PreK - 5th
Our holistic approach to education through language immersion and inquiry, prepares children for the next chapter in their education and personal growth.
PreK - 5th Grade at MIS
MIS offers an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based educational program for students in PreKindergarten through fifth grade. In the primary grades, the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) supports the Spanish immersion philosophy at MIS and provides an internationally-based, educational framework for academic achievement.
During these critical years, we nurture a child’s natural curiosity, creativity, and ability to reflect by providing a supportive and stimulating learning environment that embraces those qualities. This environment fosters children to become caring, active, lifelong learners who demonstrate respect for themselves and others, and have the dexterity to participate in the world around them.
The classrooms expand outside the four walls to include their local environment and global communities. Teachers collaborate to deepen the student’s learning through conceptual ideas and critical thinking and, in turn, increase their confidence and motivation. Children learn to ask questions and construct their own meaning to become critical thinkers. They are active participants in their learning as they explore issues and opportunities in real-life contexts.
To be part of MIS is to be part of a warm, welcoming community that is unique to our school. The children become friends within their own learning community and learn that it is okay that we all have many similarities and many differences.
What parents are saying…
“We love the connection and community built by MIS teachers!”
“My kids are engaged in school! They are excited to go to class and come home asking lots of questions, too.”
“The teachers take time to really get to know my child.”
“The teachers believe in what MIS is doing and want to be here.”
In the Classroom
The classroom offers a nurturing space for kids to be active learners while also challenging them academically to experiment, take risks and accept setbacks while cultivating and embracing their curiosity. Through Spanish as a second language, children sing (often knowing a special song within the first week!), dance, express themselves through imaginative play and explore through field trips to make connections between the classroom and the world around them.
MIS K-5 teachers create a dynamic and nurturing space for children to be active learners who take risks and learn resilience, while cultivating and embracing their curiosity and building academic skills. Immersed in the Spanish language, children explore and inquire through units of inquiry, build foundational literacy and math skills, and develop solid connections with peers and adults. This helps build a sense of belonging and social responsibility. The arts, music and physical education are woven throughout the school day to enrich the educational experience.
Low Student : Teacher Ratio
Classrooms are full of life with enthusiastic thinkers and learners. MIS teachers understand the importance of students interpreting the world in their own unique way. The small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios mean meeting each individual learner where they are in their educational journey.
Spanish Immersion
Learning a second language enhances the first language, since the learner is evaluating language structures and usage. Learning a second language triggers more activity in certain areas of the brain because it requires effort and attention to switch between the languages. Children become more mindful of others, more effective leaders, they assess and figure out creative solutions, they filter out irrelevant information, and become more self-aware. Those are just some of the benefits.
PreK - K/1 multiage is 100% Spanish immersion
2nd through 5th grade experience is 80% Spanish immersion and 20% formal English instruction as students gain the essential language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing in both languages
Students learn Spanish the same way they learn their first language - by hearing and seeing it used in a natural setting. Your child does NOT need to have prior Spanish language skills.
Multiage Learning
Our multiage learning environment combines multiple ages in the same class to actively contribute to their classmates’ learning experience in a meaningful way. Older children take responsibility and learn compassionate, effective leadership skills while the younger children benefit from the mentorship and modeling provided by their older peers.
PreK | ages 4-5
K/1 Multiage | ages 5 - 7
2/3 Multiage | ages 7 - 9
4/5 Multiage | ages 9 - 11
IB Education
In PreK-5, the International Baccalaureate® (IB) PYP themes guide 6 units of inquiry for a holistic learning experience that integrate socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development.
Who we are
How we express ourselves
How the world works
Sharing the planet
Where we are in place and time
How we organize ourselves
At the end of their PYP journey in 5th grade, students participate in a capstone “Exhibition” project using collaboration, research, critical thinking and communication skills that lead students to take action!
Inquiry Based Learning
The inquiry-driven approach encourages children to use their curiosity as the catalyst for constructing meaning and reconstructing what they know to gain deeper understanding. In K-5, all of the subject areas are taught through an inquiry approach.
Inquiry:
Engages students with what they know to excite curiosity
Facilitates exploration to encourage students to start working through the idea
Follows with an explanation that connects students’ exploration to build a contextual sense of the idea
Elaborates to extend the idea in new situations to help connect the dots (meeting each student in the individual understanding)
Encourages students to reflect and evaluate to transfer their newly constructed meaning to new situations
The School Day
The schedules will look different at every multiage level as they progress through their development, but here is an example of a K/1 Multiage schedule:
7:30 am :: before care *
8:30 am :: quiet time to read
8:40 am :: morning meeting & routines
9:00 am :: unit of inquiry
10:00 am :: outdoor time
10:15 am :: snack & oral presentations
10:30 am :: writer’s workshop
11:30 am :: lunch & recess
12:15 pm :: reader’s workshop
12:45 pm :: specialist class
1:30 pm :: outdoor time
1:45 pm :: math workshop
3:05 pm :: closing song, activity & reflection
3:15 pm :: end of the day
3:15-5:30 :: after care*
*Students must be re-enrolled for before and after care. Drop-ins are not available.
