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About Raintree"The child's work is nothing more or less than man-building! Day after day, hour after hour, from minute to minute, that incessant labour goes on. There must be no break in his activities, for that would mean death. He must surmount every obstacle in his path, he must vanquish every difficulty. Humanity, unaware of what it is doing, has blocked his path of development with countless difficulties; so that the child's labour through the ages has been broken by cries of lamentation and drenched in tears. Now that we know what he suffers; now that we realise the fatal consequences of frustrating this development which goes to form the man, we have been awakened to the consciousness of the need for a new kid of social crusade - a social campaign on behalf of the noblest of beings, the least protected of all works - the child. Let humanity awake! Let her give the child such conditions of living as he requires - if he is to achieve his task - which is sacred - no longer amid strife and lamenting, but full of joy, and aided by the society in which he lives."-Maria Montessori, 1935
Raintree is a beautifully prepared environment physically, both indoors and out, and is staffed with carefully and lovingly prepared adults who uphold the ideals of the Montessori philosophy. It is the love shared among the children and adults as well as the love that we all feel toward our prepared environment that is the foundation of the spirit of Raintree, inevitably felt by anyone who spends any time in the community that is our school. We have from the beginning been dedicated to providing working families with not only the finest in early childhood and elementary education, but with the security that they were able to go to work full in the knowledge that their children were getting the very best and most loving care available outside their immediate family. This text was written by Connie Black, one of Raintree's founding teachers.
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Raintree was founded in 1978 by a small group of dedicated people with a vision of a special
place for all children. The vision was for a beautiful place where children could go about their task of self-construction, a place lovingly and intentionally prepared for children. The vision included finding and preparing adults for this most noble work, who were willing to humble themselves and, as Dr. Montessori had admonished, "have the faith to follow the child." Their qualities of being life-long learners, having an enduring sense of humor, holding a profound respect for children as well as their ability to function without enough sleep (at least in those early years) have helped to see the vision to fruition. 