Wheaton Montessori School's 2026–2028 campaign to open the one-acre wetland behind our school to every student, and to expand the playground on the way in.
When students have time and space to explore, they make discoveries that spark further curiosity. Our teachers then support that curiosity as students dive deeper into the topics they choose. This happens every day in our classrooms.
Wheaton Montessori School owns about one acre of land behind our buildings, known around school as the Wetlands. Today it is overgrown and largely inaccessible. This campaign opens it up for student use, so that the same exploration that happens indoors can happen outside, in every season, for children from preschool through ninth grade.
We acquired the parcel from a neighboring family in late 2019, and a joyful vision of students exploring it started to take shape. The pandemic put those plans on hold. Now, with a professional landscape design and a parent committee behind it, the work can begin.
Raising $550,000 lets us restore and even expand the ecologically important wetland behind the school, and give students of every age a wider range of outdoor experiences.
Wheaton Montessori School is partnering with expert landscape designers at Living Habitats, a land-use attorney, and a professional fundraising consultant, alongside a volunteer parent committee, so the result serves students and families for years to come.
The project also provides beneficial conditions for the animals, plants, and water on our campus and in the interconnected world beyond it.
For the entire student population, this project will promote meaningful daily experiences.
Interacting with nature and engaging in hands-on, experiential learning, with an emphasis on ecology, biology, and history.
Connecting the big trips to learning rooted here at home, reinforcing that education, responsibility, and conservation matter not only for distant biomes, but for our own backyard.
Experiencing land-based learning that emphasizes care of animals, stewardship, and place-based education.
Thank you to the many community members who gave input during the campaign feasibility study. Here is the path from here to an open wetland.
The More Room to Explore campaign kicks off.
The school obtains zoning permits from DuPage County and City of Wheaton officials.
A local contractor removes undesirable vegetation and prepares the Wetlands for improvement.
Prepared land is graded according to the engineering plan.
Work to expand the current student play space begins.
Play space expansion, wetland restoration, and installation of outdoor classroom elements.
The expanded play space opens for use.
Wetland restoration and outdoor classroom development continue according to ecologically sound practices.
Students gain more room to explore: a larger play space and an accessible acre of wetland that enriches their learning for years to come.
Dates reflect the project update shared with families in autumn 2026 and may shift with permitting and weather.
Our community has already given $115,000 in cash gifts in early 2026. We are asking for your support to raise the rest.
Progress as of the autumn 2026 project update.
All funds raised above the project's construction costs go directly to the school's operating budget, in place of the annual fund appeal in December 2026 and December 2027.
Wheaton Montessori School is running a comprehensive fundraising campaign in 2026 and 2027. The school's annual fundraising letter is folded into More Room to Explore for these two years. The annual Silent Auction, which benefits the school's operating budget, remains separate.
You are invited to be part of this development for Wheaton Montessori School. Every gift, of any size, helps open the wetland to our students.
A committee member can walk you through the plan, answer questions, and help you give in the way that works for your family. Write to campaign@moreroomtoexplore.org.
Many families support the project with a pledge paid over 2026 and 2027. Pledges can be paid over time.
Leadership gifts can be recognized with a name on a gateway, classroom, boulder, or tree. See what is available.
Wheaton Montessori School was founded in 2000 by sisters Elizabeth Berdick and Rebecca Lingo and their families. For more than 25 years, the school has provided an authentic Montessori education to children ages two and a half to fifteen in Chicago's western suburbs. It is Illinois' only internationally accredited Montessori school for preschool through freshman year of high school, exceeding the standards of the Association Montessori Internationale.
Our mission is an authentic Montessori education that focuses on each student's needs, enabling them to discover, grow, and thrive in their unique potential. Our vision is to cultivate independent, confident, and empathetic children who are equipped to handle real-life challenges while making a positive impact on the world.
Rebecca Lingo, Co-Founder and Head of School
Wheaton Montessori School
(630) 653-5100
discover@wheatonmontessori.org
Campaign committee: Susan Varcak, Jamie Carr, Doug Bradbury, Eleah Berdick, and Rebecca Lingo
