Life After Sunstone
“It’s been more than a decade since my last day as a student in a Montessori classroom, and I still draw on my Montessori preparation to help define my goals in life and learning. Montessori gifted me with a generous sense of curiosity and a strong sense of intellectual self-reliance.”
–Katy Rossing, Sunstone Alumna
How Do Montessori Students Transition Out of Montessori School?
The short answer is, they transition well because they are capable, curious, and compassionate lifelong learners! But parents often want a longer, more detailed answer, so we invited Sunstone alumni Holden Anderson and Kendall Accetta to field questions from current Sunstone parents. Here are their answers:
Q: Did you feel prepared for the transition to other schools in which homework was assigned?
Holden: Montessori prepares you to be responsible for yourself. It wasn’t hard to to get used to homework because of this sense of instilled responsibility.
Q: How hard was the transition socially to go from a Montessori school to a different school setting?
Kendall: Having a Montessori background was a conversation starter that helped me make friends. In Montessori you can choose subjects that speak to you and you are able to pursue those subjects. You are able to find out what really interests you at Sunstone. This helps in the transition and allows you to easily find others with common interests.
Q: Was the transition from no standardized testing at Sunstone to having standardized testing and grades difficult?
Holden: We were able to practice standardized testing in Upper Elementary, so testing wasn’t completely foreign. It was kind of exciting at first, the testing, because it was something new and I felt equipped to handle testing due to the hard work I learned at Sunstone.
Q: Were you prepared for the transition from having choice in the work you choose, to being told exactly what to work on?
Kendall: The transition to Middle School was exciting for me. It was something different and I was excited to learn new subjects.
Holden: There is a misconception that you can do whatever you want in the classroom at Sunstone. There is choice, but you can’t do anything you want. You are accountable and held responsible and there are some things that you do have to do, like math and reading and writing.
Where do Sunstone graduates attend school?
The short answer is: anywhere! Sunstone graduates are curious, lifelong learners who can succeed in any school after Sunstone. School choices include a wide variety of private and public high schools and colleges.
Approximately 50% of our graduates move on to attend private schools such as Northwest Academy, St. Francis Academy, OES, Pacific Crest Community School, and Catlin Gabel while the other 50% transfer to their local public schools.
Even at the college level, our students continue to thrive in a wide variety of private institutions, state colleges, and universities. Here are just a few:
- Agnes Scott College
- Bennington College
- Bowdoin College
- Colorado School of Mines
- Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
- Georgetown University
- Goucher College
- Kenyon College
- MIT
- Oregon State University
- Pacific University
- Portland State University
- Rachel Carson College – UC Santa Cruz
- Stanford University
- Texas Christian University
- University of Alabama
- University of British Columbia
- UCLA
- University of Chicago
- University of Denver
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oregon
- University of Puget Sound
- University of Wisconsin
- Western Washington University
- Whitman College
- Willamette University
Sunstone Alumni
