INDEPENDENT - CATHOLIC - BILINGUAL
ABOUT US
Principal's Message
Stephanie has been in the field of education since 2004 and is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. She has obtained three bachelors from the University of Ottawa: Lettres Françaises, Psychology and Education
Welcome to Academia Stella Maris!
I am Stephanie Montojo, Ontario certified teacher, founder and principal of ASM. in 2016, the Lord invited me on this journey of founding His ministry with the help of my right arm and my rock: my husband.
When I started my career as a teacher in 2004, I knew there was a bigger purpose to my calling as an educator. I founded Academia Stella Maris, a place where parents are the primary educators of their children. It was in the basement of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish that ASM saw its beginning. It was in different parish basements that we offered workshops for homeschoolers one day a week from September 2016 to June 2018. Thank-you to these parish priests who believed in our mission and vision and helped us during our humble beginnings! We are now blessed with a beautiful space where we offer one-of-a-kind full-time and hybrid programs.
Academia Stella Maris offers an environment where the Holy Spirit is invited and where the beauty of the Liturgy and the Eucharist is presented. It is also a place where the children can identify their God-given gifts and where we instil in our students the truth that they can change the world with God by their side.
This is our home. This is God's home. This is where children are the "Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World". This is Academia Stella Maris!
Come celebrate with us this blessing!
In His Service,
Stephanie Montojo
(Founder-Principal)
B.Ed, B.A Fr(Hons), B.A Psy
Our Mission
ASM exists to assist parents in the education of their children by offering a rich bilingual curriculum infused with the beauty of our Catholic faith to both full-time and hybrid school families.
Our Goal
ASM is a think-outside-the-box Catholic school pulling away from the influence of the industrial revolution on education. Our students are not categorized by age and grade but predominantly by their personal academic level. This helps our students not to fall behind and gives the gifted the chance to be challenged.
Our Vision
ASM envisions a learning environment inspired by God’s truth which promotes the development of the whole child: in their academic, spiritual, physical and emotional growth.
Curriculum Summary
Depending on the age and subject matter, our curriculum utilizes aspects of the well-known Montessori education, “living education”, experiential education, and Classical Education models as students develop a strong foundation in mathematics, classical literature, phonics and language arts, memory work, music and art, science, social studies and cursive writing.
At Academia Stella Maris, children are invited, in a Catholic and loving environment, to understand the world through the people around them and to become independent thinkers and knowledge-seekers.
Younger students receive instruction based on the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) and Montessori Practical Life Activities, while older students follow material based on the Baltimore Catechism, The Catechism of the Council of Trent and other faithful Catholic resources while being given many opportunities throughout the year to expand their leadership and community servant skills.
ASM is pleased to offer families both full-time and hybrid (or “part-time”) schooling options for Kindergarten to Grade 12. Full-time students attend Monday-Friday for the full day (8:30am-2:30pm) and receive the benefits of the entire ASM curriculum program.
Each day of the week is given a particular focus or theme which allows the school to support full-time students while also welcome part-time students who select between 1-4 full days of the week to attend, supplementing their home-based education program already administered by their own family.
Options include the Investigation, Artistic, Exploration and Critical Thinking programs (see Academics) with limited spaces available.