"public" montessori??

[jsmama]

Hi,
I'm hoping to enroll my LO in montessori preschool. However, the $$ is a bit of an issue for us right now. I have been searching and am trying to see if I can find any local "public" montessori schools.

Is that an oxymoron?? Would a public school be able to keep the real spirit of Montessori if they had to grade the children? How would they even do that if the children are meant to learn at their own indivual pace?

Also, are there any parents out there that have their children in a charter or public montessori school? What are some feedback/comments?

Is there a directory of such schools (if they exist!!!!)?

Thanks.

[EmmaandKate'sMom]

There ARE such things as public Montessori schools, but they are few and far between. We are very lucky because there is a public Montessori school in our town. It is a public charter school with less than 100 students. It's wonderful! It has 3 classrooms in total (1 primary, 3-6 age group, 1 1st through 3rd grade class, and one 4th through 6th). You have to pay to send your child for her three-year-old year and four-year-old year, then after that it's FREE because it's a public school.

It started because one mother didn't like the public school options available to her children. It took her 3 years to write a charter application, apply, get accepted, and start the school. IT CAN BE DONE, but it takes a ton of hard work.

You asked about assessment. In the charter, you write how the students are accessed. It does not have to be grades. Our school doesn't give grades. We follow Maria Montessori's philosophy of education. The only state requirement is that we do have to give standardized tests every year, but we don't have to "teach to the test" like the rest of the public schools. And without "teaching to the test", we have never had a student fail them. They have all passed with flying colors.
Every teacher in the school has their professional teaching certificate AND their Montessori certification. The school has been open now for three years- we are beginning our fourth year.
I have joined a group of parents who are working on opening a charter Montessori middle school by 2009. Cross your fingers for us!

This is my favorite quote:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

[alegna]

There are several public montessori schools here.

-Angela

[avasmomleigh]

Public Montessori

$$ is an issue for us too! we are moving to St. Pete where there is a public montessori, the one problem I have heard that public schools have with montessori is that alot of the kids don't start till 5 or 6 yo, when they are 'supposed' to start montessori at 2.5. DD didn't start till 3.5, and it has been wonderful! gulfport montessori is a 'magnet' school, soon to be a charter school. If your school district has charter schools, you have hope to find one. We live in Seattle, and it's straight public school or pay for something better, nothing 'outside the box' IMO

[mtnhighmama]

My children attend a charter Montessori school. And there are some compromises that end up being made to keep it public and free, but we all work hard to maintain the ideals as they apply to the real world.

Our school is very successful and a wonderful community, so it can happen.

[honeybee]

Ds is starting a public Montessori school in the fall. They work hard to keep to Montessori ideals, although there are a few compromises that I can live with (taking but not teaching to the standardized test, like the pp mentioned). Our state has some mandated K things (like having to teach sight words : ) that the teachers try to incorporate without compromising the M ideals.

It does sound like they get a lot of students starting out in K, though, rather than prek. So perhaps it is not as cohesive a classroom with the most balance between ages as would be optimal, but I've visited the school on several occasions, and the classes seem to be running well in line with Montessori. The teachers are all very caring and involved, and really believe in the M method, so I feel confident that the compromises they've had to make will not overly impact ds's education.

Besides which, I think a few less-than-ideal M features are more than compensated for by being in a multicultural setting with students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, which ds would not experience in the local, very expensive, private M school. We're also lucky enough to have public Montessori that goes from preK up through high school in our city, so if we choose to, ds can stick with it all the way through.

We are paying for preschool tuition (which is $1,000 less than the local private M preschools, btw), but then after that it will be free. Many preschoolers also qualify for financial aid through the district, or readiness grants through the state. This M is a themed school that is part of the city-wide district, too, not a charter school. So, they do exist!

[Lillianna]

Hi!
It seems to me that Montessori is becoming more and more available as a public school choice, of course, depending on where you live.
There is a directory of public montessori schools at Montessoriconnections.com.
Also, check everythingmontessori.com and the montessori-namta.org website. You can search the ERIC database for information on the "Montessori Public Schools Consortium" as well.
Good luck!

[vapindy]

YES, even in RED state heXhockey stix

We have a public/magnet Montessori school: IPS (Indianapolis Public School) Rousseau McCellan School 91!

We just switched from a private pre-to grade 1 Montessori to the public (on a lottery systm and must prove previous Montessori education) Montessori and I have to say that I am MORE impressed with the PUBLIC Montessori than with the private school.

Keep researching, you may find something (affordable) n your area.

Victoria

[nkm1968]

Public Montessori

I think there are awesome public Montessori schools available, depending on where you live. In Cincinnati and in Pittsburgh, the "public" Montessori preschools have parents camping out before registration to get there kids in, even if they live in "pricey" suburbs. Cincinnati Montessori goes thru high school, even! And, there are a lot of good Montessori charter schools too. Unfortunately, there are more public and charter schools that purport to be Montesssori.So, you have to go and observe in each classroom in said schools to ensure a school-wide commitment to Montessori.

There is also LOTS of room for parent-led damnds on school districts to provide a Montessori 6-9 and 9-12 classroom within a "regular" public school. Just make sure you have 20-24 kids per classroom before you make the request............it's worth up to 185,000 dollars per classroom if full for the public school district to open a Montessori multi-age classroom.

[DiscoCowgirl]

My four year old dd goes to a private Montessori school for half the day, but during the other half she goes to an "alternative" public school that you have to apply to and be accepted at. Many of the ideals and teaching methods are similar to Montessori and a lot of the Montessori kids from my daughters private school feed to this school. While it is not specifically Montessori, it is similar. I suggest looked for public "alternative" schools and seeing what you can find (I am in Canada). This particular program has very small class sizes, and does not accept special needs or English as Second Language students (they would be fed to the regular public schools).

[girlzmommy00]

We also have public Montessori here in NJ. It's offered with in the public school building but has just about all the makings of what a private school would have. One class per grade level is Montessori. The only thing that is different that it's not quite multi-age in the same sense as a private school. It just happened that way by logistics & not what they'd originally intended but has been working out fine anyway.

I've been so happy with it that I just enrolled my youngest for this school year that just started, so I have one in kindergarten & 1 in 3rd grade, both Montessori. Initially the program was only supposed to run through 2nd grade but we pushed it & now runs through 3rd. They switch schools for 4th so that's why they capped it at 3rd.