Archdiocese of Baltimore to launch Montessori program

Program for children ages 3-6 to open at St. Pius X in 2011

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will launch a Montessori program, its first, at St. Pius X Catholic School in Rodgers Forge in 2011, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien announced Wednesday.

O'Brien said St. Pius X will partner with Loyola University Maryland, which has a graduate program in Montessori education.

As the archdiocese describes it, the Montessori method "allows children to proceed at their own pace and focuses on all aspects of human development — intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual — to make learning an exciting process of discovery."

The Montessori primary program, for children aged 3 to 6, will begin in the 2011-12 school year.

The initiative is one of several announced this spring as part of the reorganization of archdiocesan schools. The archdiocese is planning to shut down 13 of its 64 schools at the end of the academic year. It also is planning to open the new Holy Angels Catholic School on the grounds of Seton Keough High School and add an English-Spanish bilingual program at Archbishop Borders School in Highlandtown.