About The Post Oak School

The Post Oak School is a Montessori school.  The school's philosophy is inspired by the educational thought of Dr. Maria Montessori; the models for the classrooms and for the developmental learning materials were created by her.  The school continues her work in developmental psychology and education. 

As Montessori educators, we believe that each child is born to be a learner, and that the full potential of each person is realized only through an ordered, challenging, nurturing environment that is physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual. 

We believe that the child and his/her needs are the central and commanding focus of the learning process.  It is the role of the school to observe, to know, and to defend the child as he/she proceeds through the stages of development. 

We see in each child, the future of society, of our nation, of our planet.  The child in the process of fundamental development has unlimited possibilities and the future rests on our ability to cultivate this potential. 

The Post Oak School welcomes students from diverse social, economic, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

 We believe that the learning process is governed by certain basic human tendencies or needs:
  •  the need to communicate, to use language
  •  the tendency for order, the demand to organize, classify, and interpret reality
  •  the need for independence, the impulse to act personally on and in reality
  •  the need for social relationships
  •  the need to experience reality through imagination

Like Dr. Montessori we recognize that education requires an ethical environment in which the values of the community are respected and the worth of the individual protected.  Our philosophy includes the cultivation of the following values:
 
  • Self-reliance and hard work.
    We facilitate education based on self inquiry while maintaining school-wide standards of academic excellence. We recognize the intrinsic rewards of the children's work.
  • Respect for other people, including those who live or lived in other places and times.
    We emphasize the positive advances achieved by humans rather than the wars waged by them.
  • International and interpersonal peace.
    We seek to create situations where children cooperate at least as much as they compete.

Post Oak School School History

The Post Oak School was founded in 1963 as Houston's first Montessori school, serving children from 3 - 6 years of age.  By 1970, the school initiated the Young Children's Program for toddlers and a Lower Elementary class (grades 1 - 3).  In 1977 the Upper Elementary class (grades 4 - 6) opened and in 1980 the Middle School was begun. 

Over the years the school has experienced changes of name and location.  The name has changed from The Little School House (1963) to The Montessori School House (1979) to Post Oak Montessori School (1980) to The Post Oak System (1981) to The Post Oak School (1985). 

The original location was on Briar Ridge Drive.  The school moved to Harwin Drive (1981) and then to Gordon Elementary School, an unused HISD building (1985), while the current facility was under construction.  In that same year, the school was moved across Bissonnet Street to its current location in a building that was specifically designed and built for its use. 

Carol Ferguson was the founding directress and she stayed with the school from its inception until 1985.  John Long, the current Head of School, assumed responsibilities in 1995. 

Since its founding The Post Oak School has been committed to the principles of Dr. Maria Montessori and to affiliation with the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).  The school assumes a leadership position among Montessori schools in Houston, in Texas, and across the nation. The school has housed courses for the training of Montessori teachers, has acted as the host school for national conferences by AMI and NAMTA (the North American Montessori Teachers' Association), and has offered speakers of interest to both parents and teachers from area schools. Post Oak maintains communication with the other 85 Montessori schools in the Houston metropolitan area through the Montessori Administrators' Group, and with other independent schools through the Houston Association of Independent Schools (HAIS).   In 1995 the school completed application for membership in the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS).