Public montessori?

[abaad]

They are starting a public montessori-inspired charter school in my town. I've always been interested in the montessori approach. Does anyone have experience with such a charter school? Will being public likely taint the purity of the montessori approach? I'll have to observe them to really see how they implement things, I guess. I just wanted to know what the experience of others have been with public montessori schools.

[Koloe]

Not yet - but I plan to put my DD in a public Montessori program next year for pre-K. That program goes through 8th grade. I know they are still required to do standardized testing where not all private school have to.

[nkm1968]

DD1 was in a charter (publicly funded) Montessori school from 2002-2005; it was great for two years until a for-profit management company took it over and then it was just like Animal Farm....at the end of the third year it was indistinquishable from any other big test prep factory, and we left. I'd recommend making sure your school is committed to Montessori, not test scores, and is run by a non-profit group, and has at least a few parents on the board, not just business people with dollar signs in their eyes.

This is of course just my experience and opinion, not a fact, no need for anybody to get incensed.

[BCFD]

We have a charter Montessori school here (5 campuses, I believe) and I have heard parents raving about it and others who have warned to stay away. My DD's teacher has a child in kindy at the same school that I would like my kids to attend and she said it's a wonderful school. Since she is an AMS trained Montessori teacher and sends her kid there, I would think it's pretty good. This school is AMS affiliated, but they still have to administer the state tests (which I'm fine with as long as the curriculum is Montessori). It's probably best to observe and decide if it's the right school for your child. I called our charter school and they said to wait until about the first week in October when the children are normalized to come in for a visit. I'm starting now since my oldest will be in kindy next year. I'm also looking into 2 Open schools in the area, but I'm really hoping the Montessori school works out for obvious reasons.

[Rose-Roget]

We have 2 public Montessoris in my city (in our district ). When I asked a friend of a friend who teaches music therapy in that district about the programs, here is what she had to say:

"It's hard to compare public and private programs because they have very different advantages and challenges. Public schools usually have more support systems, everything from modern computer labs to special ed services. On the other hand, public schools have to jump through a lot of hoops that private schools don't, like testing for NCLB and following district-wide policies that don't always fit individual schools very well. In a nutshell, you have to go see the schools and ask a lot of questions to know what you like better."

Not sure this helps you, but it gives you some general information - things I hadn't really considered when I asked this question a few months back. Every school is individual, so they will require observation, regardless. This gave me some information to weigh in my consideration.

[snowmom5]

My kids are at a public charter montessori elementary school, which goes from pre-3 to 6th grade. They are required to do the same state testing that the regular neighborhood elementary school does, in 3rd and 6th grade. Unlike the regular neighborhood school, the charter montessori does not teach to the test (the regular school literally takes away days of instruction to prepare for the test). The test scores are only slightly lower at the montessori than at the regular school, and both have the same good overall rating.

I believe that in order to "pass" a grade level, the same requirements must be met - requirements set by the district.

Our school does not have busing. One perk of it being a public school is that we get special ed services - one of my kids has an IEP and receives speech therapy and OT. I am thrilled about that, because going to a private therapist after school would be a huge chore, not to mention expensive.

Both with charter schools and with Montessori schools, you have to check out your specific school carefully - there are so many differences between schools. We love ours!!

[Rose-Roget]

Originally Posted by snowmom5

One perk of it being a public school is that we get special ed services - one of my kids has an IEP and receives speech therapy and OT. I am thrilled about that, because going to a private therapist after school would be a huge chore, not to mention expensive.

OT - Just so you know (in case you're ever in a different situation), even in a private school, the local public school is required to provide special ed. services. The chore of getting dc there might still be on your shoulders, but it's offered and free.

I agree, though, it's a more cohesive program when the services are provided in the learning environment, or mixed in with the day. There are more opportunities for communication between therapists and teachers, and potentially more carryover.

[MattBronsil]

It's hard to gauge how well a charter school will do. They're still bound by the limitations of statewide testing. So what often starts as a good idea turns to something bad when parents begin to panic about testing and begin to push for more testing.

That said, there are some great Montessori charter schools out there that really stick to the Montessori method.

Like a private Montessori school, it's best to observe and discuss what you can get from the school with the administrator.

Matt

[bobandjess99]

My dd is starting a public magnet montessori......so i'll have more to say soon, LOL!

[Lillianna]

There are AMI public schools and there are "Montessori" public schools that hire traditionally trained teachers. Does this school have any affiliation?

Now that Montessori is becoming more and more popular in the public schools, I think they are "working out the kinks".

FYI "Public School Montessorian"- http://www.jola-montessori.com/

Good luck!

[Flor]

My nieces were in a public Montessori here, but I just couldn't see what was so "Montessori" about it. I guess they had some materials and the teachers had some training, but it seemed just like any old public school to me. Remember that anyone can use the name Montessori. Some will follow the method closely and some will call them selves that but just have a few materials.

[MattBronsil]

All this said, Cincinnati has a great Montessori Public School program. But we have Xavier University that has a great training center.

Matt

[Zing]

I totally agree. I think in most cases public schools cannot stick to the true Montessori method, as laid out by Dr. Maria Montessori herself, but they might be a better alternative to the traditional public school in that district (as is the case in my district).

[honeybee]

I think you just have to really investigate the school. But, I think that is true for public or private, as anyone can use the "Montessori" handle. I would want to make sure the teachers are all AMS or AMI certified. I think with any NEW Montessori school, there will be some kinks to work through at first... and then it could go either way in direction, as was the pp's experience.

