Minis at the Academy
Now Enrolling Students for 2025 - 2026 school year
Where we Motivate, Inspire, Nurture, Imagine, and Spark creativity in every child.
Minis Studio, is an Early Enrichment Preschool for children ages 2–5. We use a combinations of Museum Magic–a Smithsonian museum-based preschool curriculum–and Healthy Beginnings–a resource aligned with the Maryland’s Early Learning Standards. By combining these inspiring resources, we are able to offer a program that blends exploration of art with basic principles of early learning. In line with the Montessori philosophy, we have a mixed-age classroom that provides an environment for fostering community and encouraging developmental and academic milestones at the individual pace of each learner.
We introduce young children to new ideas through a thematic and inquiry-based approach to learning that emphasizes relationships and the ability to make meaningful connections. It teaches a basic life skill—how to learn—and focuses on strategies and techniques that can be applied to almost any encounter with the unknown. The focus is not on acquiring facts or information but rather on the process of learning through inquiry and sensory exploration of objects. It is through this process that children are empowered to make meaning and ideas their own.
The rich resources of the Academy Art Museum offer a wonderful venue for teaching these sensory explorations. The resources come in many forms, from artwork to museum professionals. The focus might be a single piece of art within a collection, an entire exhibition, or a visiting artist or musician.
Children’s literature, objects, and visual images are the key elements of almost every experience. Activities are planned to encourage discussion and increase vocabulary. The curriculum offers a wide range of possibilities and introduces, develops, and ties together individual skills in a meaningful way.
Using a multi-sensory, child-centered and inquiry-based approach, we foster creative and independent thinking, self-expression, art appreciation, and a love of learning.
2025-2026
MINIS Schedule & Enrollment
Program Dates
August 25, 2025 - May 22, 2026
Daily Schedule
8:30- Doors Open & Free Play
9:00- Circle Time
9:15- Centers
10:00- Snack
10:30- Music, Movement (includes outdoor time)
11:10- Arts, Crafts & Maker Centers
11:40- Clean-up
11:50- Clean-up / Closing Circle
12:00- Dismissal
* Closed on the following holidays
September 1 (Labor Day)
November 13 & 14 (Waterfowl)
November 26 – 28 (Thanksgiving Break)
December 22–January 2 (Winter Holidays)
January 19 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
February 16 – 17 (Presidents’ Day)
April 1–8 (Spring Break)
Enrollment
Enrollment for the 2025 – 2026 school year is now open. Please call the Academy Art Museum at (410) 822- 2787 or email Lauren Dwyer at ldwyer@academyartmuseum.org to request enrollment forms, to be added to our waitlist, if you have questions or to set up a visit day.