Gilpin Elementary School

As the music teacher at Gilpin Montessori, I love my experience. We are a public Montessori school in Denver Public Schools. We have a beautiful, old school that has so much space and light. For being in the city, the play area outside is very large and consists of three different playgrounds (one fenced in for Primary), a large open field, and two gardens run by parents, community members, and students. One of the gardens has an outdoor classroom space. In almost all of the classrooms, we have both a lead teacher and an assistant. The class sizes are anywhere from 18-25 students which allows for more individualized attention. There are lots of programs for students and opportunities including, art club, Girls on the Run, choir, CYSO violin program, guitar club, girl scouts, and boy scouts. We are always looking to add new initiatives to give our students more opportunities to learn. Gilpin Montessori is only one of handful of "Little Kids Rock" Schools in Denver right now. Little Kids Rock donated guitars, keyboards, and a new sound system to the students at Gilpin Montessori. The students attend music, physical education, art, library, computers, and group counseling every week.No school is perfect, but all of the teachers and administration at Gilpin Montessori work very hard every day to provide the best experience for our students. The teachers at Gilpin believe in the work they are doing and do everything they can to help every child be successful. As a member of the staff, I see the many challenges we are up against, but I also see a staff does everything they can to overcome those challenges. As a school, we have great strides to still make, but I believe we implementing changes in a positive direction for the future of Gilpin.

Students are not safe here. There are no consequences for physical violence. Some students are favored over others by administration.

Love, love, love this school. If you want your kids to learn in a logical hands-on way, and learn about the world and other people in a way that a test can never account for, this is the school for you. It is truly a special place.

Gilpin is a great neighborhood Montessori school - one of the few in the nation. There is a wonderful amount of diversity at all ages, and all of the kids seem to thrive in the Montessori environment.