Sea Pines Montessori Academy

• Ages: 15 months through third grade
• Part of: Hilton Head Preparatory School, since January 2025
• Campus: Fox Grape Road, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
• Founded: 1968, by Mary Fraser

Sea Pines Montessori Academy is the Montessori school Mary Fraser opened in 1968, the first Montessori preschool in South Carolina. Her husband, Charles Fraser, was the developer of Sea Pines, which is where the name comes from. Since January 2025 it has been a division of Hilton Head Preparatory School, and it now takes children from 15 months old through third grade.

If you knew the school before the merger, the biggest change is where it ends: the Montessori program now stops after third grade. This page covers how the program works now, how it fits with Hilton Head Prep, and how to reach the school. It is listed in the Sea Pines community directory.

Sea Pines Montessori at Hilton Head Prep

The two schools share a founding family. Charles Fraser started Hilton Head Prep in 1965 as Sea Pines Academy, and it took its current name after merging with May River Academy in 1985. In the 2025 merger, the Montessori school became “Sea Pines Montessori Academy at Hilton Head Preparatory School.” The two campuses sit next door to each other on Fox Grape Road.

From kindergarten through third grade, families choose between two tracks: the Montessori division or the Prep’s traditional lower school. From fourth grade on, every student is in the Prep’s traditional program, which runs through 12th grade.

The Sea Pines Montessori Academy Program

• Pre-Primary, 15 months to 3 years. Toddler classrooms built around independence, fine motor skills, language and getting along with other children.

• Primary, 3 to 6 years. Montessori’s hands-on materials for early reading, numbers, practical life skills and the sensorial work the method is known for.

• Elementary, grades 1 to 3. Math, language arts, science and social studies taught together rather than as separate subjects, with Montessori materials used alongside traditional ones.

Classrooms mix ages, so older children help younger ones, and teachers work with each child at their own pace rather than the whole class at once.

Visiting and Enrolling

Admissions go through Hilton Head Prep, whose campus address is 8 Fox Grape Road, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928. Ask the Prep’s admissions office, through hhprep.org, about tours, tuition and application dates.