Barbee offers academics, activities, and opportunities so students grow into confident, compassionate scholars and citizens from an early age. Teachers are caring and credentialed. Many of our educators have earned Montessori and literacy certifications that bring additional reading-and-writing expertise to children in all grades, and some Lloyd Barbee teachers are also parents here. Students take seriously the responsibility – and freedom – to move about our comfortable classrooms, choosing lessons and learning tools that interest them.

Enthusiasm and project work spills over in our hallways, where display cases feature animal-cell models and student artwork, and small group meetings lead to classroom presentations about cultures from around the world. Outdoor learning spaces, school gardens, and water features are a natural extension of the classroom. Students grow and harvest healthy food and engage in STEM lessons that prepare them for high school and college and teach them to care for our planet.

Support from family and community helps drive our school’s success, from high student-attendance rates to the many siblings and cousins who attend Lloyd Barbee Montessori School together. Parents show up for school celebrations year-round and join our Parent Teacher Organization. Community leaders in the arts, education, and business support our school as volunteers, mentors, and donors. University students help staff our art and art-therapy programs. GE Healthcare volunteers help maintain our green and growing school grounds. Full-time art, gym, and music classes keep the creativity flowing in weekly lessons. “I’m always saying ‘People want to be here,’” explains Principal Catherine Loss. “Just look around. Our school is overflowing with creativity, activity, community.”

Before and After School Care

Milwaukee Recreation hosts Camp Barbee at our school, providing fully supervised before- and after-school programming that brings academic support, enrichment, and recreational opportunities to children in grades K3 through 7.