The Montessori Academy Edison Lakes

✨Our graduating 8th Graders have been shining stars in the TMA halls for many years. ✨

We are so proud of their astounding personal growth and achievements in every facet of their educational journeys.

We cherish their favorite memories, celebrate their next steps, and look forward to watching the beautiful impact they have on the broader community.

Congratulations to the 2026 TMA Graduates!

LEGO glasses
Last year, in the Lower Elementary after school robotics program, one of our first year students created this LEGO glasses design. The after school activity introduces students to aspects of robotics including mechanical design. Translating ideas into assemblies takes a background of exploratory learning to build fluency and skill. This student's design is a great example of this! The glasses look great and have become a perennial favorite among the LEGO participants.

Field Day is tomorrow and the weather looks to be sunny and warm! Be sure your student is prepared to have fun and beat the heat.

We are so excited to celebrate an amazing school year and kick off the summer vibes!

Many people easily see the value of Montessori education in the early childhood classroom through the hands on materials and focus on independence. What is sometimes less understood is how those same Montessori principles evolve and become even more important during adolescence. Junior high students are driven by curiosity, purpose, and the desire to do meaningful work. When students are genuinely engaged and trusted with challenging material, they are capable of remarkable levels of critical thinking, collaboration, and responsibility.

Our forensic science program is designed with these Montessori principles in mind. Seventh and eighth grade students learn authentic forensic science techniques and apply them to solve a staged murder mystery within the school community. Teachers and staff become suspects and witnesses while students investigate crime scenes, search for evidence, analyze clues, and defend their conclusions in a mock trial. Through this work, students practice abstract thinking, problem solving, respectful communication, and freedom within limits. They learn to manage independence responsibly while working within the expectations of the community. Most importantly, they experience what happens when adults believe they are capable of meaningful, sophisticated work that connects directly to their interests and curiosity.

The Lower Elementary Robotics group spent their spring session learning how to design and build LEGO Robots. Once built they programmed routines. Then the hard work starts, trouble shooting the interaction between design and programming.

Next week they will finish out the year working with the Sumo Bots!

Friday is always a fun day here at TMA! With the weekend on the horizon and the sunnier, warmer weather, it is always a great day! Another reason why Friday is fun is Meatball, the Hurcomb family Bernedoodle, comes to visit Upper Elementary. Meatball is a certified therapy dog and Monday through Thursday accompanies Dr. Nicci Hurcomb to Tulip Tree Dental Care. He is a calm and loving gentle giant. As many of our families (including myself) have furry family members, I was inspired to come up with dogwear inspired by Meatball. So, meet Meatball the Montessori Muttstang! If you are interested in buying a shirt for your canine family member, do not hesitate to reach out so I can place an order! To follow Meatball on Instagram, click here: https://www.instagram.com/dogtormeatballdds/

The Montessori Academy Edison Lakes | Home Montessori school in Mishawaka serving South Bend and Michiana. Authentic Montessori education from toddler through junior high. Schedule a tour.

TMA's AV Club had an amazing 25-26 school year focused on helping students get comfortable and confident using camera equipment.

Throughout the year, they spent a lot of time taking photos and doing some basic photo editing together. Students explored things like composition, lighting, and the exposure triangle.

The group also worked on a couple of stop-motion animation projects, giving students a chance to experiment with a different style of media.

Upper elementary and junior high art students dove into the art and science of color recently, exploring how electromagnetic waves behave and how we perceive light in the visible spectrum. Students took apart a model of the eye and learned how the rods and cones of the retina receive light of specific wavelengths. They used ropes to simulate waves and investigated the relationship between wavelength and energy and the concept of polarization. They then experimented with polarized gels, rotating them to discover that aligned light waves can be completely blocked or allowed to pass, depending on the relative position of the gels. They got to see colorized images demonstrating how pit vipers perceive infrared light and birds and bees perceive ultraviolet wavelengths. Students learned about the differences between additive and subtractive color mixing and then used red, green, and blue flashlights to mixed light directly–producing cyan, magenta, and yellow shadows. To wrap things up, students took turns manipulating prisms to reproduce Newton's famous optics experiments, separating white light into the full spectrum and then reassembling it back into white light. All of this sets the stage for an exploration of color theory.

We are so thankful for our teachers this week and every week! They are the true heart and soul of TMA. Looking forward to a great week celebrating them! Be sure to give your teacher an extra wave, treat, note, or kind word this week 🧡💙