Our Community

Teachers and Staff

We are fortunate to have a core group of teachers who reflect the diversity of our school and community. Many of our current head teachers came to us as fellow professionals and have stayed on through the years to enhance and continually refine our academic program.  All staff members share a deep commitment to their professional growth as well as providing opportunities for each child to reach their highest potential.

Families and Students

Our Rising Star "community" has a strong committment to their children and our school. While holding high educational standards for their children, they also demonstrate their committment through our Parent Involvement Program.

Note from the Director

Dear Parents,

The time of year is here when you find yourselves evaluating schools to determine the best academic path for your child’s educational journey. We understand the importance of your decision and the time and care that goes into your selection. We are also aware and attentive to the needs of our families in this current economic climate. Our goal is to balance the two factors of maintaining a moderate budget while providing a high quality educational program.  We will continue to offer lower tuition cost to enable parents to keep children enrolled and allow for diversity of our student and family population. Full enrollment enables us to make improvements and enhancements to our program.

We are approaching our 28th year of providing an educational service to the Alameda community and surrounding cities. We have a steadfast goal to our mission by providing an excellent academic program in a warm and nurturing environment that celebrates diversity. Our classrooms are stimulating and motivate learning. We welcome diversity of families from different social, racial, economic, cultural, familial and religious backgrounds.

Maria Montessori writes, “A child’s self image is created by the attitudes of others.” She was referring to parents and teachers being the links between what a child learns and what a child experiences. Each child’s educational journey is enriched by the involvement and interaction between parents and teachers. This observable fact is brought about by the encouragement of parents participating in school planning meetings and events, child’s classroom, attending parent conferences three times a year. And by completing a parent survey that provides parent feedback on how the school is doing in meeting the needs of our Rising Star School community. The two Parent Education Nights provide parents with an overview of the Montessori curriculum in both our preschool and elementary programs.

The individualized Montessori Method fosters self-esteem and self-confidence while challenging the academic competence of each child. Classes are synchronized and designed to aid in the process of building an educational continuum. All day programs allow children an opportunity for a full day of learning and discovery. The low teacher/child ratio provides teachers with opportunities to meet with students in small groups, more one-on-one interactions and individualized lessons.  Our Elementary curriculum is aligned with the academic Content Standards of California to ensure that our K-5th Grade programs are comprehensive and competitive. Children in these grades are also given a CAT6 test each year to present a more complete profile of a child’s academic achievements. We are always establishing additional learning activities and experiences for our older elementary children to enhance their social development.

It is critical to provide opportunities for children to learn and develop life skills while they are young. Children in our preschool program are exposed to different languages, cultures and traditions. They are taught math, science, art and music concepts, while developing phonics and reading skills. Through our Motor Fitness programs their physical skills are developed. They are also developing social skills needed to be part of a classroom community. All these essential components of a preschooler’s prepared academic environment will prepare them for Kindergarten.

Shared values and commitment to the mission statement and the philosophy of the Maria Montessori has brought about strong staff and administration relationships which is the basis for our low teaching staff turnover. The four scheduled staff development days provide workshops, trainings and an opportunity for teachers to refresh the classroom environment to continually meet the academic needs of the children as they progress through the curriculum.  We believe our professional teaching staff here at Rising Star are dedicated and committed to teach and provide opportunities for each child to reach their highest academic potential.

We welcome new and returning families our Rising Star family community. If you have questions please feel free to contact me.

Katrina Ross-Director