited to bring the first Wildflower Montessori home school to Pittsburg and the NorCal Hub.

Enroll Now

Read our Enrollment Flyer

Click here to download our enrollment flyer in English and Spanish.

Attend an Information Session

The application process begins with attending an Information Session/Tour where you will learn about Ivy Montessori and the Wildflower Network.

Call today to schedule a tour!
925.232.1760

Complete an Application

Please fill out our application.

Meet our Team

After filling out an application, you will have an opportunity to sit down one-one-one with our Head of School to learn more about our school. We look forward to getting to know you!

Non-discrimination Policy

Ivy Montessori Children’s House is a for-profit organization and does not discriminate by race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or status with regard to public assistance. Furthermore, Ivy Montessori Children’s House admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to 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 and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

News & Events

News

More updates coming soon. Stay tuned!

Events

Resources

Why Montessori?

Learn more about the history of the Montessori method by watching this short video.

 

Montessori Public: “Wildflower Schools are Growing and Spreading”

Why Wildflower?

Learn more about the Wildflower network from Matt Kramer, CEO.

Wildflower Schools

Ivy Montessori Children’s House is a member of the Wildflower Schools Network

Wildflower is an ecosystem of decentralized Montessori micro-schools that support children, teachers, and parents. Our schools aspire to give all children and families the opportunity to choose high quality, beautiful learning environments as they follow life’s unfolding journey.

About Wildflower Schools

Wildflower is an ecosystem of decentralized Montessori micro-schools that support children, teachers, and parents. Our schools aspire to give all children and families the opportunity to choose high quality, beautiful learning environments as they follow life’s unfolding journey.

Our aim is to be an experiment in a new learning environment, blurring the boundaries between home and school, between scientists and teachers, between schools and the neighborhoods around them. Our schools are small and teacher-led, with deep parent engagement. At the core of Wildflower are 9 principles that define the approach.

Our network is supported by a foundation that works to build capacity, systems, tools and research to grow and strengthen the network.

Learn more about our story.

Our Principles

Blurring the boundaries between home-schooling and institutional schooling, between scientists and teachers, between schools and the neighborhoods around them. At the core of Wildflower are 9 principles that define the approach.

Read about them here.

Our Network

After the first Wildflower school was created in January of 2014, there was intense interest in the school and the approach. This interest led us to open-source the model and help other family groups and teacher-leaders to create new Wildflower schools. Each teacher-leader at each Wildflower school serves on the board of at least one other Wildflower school, creating a community of schools that are linked by both a shared philosophy and a network of shared relationships.

View our network.