Redwood Coast Montessori began the fall of 2005 as a single Montessori classroom on a traditional public school campus. Beginning with this first classroom, the goal of RCM has always been to provide students with a world class public Montessori education. For the next 7 years RCM steadily grew in enrollment and services as a traditional Montessori program.
Strong demand for increased enrollment and wider grade opportunities led to the writing of a charter application to be recognized as an independent public charter school. In June 2012, the Arcata School District approved Redwood Coast Montessori’s charter application to become a K-8 independent public charter school beginning on July 1, 2013. With the success of the K-8 program and increasing demand for high school options, Redwood Coast Montessori applied for and was approved to become a K-12 program beginning the fall of 2017.
Throughout the evolution of Redwood Coast Montessori, the one consistent characteristic, which has triggered growth in capacity and services, is the support of parents and children for the dedicated teachers and for the traditional Montessori method used at RCM. Based on the Montessori method, students at RCM are offered a rich curriculum that truly values the child and the natural development of the whole child. Redwood Coast Montessori classrooms are based on the Montessori approach of a carefully “prepared environment” that is filled with beautiful, long lasting materials that are engaging, age appropriate and pedagogically designed as self-correcting learning tools. Students spend long uninterrupted academic time following their own passion as they work their way through the curriculum. The curriculum is integrated throughout all grade levels and all subject matter in such a way that it allows for mastery of concepts at an individual pace that is appropriate for each child. Redwood Coast Montessori students thrive within this traditional Montessori environment as they are guided by dedicated loving teachers who value the individual needs of the child and emphasize the responsibility each child has to self, community and environment.
Manila Campus
1611 Peninsula Drive, Arcata, CA 95521
707-832-4194