A Montessori preschool for ages 2 to 5
At Flax, children choose their work from low shelves and carry it outdoors: seeds in spring, tomatoes in summer, leaves in fall. A guide stays close in every room and in every bed.
The garden
The vegetable plot is part of the school day. What children do there changes with the month, and every job is sized for small hands.
Seeds start on the classroom windowsill in March. Once the soil is workable, children plant peas, lettuce and kale, and water them in.
Watering comes first, in the cool of the morning. Then tomatoes, beans and squash to pick, wash and share at snack.
Harvest, saving seeds, raking leaves into the compost, and pressing leaves into prints for the work table.
The beds rest under cover. Indoors, children tend herbs on the windowsill, sort seeds and sketch the plan for spring.
Programs
2-year-olds
A guide and an assistant, a low sink and a garden bed of its own
3-year-olds
A guide and an assistant, and the first full season in the beds
4-year-olds
Ages 4 to 5, including the year before kindergarten
Each room has its own guides, and children move up in the spring when they and their families are ready.
Sample programs.
Our rooms
Pours water, wipes the tray and hangs a coat on a low hook
Waters the room's own garden bed with a small can
Sorts, matches and stacks wooden shapes
Listens to a short story in a small circle
When a child wants a longer morning and a bigger group, the guides and the family talk about a move to the Sprout room, usually in spring.
Chooses work from the shelves in a long, uninterrupted morning
Plants, waters and picks in the vegetable beds
Prepares snack for friends and cleans up after
Pins wooden clothespins along a rail, and traces letters in sand
A move to the Bloom room is talked through with each family in the spring, and begins with short visits.
Plans a row from the pictures on a seed packet
Keeps a garden notebook of what was planted and what came up
Works with the sandpaper letters and counts with bead chains
Helps younger children with a job they know well
Bloom is the last room before kindergarten. In the spring the guides talk with each family about the move and what comes next.
Sample levels.
The team
Eight adults work at Flax: a guide and an assistant in each room, a garden helper and a school administrator. Two of the guides are here.
Director and Sprout room guide
Eunjoo leads the school and guides the Sprout room. She grew up speaking Korean at home, and she speaks it with any child or family who would like it. The language of the classroom is English.
Bloom room guide and garden lead
Gus guides the Bloom room and plans the garden with the children each season. He gives the lessons on the rug, then steps back while children work.
Dates
Tours run three times a year, applications open in January, and families hear from us in March.
October, January and April
A tour takes about an hour on a weekday morning, while the rooms and the garden are at work. Children are welcome to come along.
Book a tourJanuary
The form is on our enrollment page and takes a few minutes.
March
By email and a phone call, with a place or a spot on the waitlist.
Early May
Families join the children in the garden for a morning of planting.
Late August
New children begin with a short visit alongside a parent.
Late September
A supper at the garden tables, with vegetables the children grew.
Late December and March
We share the full list of closures at the start of the school year.
Sample dates.
Safety and license
Licensed by Colorado CDEC
Child care center license · CO License # 000000Verify
1 adult to 7 children
2-year-olds
Group size: 14
1 adult to 10 children
3-year-olds
Group size: 20
1 adult to 12 children
4-year-olds
Group size: 24
Group size
Up to 24 children
with 2 adults
Capacity
58
Ages 2 years to 5 years
A guide greets every child at the door and signs them in. At pickup a child leaves only with the people on your list, and we ask for ID at the door until we know you.
The garden is fenced, and a guide works in the beds with the children. Everyone washes their hands after working in the soil and before snack.
Tell us about allergies at the tour; we ask privately once you enroll. We ask families not to send nuts, and snack is set out in the room with the children.
A child with a fever or a contagious illness stays home. If a child becomes ill at school, we call you right away and a guide stays close until you arrive.
In summer the morning's garden work comes first, with hats and shade. In winter we go out in layers, and we stay inside for lightning, high wind or deep cold.
We practice fire and shelter drills, and we count heads every time children move between the rooms and the garden.
Ask us about child care assistance
Sample details.
From families
“The tour was unhurried. Eunjoo walked us through the garden first and then the Sprout room, and she answered every question about the day without a script.”
“Drop-off is calm. A guide meets each child at the door, and the weekly note tells us what the room and the garden worked on.”
“Our child comes home with dirt under the fingernails and a long story about the snap peas. We never have to guess what the day held.”
Sample reviews.
A tour takes about an hour on a weekday morning. Children are welcome to come along.