Aftercare

Montessori Children’s School of Key West offers a dynamic after school care program to all currently enrolled students. Students are dismissed from their classrooms directly in to the Aftercare program. The hours of the program are 2:30pm – 5:30pm. Pre-registration for this program is strongly encouraged and enables us to plan and prepare a higher quality program. Spaces are limited, so attendance for students not pre-registered is not guaranteed. To ensure adequate staffing, care will be offered on early dismissal and professional days to pre-registered children only. A fee of $1.00 per minute will be charged for children picked up after 5:30pm. Please be sure to sign-out your child, with your signature and time of pick-up.

If an account is more than 30 days past due, the child will not be permitted to attend the after school program until arrangements are made for payment.

Aftercare Directress, Lorena Baker was born in California. She married a military man and moved to Key West in 1975. A mother of 3, and a grandmother of 4, she started working for the Montessori Children's School After Care program in 1983, and moved up to Teacher Assistant. In 1995, her husband passed away and she felt she needed a change. Lorena moved back to California, where she again found work in a Montessori school. Only 2 and 1/2 years passed before Lorena felt the "pull" of Key West, and like many before her, returned to the island, and took charge of the After Care program at MCS once again.

Aftercare Assistant, Ann Fergus is originally from Yorkshire, England. Ann has lived in Key West for more than 20 years. She is married with a son, Alistair, who himself was a student here, graduating kindergarten in 2005. Ann has been working at the Montessori Children's School since 2004. She directs the "Explorers" program, working with 3-4 year-olds in a creative setting and helping improve their fine-motor skills. She also works in our After School Care program as well as substitutes in the classrooms.

Assistant, Tara Smith assists with all of the MCS Primary classrooms, from guiding students in the pottery program to working on reading in small groups. She is originally from Rhode Island currently lives in Big Pine Key.  Tara is a graduate of Rhode Island College and holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology.  In the spring of 2011, she obtained her Florida Professional teaching certificate from the Florida Keys Community College.  For the last three years, she has worked as a paraprofessional and a Keys Center Teacher at Marathon Middle/High School in Marathon, Florida.  She enjoys the island life with her husband and looking forward to a bright future at Montessori Children's School!