Our Story

Mission Montessori on the Desert, a private school, opened in 1995. JoDene Tryon, an educator for over forty-five years, founded the school to offer a beautiful learning environment for children ages 2 through 6 using the methods of education developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. The school is located within St. Anthony on the Desert church at 12990 E. Shea Boulevard, Scottsdale, AZ.

In May of 2000, at the request of parents who were anxious for their children to have the opportunity to continue their Montessori education into the elementary years, Mission Montessori was granted a state charter, Mission Montessori Academy, the first Montessori school to be chartered by the Arizona State Board of Education and the first charter school in Scottsdale, AZ, opened August 14, 2000.

As the school continued to grow, it was necessary to expand to a second campus. Mission Montessori Academy was granted a use permit by the City of Scottsdale and in December 2003, opened a second campus located at 11050 N. 96th Street, Scottsdale, AZ, known as Mission Montessori Academy del Jardin. This campus is the Lower Elementary (E1) campus which educates students 1st through 3rd grade.

Again, as the school continued to grow it was necessary to expand to a third campus. In the summer of 2009, the third campus opened at 9575 E. Larkspur, Scottsdale, AZ known as Mission Montessori Academy del Norte. MMA del Norte educates students 4th through 6th grade. This campus is the Upper Elementary (E2) campus.

The summer of 2011 produced yet more changes. As the Upper Elementary grew, the parents wanted a place to send their children for Middle School. In 2011, the AZ State Board of Education granted Mission Montessori Academy a second charter for our Mission Montessori Middle Years Program (MMMYP) called The Farm at Mission Montessori Academy.
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While Mission Montessori was opening their Middle School, the primary school was growing also. It became necessary to open another toddler, primary & kindergarten campus which was located at 9390 E. Cactus Rd, and was known as the MMA del Cielo campus. In 2017, MMA del Cielo moved from that location to their present campus known as Mission Montessori Academy at St. Apkar, located at 8849 E. Cholla Ave, Scottsdale, AZ. The new location is within St. Apkar’s church. The new campus consists of one Toddler classroom and two Primary/Kindergarten classrooms. It is a beautiful location tucked quietly in a residential neighborhood.

Today, in 2020, Mission Montessori has four unique campuses each one dedicated to the developmental stage and multi-age grouping identified in the Montessori Planes of Development:

● MMA at St. Anthony: Infant through Kindergarten
● MMA at St. Apkar: 14 months through Kindergarten
● MMA at 96th Street: 1st through 5th grade
● MMMYP: 6th through 8th grade.

During our 25 plus years of growth, Mission Montessori Academy is proud to always be at the forefront of educational trends. To that end, we have strengthened our focus on Global Education. Our global program is one of the factors in Mission Montessori Academy winning the Charter School of the Year award in 2015-2016 academic year. Everyone at Mission was thrilled to be recognized by the AZ Charter School Association for our academic excellence. In 2014-2015, MMA placed in the top 3. It was an honor to be the Charter School of the Year and to be chosen as #1 in a group of 800 charter schools.

The importance of receiving a 21st Century Global Education cannot be understated because it is necessary to prepare students for success in higher education and career on the global stage. Education in the 21st Century is marked by a student-centered classroom where the teacher is the ‘guide’ and students work collaboratively to gather information and solve problems through their own research. Subjects are integrated and interdisciplinary and students are able to move freely around the room to share ideas with others. The components of a 21st Century education are exactly the components that Maria Montessori set forth when she developed the Montessori method in Italy and these are the same components we implement at Mission Montessori Academy. Previously, education in the 20th Century was marked by teacher-centered classrooms where subjects were taught separately and students worked independently to memorize facts. Students sat isolated from one another while the teacher was the giver of all knowledge.

Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University Maryland at Baltimore (UMBC) who was voted as one of ‘The 100 Most Influential People in the World’ as well as one of ‘The 10 Best College Presidents’ stated, “The key to success in higher education is the student’s ability to collaborate, build teams, solve problems together, to think deeply, to focus, to work hard and above all to dream of the possibilities.” This embodies Montessori education.

In working to provide students with a 21 Century education, Mission made a commitment to begin participation in the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) by creating a position of Director of Global Studies. We at Mission feel that our relationship with the MMUN has strengthened our vision of teaching our students to be functioning members of a global community and we are committed to bring all we learn by our participation back to our state. We believe in action and application.

Since its inception in 2011, the Mission MMUN program has participated in the New York Conference for 7 consecutive years and in 2014, began participating in the international MMUN conferences. In that time, Mission students have represented 27 countries, traveled from China to Chile and to Switzerland France, Germany and Italy. Many of our students have gone on to Leadership Training and now travel to conferences where they lead committees. Some of our graduates have pursued the ideals of the Montessori Model United Nations program and have continued to sow seeds of peace at their universities. The Mission MMUN program is inclusive and open to all of our students. Each student who prepares and attends a conference has found personal success, nurtured friendships and created memories that will last a lifetime. MMUN and Mission create global citizens. By attending MMUN and participating in Mission’s global program, children find their voice and their humanity.

In November of 2015, Mission students participated in the first International Youth Earth Summit (iYES) in NYC where students learned how to create an action plan to solve pressing global issues. The students created projects and prototypes and presented these to groups of investors. In addition, the students were taught and mentored after the conference by graduates of Columbia University SIPA (School of International & Public Affairs) program. The mentors worked for organizations like the World Bank, the United Nations and other global NGOs. Mission Montessori was the only Arizona school to participate in this inaugural event.

In June of 2016, members of our administration traveled to Helsinki, Finland and The Hague, Netherlands with 50 educators to study the Finnish educational model which is one of the most successful in the world. We participated in these events with Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Ndaba Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi, whose grandfathers, were proponents of peace education like Maria Montessori.

In October 2018, our Director of Global Studies participated in a conference in NYC with educators from Germany, the Philippines, Mexico, China and the US as well as executives of MMUN to collaborate on a new division of MMUN which is focused on project based learning and project management as ways to tackle global issues. This March, students who attend MMUN NY 2019 will have a chance to attend the “Project Showcase”. At this conference, presenters from the UN and from Kiva introduced the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and crowdfunding as a way to promote sustainable development globally.

Mission Montessori in its efforts to educate the whole child, intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially, has developed enrichment programs and has on staff professional educators who administer these programs. Our Music program incorporates, vocal music with performance music and instrument training on strings, winds and percussion instruments. Our Health and Fitness program has expanded to include yoga, competitive sports teams, health and wellness education and nutrition. Our gardening and sustainable systems program focuses on respect and care for all life, skills for healthy living and the implementation of sustainable practices. Advanced Studies courses teach Anthropology, Archaeology, and Oceanography to the 4th and 5th grade students and all culminate in a real world travel experience. In our Middle Years Program, each cycle culminates in an educational experience which solidifies the life skills and academics from the previous weeks. The Montessori Model United Nations program is offered to all 6th through 8th grade students and gives each student the opportunity to travel to national and international conferences. These programs, which are unique to Mission Montessori, integrate classroom academics with real world experiences and travel.

In summary, Mission Montessori Academy, began as a dream in 1995 but has now become an integral and respected member of the Arizona educational community and is recognized globally. We work daily to pursue academic excellence, global and social responsibility, and love and empathy for all life in a safe, nurturing, stimulating and peaceful environment. “You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing, and dance, and write poems and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.” – Jidda Krishnamurti, Indian poet