OODesigns concept Birchwood Montessori is a fictional school created to demonstrate design work Back to gallery

Open school days 7:15 to 5:454100 E Birch Hollow Ln, College Hill, Wichita

Call the office (316) 555-0167

Your child picks the work, finishes it and puts it back.

Birchwood Montessori is a preschool and kindergarten for children from 3 to 6 in College Hill, east Wichita. I’m a guide here, and I set my room so a child can choose real work and finish it without waiting for me.

Book a morning tour See one morning

Ages3 to 6, mixed in each room

School day8:00 to 3:00, care 7:15 to 5:45

ToursTuesdays and Thursdays, 9:15

The first shelf in the Aspen room, drawn to scaleTwelve shelves like it in every classroom

Pink towersize, in ten steps
Brown stairthick and thin
Pouringa steady hand
Golden beadswhat a thousand looks like
Knobbed cylindersthe pencil grip
Sandpaper lettersthe shape of a sound
30 inchestop shelf, at a three-year-old's reach

Last Wednesday, to scale

“I can’t picture what she does all morning.” (Heard on most tours.) The bar is the morning in real proportion. Underneath is one four-year-old’s work cycle, written down by her guide last Wednesday and shared with her family.

Arrival8:00 to 8:30

The work cycle8:30 to 11:15, no bells, snack when hungry

Outside11:15 to 11:45

Circle11:45

8:34

Waters the plants, all six

8:52

Golden beads with Ms. Ortega, 25 minutes

9:30

Snack at the table, pours her own milk

9:48

Puzzle map of North America, traces Kansas

10:35

Reads on the rug with a five-year-old

11:05

Returns every work to its shelf

Half day ends at 12:00

Pickup at the garden gate. Most three-year-olds start here and add afternoons when they are ready.

Lunch and rest, 12:00 to 1:30

Lunch from home at the classroom tables. Three-year-olds rest on their own cots; older children read quietly.

Afternoon work, 1:30 to 3:00

For fours, fives and kindergarten: a shorter second work cycle, then gardening or art.

Five words, translated

“Everyone keeps saying prepared environment.” (A parent, last spring.) Here is what each word means on an ordinary Tuesday in my room.

A wooden bowl, plate, spoon and fork laid on a wooden board — Practical lifeSetting a place, pouring, sweeping. Small real jobs that build focus.

A wooden bead frame with rows of coloured beads on wires — MathNumbers you can hold before numbers you write down.

Two seashells on a sunlit windowsill — The nature tableWhatever the children bring in, labelled and kept for a week.

"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."

Maria Montessori, and the rule our guides find hardest

Prepared environmentwhat you see on a tour: The classroom itself. Low shelves, real glass and real tools, each thing in one place. A child can find what they need and put it back without asking.
Workwhat the children call it: Any activity a child chooses from the shelf, from washing a table to building the thousand cube. It is called work because children take it seriously, and so do we.
Guidethe teacher: An adult trained to show a material once, carefully, then step back and watch. Guides spend more time observing than talking, and they write down what they see.
Mixed ages3, 4, 5 and 6 together: Younger children learn by watching older ones. Older children learn a thing properly by showing it. Each child stays with the same guide for three years.
The work cyclethe long morning: Two and a half hours without bells or rotations. Deep concentration takes about forty minutes to arrive, so we protect the time it needs.

One floor plan, three rooms

Every room follows the same map, so your child moves up to kindergarten already knowing where the pencils live. The plan below is Aspen, the largest.

Aspen room, 1,150 square feetLinden and Oak are mirror images

Small wooden chairs turned upside down on classroom tables in late afternoon sun — Aspen at 3:30. The children put the chairs up themselves before they leave.

Aspen

Ages 3 to 6, 22 children, 3 adults, 1 to 7

Our first classroom and the largest, with north windows along the whole length.

Linden

Ages 3 to 6, 20 children, 3 adults, 1 to 7

Opens straight onto the vegetable beds; this is where the chickens are named.

Oak

Kindergarten, 14 children, 2 adults, 1 to 7

Children in their third year: long division with beads, reading chapter books, running the class store.

Five adults, by name

Each of us holds a Montessori diploma for ages 3 to 6, on top of a teaching degree. Your child keeps the same guide from their first year to their last.

Elise Varga

Head of school

AMI primary diploma, M.Ed. Founded Birchwood in 2014 after nine years as a guide. Runs every tour herself.

Marisol Ortega

Lead guide, Aspen

AMI primary diploma. Twelve years in the classroom, and the golden beads are hers.

Daniel Kerr

Lead guide, Linden

AMS early childhood credential. Eight years as a guide; keeps the garden and chickens going.

Ruth Adeyemi

Kindergarten guide, Oak

AMI primary diploma. Fifteen years with five- and six-year-olds; former reading specialist.

