Resource Fees Explained!

Resource Fees are due this week and some parents have contacted us with questions about how resource fees are used, what are they used for, and why don’t we ask parents to supply more items for the classrooms. So, please allow us to explain.

Montessori children do use some easy to replenish items like crayons, markers, colored pencils, and playdoh, but most of their works and activities are Montessori materials that the school keeps year after year. Montessori materials typically can last for more than 10 years so long as they are not abused, broken, or too many pieces are lost. However, loss, breakage, and slight abuse is unavoidable in a classroom of young children. (A Note From Ms. Felicia – if a tiny item finds it’s way home, even a small red bead or pink cube, please return it to the classroom!) Resource fees become a portion of each classes working budget so that teachers can purchase more advanced works as needed for their classrooms, buy replacement pieces, and have more supplies to create more works. Resource fees also cover a portion of paper goods and snacks used by the classes.

Your child’s teacher may post a class wishlist by their door so you can see items that the class hopes to purchase throughout the year. An example of this would be that Ms. Leslie would like a leaf press for her class. This is a special item that we will probably be able to purchase and share between classes using a small portion of resource fees.