The Montessori School of Champaign-Urbana was founded in 1962 and uses the child-focused and child-led educational philosophy developed by Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952). The Montessori method draws on the natural curiosity of children and promotes personal and self-directed learning in a prepared environment. The Montessori School of Champaign-Urbana (MSCU) offers a variety of different programs for families such as our Parent & Toddler classes, Preschool programs, Kindergarten classes, and Elementary grades 1-6. In addition, parents can have their children attend full or partial daycare which runs before school at 7:30 AM until 5:30 PM after school. Ballet, Chess, and Piano classes are also offered through MSCU. Our directresses have an average of 20 years of experience and love helping our students develop physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually! MSCU is committed to providing a comprehensive Montessori education with a highly trained staff that guides students toward becoming confident, creative, empathetic, culturally aware, and responsible children who are nurtured toward having a lifelong love of learning.