Colleen Park

Assistant guide, Aspen

Montessori assistant certificate. Runs extended care and knows every child's pickup.

Licensed by KDHEPreschool and child care licence PS-000167, capacity 56. Last inspection June 2026.

Checked and trainedEvery adult fingerprinted through KBI and FBI checks; all hold pediatric CPR and first aid.

Eight children or fewer per adultIn every room, all day. Each 3 to 6 room has two guides and an assistant.

Founded 2014Insured for general and professional liability. Independent, not part of a chain.

Tuition for 2026 to 2027

Paid in ten monthly instalments, August to May, or once in August with 3% off. Lunch comes from home; snacks, materials and field trips are included.

Program	Hours	Monthly	Year
Half dayAges 3 to 6	8:00 to 12:00	$690	$6,900
School dayAges 3 to 6	8:00 to 3:00	$915	$9,150
KindergartenOak room, age 5 by Aug 31	8:00 to 3:00	$945	$9,450
Extended careAdded to any program	7:15 to 8:00, 3:00 to 5:45	$165	$1,650

Siblings take 8% off the second child's tuition. The school year runs August 19, 2026 to May 27, 2027.

Fees

Application$75Enrollment deposit, credited to May$400Materials, each year$220

Tuition assistance

Need-based, from 10% to 40% of tuition, for about one family in five. Apply by March 1 for the following year. The assistance estimate further down the page gives you a fair idea first.

Asked on almost every tour

Five questions, in the words parents use in Elise’s office, with her answers.

Does my child need to be toilet trained?

Yes, mostly. We ask that three-year-olds are using the toilet with reminders and the odd accident. Guides help with clothing and handwashing, and we keep a spare set of clothes for every child. If your child is close, start in January instead of August.

Will my child be ready for first grade?

Yes. By the end of kindergarten most of our children read simple chapter books, add and subtract four-digit numbers with the beads, and write in joined letters. We send a transition report to your child's next school with your permission.

What happens when my child is sick?

We call you to collect within the hour. A temperature of 100.4 or more, vomiting, or a rash we cannot explain is enough. Children come back after 24 hours without symptoms and without fever medicine. The office can give prescribed medicine with a signed form.

What if I cannot pick up by 3:00 or 5:45?

You have two options. Add extended care by the month, or use a drop-in afternoon for $25 when you book by noon. After 5:45 we charge $1 a minute, and at 6:00 we call the contacts on your pickup list in order.

Can we start mid-year, or come three days a week?

Yes to mid-year, no to three days. We start new children in August and January, and at other times when a place opens. Every program is five days a week: Montessori depends on the rhythm of coming back to the same work each morning.

Your family account

“Will I see what she did today?” Yes, weekly. You book a tour and apply here, and after that you get the same notes I keep at the shelf, with pictures of the work and never of the children.

Wooden bead frame — Observation journal

An acorn resting in a wooden spoon — Observation journal

birchwoodmontessori.example/tours

Book a tour

October 2026Tue and Thu, 9:15

MTWTFSS 1234 567891011 12131415161718 19202122232425 262728293031

Thursday, October 15

45 minutes: 20 in the observation chair, then questions with Elise.

9:15 morning tour2 of 4 places left

Evening open house, 6:00For working parents

Your application

3 of 5 done

TourSep 17
Application and $75 feeSep 22
Health form and immunizationsSep 26
Child visit, one morningChoose a date
Enrollment depositAfter the visit

Tuition assistance estimate

School day

Household income $68,000 People in household 4

Likely award, per month$275

About 30% of $915. The committee decides by April 1.

Come and sit in the chair by the door

Elise says it plainly: "Watch for twenty minutes while nobody performs for you. If the room looks boring, that is the point." Pick a Tuesday or Thursday morning below, and the confirmation email comes within the hour.

After you book

A confirmation

An email within the hour with the address, the gate to use, and where to park.

On the morning

Twenty minutes watching

From the observation chair in Aspen. No one performs for you; just watch.

Straight after

Questions with Elise

Twenty-five minutes in the office, with the tuition sheet and the calendar.

When you are ready

Apply online

The $75 application opens in your family account. No one will chase you.

Street map of east Wichita between Central Avenue and Kellogg, showing Hillside Street, Oliver Street and College Hill Park

Birchwood

4100 E Birch Hollow Ln, Wichita, KS 67208. Park in our lot; enter by the garden gate on the east side. Get directions© OpenStreetMap contributors

Hours and the school year

School day, Monday to Friday8:00 to 3:00
Extended care7:15 to 5:45
Office7:30 to 4:30
First dayAug 19, 2026
Thanksgiving breakNov 25 to 27
Winter breakDec 21 to Jan 1
Spring breakMar 15 to 19
Last dayMay 27, 2027

Summer program June and July, weekly, for enrolled children. Office phone (316) 555-0167.