Part two of two
MADISON — Last year, Divine Mercy Academy, a “Catholic Classical Montessori school” for children ages three to 12 opened on Madison’s west side.
In the school, students experience a creative environment that fosters and promotes open opportunities for them to pursue their unique interests.
This approach nurtures the individual gifts that each child brings to the school while helping them grow socially, emotionally, physically, and academically.
“The work is fun because it’s challenging . . . and the people are very nice,” said 11-year-old student Elli Hartberg.
Eleven-year-old Sydnee Schmiesing remarked how she likes that she can work on classwork with her friends.
When it comes to participating in Masses, Schmiesing said “usually the teachers ask us to do the readings.”
She added she and her classmates also pray a morning offering and the Angelus during the school day.
Special education
Divine Mercy Academy strives to accommodate students who have a variety of needs to improve their learning.
Laura McBain, the school’s director of special education, helps in most of these areas.
For students that may need a break from their classrooms for a short time, there’s a dedicated room they can go to with therapy balls, crash pads, trampolines, and twinkle lights if they need a darker and quieter atmosphere.
“Some of those kids just have so much energy and instead of asking them to stifle it, they can take that break, go in there to get their energy out, but also to get good sensory input in” before they get back to the classroom, said McBain.
She shared that some students have autism spectrum disorder and developmental delays.
Many of the students with these different abilities can function well in the classrooms but just need “a few modifications to their day” to get through it.
McBain said she’s written some stories to help the students.
“The kids who need them really like them because it has pictures of them in it and it goes through whatever they’re struggling with,” she said.
Regarding Divine Mercy Academy teaching via the Montessori method, McBain said “I’ve never seen a classroom function so well for kids with special needs.”
“[Students with special needs] are able to just be,” in the classroom, she said. “They’re working with materials and learning right alongside their classmates and it’s not this big noticeable difference.”
Family support
Many of the parents who have students at the school also support the school, especially through volunteering.
Ann Riley, mother of three, has children at Divine Mercy Academy, and volunteers in the school’s atrium for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and also helps out in the infant and toddler room.
Riley said Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a “Montessori way of religious education . . . we are integrating how they are working and the principles they are following in the classroom to apply to the richness of our liturgy and our Catholic faith”.
The atrium is where Mass is celebrated at the school to keep the faith learning and faith practicing in the same area.
“I get to pray with the children. I get to learn from them and experience how they encounter God. They are teaching us so much. It’s a privilege,” Riley said.
Speaking on the Divine Mercy community, Riley said, “the heart is generosity.”
She added, “As some parents are called to teach, other parents are serving and watching their children to enable others to go teach my children.
“Each family that is involved is very generous,” Riley said. “It inspires me to do the same.”
When she helps in the toddler and infant room, she observes that “they are learning so much and it’s beautiful introducing them to the Montessori method . . . it starts right away.”
Some early lessons include how to lay down their working mats and have grace and courtesy toward each other.
For more information on Divine Mercy Academy, including more stories about family experiences and information on how to support the school, go to www.divinemercyacademywi.org