Our Place in a Diverse Community

Our students come from all walks of life, and all geographies. They and their families live and work in a wonderfully diverse community here in The Woodlands, and the Greater Houston area. People the world over come here to enjoy the wealth of culture, business, and environment of Southeast Texas. At Esprit, we understand that this joyous diversity necessitates flexible and unique approaches to teaching in classrooms comprised of a plurality of national, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.

It is an educational challenge, in fact, we welcome whole-heartedly.

Esprit and the International Baccalaureate Program

Esprit International School's decision to investigate incorporating the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years program within the framework of our Montessori teaching methodology came about in the spring of 2003. Our first criteria in researching IB programs was to ensure that the integration of the IB program incorporated well within the Montessori framework without losing any of the elements that had come to define Esprit's founding program. After extensive research into the curriculum of a multitude of IB programs, we determined that the IB philosophy was sufficiently similar to that of the Montessori method so that our students would be able to adapt it successfully and derive great benefits as well.

We discovered significant similarities between the underlying philosophy of the IB program and that of our Montessori approach. Concerning assessment, for example, both programs are standards-based or criterion-referenced rather than normative or competition based-an important aspect since the Montessori educational and social philosophy is fundamentally devoted to self-development and not driven by a need for competition. The opposition to competitiveness does not derive from the notion of sheltering or protecting the students from the harsh reality of human society-far from it. Exposed to the rigorous intellectual standards of the IBO, students come to understand that competition and comparisons between felllow students are of no real benefit to their development. Indeed, in the Diploma Program a student must reach a standard that is related to his or her own achievements, not to those of others.

While in the Montessori program, children are not tested during their earlier school years. It is only later, when students reach the of age 12 and older, that they have developed to the point where examinations will not interfere with their progress. Examinations undertaken at this point in their school years will allow others as well as themselves to discover what they have learned, and ultimately how ready they are to proceed to higher-level education. For this reason, we feel that the Diploma Program examinations do not conflict with the Montessori Method.

In addition, the IB program is based on a humanistic worldview, one that the Montessori Method also promotes. We see this humanistic approach in the service orientation of CAS (creativity, action, service) for example, which is similar to the Montessori Land Program concept relating to adolescents. Both programs focus on developing fully rounded human beings.

In short, we believe an association with the IBO benefits our School in many ways, not the least of which is a reaffirmation of our own convictions and a strengthening of our internationalism.

"Esprit is the only school in the area, that we've seen, where a multicultural integration and appreciation are welcome for the diversity it means for the children in the classroom."