Welcome back to school, where new beginnings and endless possibilities await!
September 1, 2024

Dear Elementary Families,


Welcome to the new school year at TRIS! It is a pleasure to embark on another year of exploration, growth, and discovery with you and your children.

 

In our Montessori Elementary environment, we continue to build on the foundation laid in earlier years, nurturing your child's natural curiosity and love for learning. Students will have opportunities for hands-on learning, collaborative projects, and independent exploration. Our approach remains deeply rooted in Dr. Maria Montessori's philosophy, focusing on each child's holistic development. We cultivate academic excellence, support our students' social and emotional development, and aim to create a community where children feel respected, valued, and empowered to take ownership of their learning journey.


Education is a vital partnership between the school and the home. We deeply appreciate your support and involvement. Throughout this year, we encourage you to stay informed and connected with us through our newsletters, community meetings, classroom updates, the school's website, conferences, and events. Please don't hesitate to contact the teaching teams with questions, concerns, or help. Together, we will support our students and create a nurturing environment that fosters every child's growth and development.


We look forward to welcoming you in person at our Welcome Event for Parents. It is an excellent opportunity to meet other parents and teachers and visit your child's classroom. We also host an Elementary Back-to-School Night to share details about the curriculum, classroom routines, school and classroom events, and more and answer any questions.


We eagerly anticipate the return of our students to the classroom and are excited about the many beautiful moments ahead. We are confident that this year will be filled with learning, laughter, and growth for all our students.


Thank you for entrusting us with your child's education. Your trust is a great honor, and we are excited to be part of their journey. We look forward to all the amazing things they will accomplish this year.


Warm regards,


Wellington Pontes

Elementary Program Director

A Showcase of Learning: Elementary Cultural Research Projects
By Wellington Pontes-Filho March 30, 2026
From Curiosity to Confidence: Inside Our Cultural Research Project Presentations at the Renaissance International School.
Peace and Montessori Education
By Renee Hites March 4, 2026
In a world that often feels rushed and fragmented, Montessori education offers something rare: a place where children are truly seen. It is an approach built not just on academic achievement, but on the belief that education, real education, has the power to change the world. Maria Montessori developed her method in the early twentieth century, but her deepest conviction was not about reading or mathematics. It was about peace. She believed that if we want a more peaceful world, we must begin with the child. " Establishing lasting peace ," she wrote, " is the work of education ." In a Montessori classroom, peace is not simply a topic that is taught. It is something that is lived. Children of different ages work alongside one another, learning to collaborate rather than compete. They develop independence, not because they are left alone, but because they are trusted. They are given real work that matters, real choices that shape their day, and real consequences that teach them to think carefully about their actions. This freedom, however, is always balanced with responsibility. Children learn to care for their environment, to resolve conflicts with words, and to consider the needs of others as naturally as they consider their own. Grace and courtesy are woven into the fabric of every day, not as rules imposed from the outside, but as habits grown from the inside. Montessori also understood something profound about the child's relationship with the world itself. Through Cosmic Education, the sweeping story of the universe, the Earth, life, and human civilization, children come to see themselves not as isolated individuals, but as participants in something vast and interconnected. They learn that every living thing depends on every other, that the air we breathe was shaped by ancient organisms, that the words we speak carry the fingerprints of countless civilizations. This perspective cultivates humility, wonder, and a deep sense of responsibility toward the world and toward one another. What you will see today in our classrooms is a reflection of that vision. The quiet concentration, the purposeful movement, the children helping one another: these are not accidents. They are the fruits of an environment carefully prepared to bring out the best in each child. Montessori education does not promise to solve the world's problems. But it does promise to raise children who are capable of empathy, who know how to listen, who find meaning in contributing to something greater than themselves. And in that promise lies something quietly extraordinary: the possibility that the children in these rooms might one day help build the more peaceful world we are all hoping for.