Specialists
Our Specialists contribute to a holistic experience and encourage children’s natural curiosity and desire to express themselves and promote communication, confidence, creativity, original thinking, social and physical development. MIS students develop an awareness and appreciation of music, art and theater from a range of places, times and cultures. Our K - 5th graders enjoy art, music, library and physical education (PE) every week.
LIBRARY Children develop an appreciation of different types of books and a love of reading.
ART Children begin to construct an understanding of their community, their own feelings and their environment through visual arts.
MUSIC Children learn to communicate in unique ways that go beyond oral language.
Physical Education (PE) Children learn through experiential opportunities like ice skating (K-3) and skiing (4-5).
PreK Admissions Age Requirement:
MIS PreK students must be 5 years of age by December 31 of the enrollment year.
Experiential Learning
At MIS, learning expands beyond the classroom to help children connect their learning with the world around them and take action in their community. Experiential learning at MIS includes everything from speakers to field trips, extended day trips, workshops, downhill skiing days (4-8th Grade) and ice skating (K-3rd Grade) days!
Meet Our PreK - 5th Grade Teachers
PreK | Catalina
BA Psychology
BA Early Childhood Education
Catalina attended Marymount School in Bogota from 4 years old until she was 18. She then attended University, graduating with a double major in Psychology and Early Childhood Education. Catalina still dives into complementary studies in both these fields every year. Originally from Bogota, Colombia, Catalina moved to Missoula in 2022. Catalina values the approach at MIS of learning through play and inquiry. She also enjoys working with colleagues from other places in the world that bring different experiences to their work. Some of her hobbies include: cycling, jogging, hiking, eating delicious food, reading, writing, dancing, spending quality time with friends and family, and contemplating nature.
K/1 Multiage | Mishel
B.A. Communication Studies, University of Montana
B.A. Fine Arts, University of Montana
Mishel is originally from Guatemala. She speaks English, Japanese and Spanish, and taught Art in Greece for five years at a multilingual preschool. Mishel joined MIS in 2012.
Outside of school, Mishel enjoys traveling, yoga, cooking and spending time with her family.
K/1 Multiage | Lara
M.A. Elementary Education - Dual Language Immersion
Lara joins us from Little Canada Elementary School, a Spanish immersion school in Minnesota. As a Spanish language immersion teacher, she has taught kindergarten, first and second grades since 2018. Lara has a Master's degree in Elementary Education- Dual Language Immersion. She also has a passion for coaching tennis and adaptive sports.
2/3 Multiage | Patricia
B.A. Spanish
MA Linguistics
Patricia joined the MIS faculty in 2002 after seven years of teaching experience in Colombia, her home country. There, she taught ESL from preschool to university level. She received a BA in Spanish and English language from Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia. She also completed her MA in Linguistics at the University of Montana with an emphasis in second language acquisition. Outside of her professional interests, she enjoys traveling, reading, dancing and spending time with her family and friends.
2/3 Multiage | John
MA Spanish & Education
BA Spanish
Prior to joining MIS in 2011, John taught children in immersion and bilingual K-12 settings in New York City and Pocatello, Idaho. He also taught in Mexico at the Jesuit University of Guadalajara.
2/3 English | Liz
BA in Spanish with a Minor in Japanese, University of Montana
Certificate in Elementary Education, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Liz has worked in education with a variety of levels from Preschool through 6th Grade since 2002. Liz is our 2/3 multiage English Teacher and MIS Library Specialist. She loves to read and write with her students. Gardening and hiking are two of her favorite things to do in her free time.
4/5 Multiage | Cally
BA Elementary Education
Originally from Great Falls, Montana, Cally received her certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and spent a year teaching English in Thailand and then spent 4 years living and teaching English in Galicia, Spain. She started teaching 4 / 5 multiage at MIS in 2020. Cally loves that at MIs she gets to work with a diverse group of people from all around the world, and gets to teach awesome students. When not at school, Cally enjoys cooking, gardening, and spending time with her cat, Noia. She also loves to bike, go camping, and backpacking.
4/5 Multiage | Chaucer
MA Education
Chaucer Larson is joining the 4/5 team this year as a homeroom teacher. He’s a former MIS student, and is fluent in multiple languages. Chaucer has a Masters in Education and brings five years of teaching experience to MIS. Chaucer is passionate about youth soccer and has coached for Missoula Strikers and Missoula High School Teams for several years. He recently returned from Brazil where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and spent time this summer in Chile with his soccer team. He’s eager to share new stories, Chilean games and vocabulary!
4/5 English | Jon
BA English Literature
MA English Teaching
Previous to MIS, Jon spent fifteen years working on trail maintenance in Glacier National Park. In addition to leading backcountry trail maintenance crews, his teaching experience includes teaching College Writing courses, student teaching sixth and seventh graders, and teaching AP and IB English. He loves spending his free time hiking, climbing, snowboarding, traveling internationally with his wife and friends, writing about those adventures, and reading.
Meet Our PreK - 5th Grade Assistant Teachers
K/1 Assistant Teacher | Lisandro Soriano
PreK Assistant Teacher | Shae Townsend
K/1 Assistant Teacher | Bret Lunder
2/3 & 4/5 Mulitage Assistant Teacher | Riley Butler
