Food-Forward:
A Windsor Street Montessori Approach

Food-Forward means the garden is part of the lesson, and the lunch table is part of the classroom.

our definition:

Food-Forward is our whole-food approach to Montessori education. Not a diet, not a trend, just real food — mostly from real sources — connected back to the kids who grow it. Our students plant, harvest, cook, and compost as part of their school day, so the lunch table becomes a classroom for where food comes from and who it connects us to. We keep it approachable — familiar foods, familiar names, no pressure — because the goal isn't perfection, it's a lifelong, judgment-free relationship with food.

Where It Came From

Food-Forward started with a moment, not a mission statement. Our founder, Chef Gaby, once sat with a child new to this country in front of a tray of colorless, processed food — and watched that child feel unseen. That moment became a commitment: no child at Windsor Street would ever feel that way at a lunch table again.

What makes Food-Forward ours is the specific, daily version of the idea that food and education can’t be separated: a chef-led kitchen, a working garden, and a lunch table where kids don't just eat what they've grown — they talk about it, cook it, and return its scraps to the earth that grew it.

Food-Forward is

  • Whole food, most of the time

  • Seasonal, closer to the source

  • The lunch table is a lesson

  • Familiar foods, reimagined

  • Kids growing, cooking, composting

  • Non-judgemental, for every family

Food-Forward isn’t

  • 100% organic or “clean eating”

  • A diet or elimination plan

  • Talking about bodies, weight, or “good” vs “bad”

  • Gourmet, fancy, or hard to make at home

  • A nutrition curriculum

  • A standard families need to meet

Food-Forward doesn’t start and stop in the classroom.

Families tell us it changes how they talk about food at home, too.

PARENT TESTIMONIALS

“My son was labeled as a behavior kid in Kindergarten. He struggled to follow the status quo of the public school system and was constantly in trouble. However, through the Montessori approach of student led learning, my son quickly came up to speed developmentally and began to excel. Instead of getting into trouble for moving from place to place, it became a way to enhance learning.”

Rachel, Lower-Elementary Parent

“Montessori learning involves the child, and our child thrived in that environment. After completing her 6th grade year at Windsor (the highest grade it offered at the time), our daughter transferred to a traditional school environment for middle school, and now high school. We were curious how her Montessori training had prepared her for this new school, and were pleased to see the transition was seamless.”

Dana, Lower-Elementary Alumni Parent

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We're whole-food — mostly from real, local sources — but we're not chasing a label like 100% organic. Our focus is your child's relationship with food, not a strict diet.

  • Not at all. We invite, never pressure. Kids develop comfort with new foods at their own pace, and we're there for it every step of the way.

  • We ask that all food come from our program rather than home — this keeps our nut-free environment safe for every child and makes sure everyone's part of the same shared meal.

  • Completely normal, and nothing to worry about. We keep offering without pressure — being around classmates who enjoy the food often does more than any instruction could.

Food-Forward is easier to understand at a table than on a page.

Reach out to learn more about enrollment and see Food-Forward in action.

Contact Us