Faculty, Facilities, Tuition

Master of Arts degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from St. Mary's University
Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the State of New York
Certificate of Early Childhood Montessori Training from the Northwest Center for Montessori Education/American Montessori Society
Trained in two levels of Brain Gym
Over 16 years of teaching experience in Montessori environments
Completion of the teacher's course, The Writing Road to Reading
Over 25 weeks of language study in various Spanish speaking countries
Over 5 years experience in institutionalized food programs
Trained in the introductory 40-hour Handle® course, Get a Handle on Neurodevelopmental Disorders
In training as a certified facilitator for the Work of Byron Katie
Taken training in The Nurtured Heart Approach by Howard Glasser

Mr. Colombini grew up and spent most of his life in Marin County, California before moving to Minnesota, specifically to teach accelerated Montessori preprimary programs. He has worked for 16 years as a Montessori teacher in three different schools before opening Arise and Shine Montessori Minneapolis.

He continues to professionally develop his skills and interests through books, seminars and classes. Some of his classes and courses of study include child assessment, biofeedback training, Hospice training, Brain Gym, wilderness skills through Tom Brown Jr., phonics training, brain development courses, career counseling, martial arts, musical and rhythm instruction from Hestia Abeyesekera, psychology of success through Harv Ecker and over 2 years training with Byron Katie and her revolutionary stress reduction technique called “The Work.”

Maria Montessori had children's houses and her vision of schools was not the institutionalized system that we have today. Younger children get the best of both worlds when they can have a high quality Montessori program in the comfort and familiarity of a home setting. This facility was chosen with this purpose in mind.

Location
Arise and Shine Montessori Minneapolis is conveniently located 1/4 mile southwest of Highway 394 and Louisiana Ave. in St. Louis Park, just minutes from a morning downtown commute. The facility/school is licensed under Hennepin County Rule 3 as a group family day care and carries liability insurance

Hours
The normal hours of our Minneapolis preschool are Monday through 8:15 am until 3:20 pm. Our Minneapolis daycare component assists with the extended schedule opening at 7:45 am and continuing childcare until 6pm.

Indoors
Our Minneapolis Montessori preschool is located inside of a home. A full complement of Montessori materials is available to the children as is an abundance of other hands-on experiential activities to facilitate their learning.

Outdoors
Our Minneapolis preschool is in a home setting on a 2/3 of an acre lot. There is an abundance of outdoor play space. The outdoor facilities include a fenced yard, with several playgrounds, children's garden, plenty of open space for running around and a designated space for riding bicycles, tricycles, and other wheeled toys.

Meals
Arise and Shine Montessori Minneapolis is proud to offer nutritious snacks and a nutritious hot lunch program. We provide the children two snacks and a lunch as part of our program. We use primarily fresh and minimally processed foods and avoid unnecessary chemicals and food additives. The children are eager helpers with meal and snack preparation.

Our Minneapolis Preschool is for children from 33 months old through their kindergarten year. We have our area of specialty and focus, which is preschool children and therefore, do not accept infants nor toddlers into our program

Our Minneapolis day care component can regularly accommodate children up through third grade for after school or before school hours.

The standard fee for a regular school day from 8:15 AM - 3:30 PM is $628a month, which works out to be about $155 a week. This includes 2 snacks and lunch.
Our Minneapolis preschool pricing chart is below and should answer most of your cost questions about our preschool program.

Five Day Program (Monday-Friday)
Full Day (8:15-3:15)                             $628 per month
Extended Day (3:30-6:00)                    $188 per month
Before Care (7:45-8:15)                     $ 46 per month

Morning Class (8:15-11:45) $450 per month
Before Care (7:45-8:15) $ 46 per month

Park Spanish Immersion Kindergarten Rate (12:15-3:15) $395 per month
Aquila Kindergarten Rate ( 11:45-3:15) $440 per month

Holiday, Vacation, Drop-off
Hourly                          $   8
½ Day Rate                  $ 23
Daily Rate                    $ 45
Weekly                         $215

Kindergarten rate $29 a day

Kindergarten to full day + $19

Extended day to full day + $33

We offer a limited amount of part time spaces every year.

Three Day Program, usually (Monday-Wednesday)
Full Day (8:15-3:15)                             $455 per month
Extended Day (3:30-6:00)                    $128 per month
Before Care (7:45-8:15)                       $ 41 per month

Morning Class (8:15-11:15) $278 per month
Before Care (7:45-8:15) $ 41 per month

Kindergarten Rate (11:20-3:15) $320 per month
Extended Day (3:30-6:00) $128 per month

Two Day Program usually (Thursday + Friday)
Full Day (8:15-3:15)                             $331 per month
Extended Day (3:30-6:00)                    $ 100 per month
Before Care &7:45-8:15)                     $ 32 per month

Morning Class (8:15-11:15) $210 per month
Before Care (7:45-8:15) $ 32 per month

Kindergarten Rate (11:20-3:15) $226 per month
Extended Day (3:30-6:00) $ 95 per month