Our New Home

The location of Quest’s new home is a six-acre wooded property just a short walk from beautiful Narragansett Bay. Conveniently located off Route 1a/Boston Neck Road. The site features fields and is located near town recreational facilities.

Our new 12,500 square foot home will feature the same high-quality, individually paced Montessori curriculum we currently offer, and more.

Not only will this new school provide ample space for our current programs, but it will also provide us with the opportunity to enhance activities and offer new services. Students will benefit from having a larger space and a more open environment to better facilitate opportunities for growth and education, along with greater faculty/student/parent interaction. The classrooms will accommodate permanent and more involved learning activities such as long-term science experiments and art projects.  As well, we have the opportunity for exciting summer enrichment programs.  This location offers an ideal mix of woods and fields and provides an excellent opportunity to study the ecosystem and wildlife right outside our classrooms.

Making Our Vision a Reality

The new site will provide a framework upon which we as a community can realize our vision and create our own environment for Quest Montessori School.  We are also working to design an open, flexible environment with lots of natural light to meet the unique needs of our community.

The undeveloped status of this property and the bounty of resources in the immediate vicinity gives us the best of all worlds. We have a virtually blank slate from which to design—the building plan for both the interior and exterior will help unify the beautiful landscaping of the outdoors with the creative environment of the indoors.

The Search for A Home of Our Own

• Since quickly outgrowing its first home of 3,000-square-feet of donated space in Exeter, Quest Montessori leased space at the beautiful Canonicus Campus in Exeter for five years. However, Quest outgrew this space shortly after moving in and the need for permanent space has become pressing. After three years of searching for the right location, Quest identified several potential sites to build the state’s foremost Toddler to 8th grade Montessori school.
• As early as 2006, a comprehensive plan was formed, but Quest needed to find affordable financing for the $2.75 million development project—no small task in this economy.
• When Quest first bid on the Narragansett property in 2007, the school had identified a rural development loan as a potential source of funding. Unfortunately, the school was unable to secure the loan in time, and the school’s offer was turned down due to financing delays.
• At the time, a call to raise funds for the down payment generated nearly $33,000 with another $11,000 in pledges in less than a month. The funds represented support from individual donors, including board members, staff, parents, grandparents and members of the extended community. Although Quest did not succeed in its first bid to secure that site, all the donors generously renewed their commitment and made the funds available for a continuing search.
• It has been a long search, and several potential sites have come and gone in the interim. The funds initially raised have underwritten the search, including paying for expenses related to the loan application process and due diligence to determine whether sites were a good fit for Quest. Remaining funds will go toward the renovation of the building.
• Now, thanks to the low-interest loan from the USDA Rural Development Program and the support of our families, we can expand into a more flexible, integrated, thriving educational environment, while keeping our tuition affordable.
• In early Spring of 2011, Quest officially secured the Narragansett property through the USDA Rural Development Program and is in the final stages of the permitting process.
• For the 2011-2012 academic year, Quest has temporarily found a home in South Kingstown at 1157 South Road, the former location of South Road Middle School.
• Quest Montessori aims to move into its new building in the Spring of 2012.