Ds1 goes to a public Montessori theme school. It is not a charter school, as it is part of the city district. They have their challenges being a public school. They were in their own building at one point, but a few years ago due to budget cuts, the program was combined with a traditional elementary school. The Montessori program is still there, just housed in the same building as the traditional... but there has been some growing pains with how the two schools mesh in one building. For instance, they are sharing specials teachers... which can be good, or bad depending on your pov. There is more interruption in the day because kids are going elsewhere for art or music or gym class, but they do try to schedule this to minimize interruptions and still get the Montessori uninterrupted work hours in.

They do have to follow the state curriculum and do testing each year. But, I've found the teachers to be really up front with how this affects their teaching/curriculum. The teachers do introduce the kids to a few test-taking skills... but they say their kids actually enjoy test taking, because sitting down with a pencil and paper is a novelty for them, rather than a daily drudge. And the Montessori kids tend to perform very well on standardized exams, compared to other schools in the district.

There are a few curriculum compromises... for instance, the sequence of how Montessori teaches social studies is different from the state curriculum. The State Curriculum tends to progress from the small (your own city and state) to the larger (US/world), whereas Montessori does the opposite. So, our 4-6 grade teacher has talked about needing to introduce state-oriented things that aren't part of the general Montessori so the kids aren't at a disadvantage for the test. But, the teachers have also all talked about how when they have to supplement something from the state curriculum, they do it in as "Montessori-esque" a way as possible.

Another problem comes up in the earlier grades, since so much academic stuff is being pushed down at earlier ages. Ds1's teacher has talked about how there is so much more expected of Kindergardeners now than in the past. And, she does have to do some things that are "required" by the state that is not Montessori... like some introduction to sight words. But, again, she tries to minimize the impact that has on Montessori as much as possible.

BUT, there is also more flexibility in the Montessori structure to deal with this universal public-school problem. My ds is going to do 2 years of K, because his birthday is right before the state cutoff, but I don't think he is really ready for K this year. Instead, he will be a K on paper, but his teacher knows up front that this is not his final K year, and he is really more of a preschooler. From his perspective in the classroom, he is just another student, working at his own pace as he's ready for things. Some kids will be doing things more advanced, and some will be younger. That's par for the course in Montessori, so no stigma attached to not meeting all those K requirements his first year, or "failing" K, kwim?

There are also more political/financial challenges. They just had to hire a new teacher for the Children's House last year. The teacher with the most Montessori experience was not state-certified to teach preschool. So, the school chose the best long-term solution. For one year only, they had only kindergardeners in her CH class, and the other prescholers were spread out in the other CH teacher's classes. During that year, the teacher would get her preK endorsement. So, that year the children were not experiencing an "ideal" Montessori environment, but in the long term they had qualified teachers who were really dedicated to Montessori.

Another problem is financing. Grades K and up are funded by the state. The preschoolers are tuition-based, and the school keeps the tuition fairly reasonable. So, the tuition does not cover the same amount per pupil as what the school gets from the state. So, for this coming school year, the district demanded a certain number of K students in each class in order to keep each section open. So, we were in danger of losing one CH class (this was the same teacher who had just spent the year doing double duty of teaching CH and working on the education needed to get her preK certification!) if we didn't have enough K students enrolling. This also means the "ideal" ratios of 3 yo, 4yo, and K tends to get skewed a bit (thankfully, we had more than enough K students enroll).

It also means there are quite a few K students enrolling in Montessori for the first time. So, the oldest students have not been "normalized" in the Montessori method over time, and you lose some of that great leadership in the Children's House. Ds's class last year was about half K, and the other half preschoolers... with only a couple of those preK kids being 3 yos. Over half of the K students had never been in Montessori before. So, his class was a bit of a challenge. His teacher, though, is really awesome, and worked with the kids wherever they were at. She has many years of Montessori experience behind her, and even though the class wasn't "ideal," I bet that classroom was the best place for some of those K kids... I can't imagine a couple of them doing very well in a traditional K setting.

But, I also see some very positive things about sending ds1 to the public Montessori vs. the more "ideal Montessori" private schools in the area. The big one for our family is, quite frankly, the cost. We just can't afford to send multiple kids to private school from preK to 6th grades. But there are other things, too. Busing will be nice once we move into the district (right now, we're school-of-choice, so I'm still driving ds in from another district... so I will really appreciate being in walking or busing distance!). Also, there is a lot more diversity in terms of race, class, religion, and social networks, which is important to our family. Special education or other services are available right at the school. (The school's speech teacher is also a board member of the PTA with kids in the Montessori school.) Also, this district has one of the few (only?) Jr and Sr. High Montessori programs in the state.

I think the most important thing is to make sure the staff is AMI/AMS certified, and that the school continues to keep a Montessori focus despite the compromises that may need to be made for state requirements. Good Montessori teachers should be able to explain where and how they are making changes due to state requirements, and how those impact their classes. Then you can decide whether those compromises are something with which you're comfortable.

[Jilian]

DS1 just started a montessori charter school. It was very appealing to us because it gets rave reviews and because it is a charter there is no tuition. But they do charge a per child fee for supplies that public schools do not charge, it may just be our school that does that. The local private montessori school charges over $6,000/yr and that is very unaffordable to us so we're very happy that charter is an option, otherwise DS would likely be in public school.

[OnTheBrink]

My children are both at a public charter Montessori school. My daughter is officially in second grade. This is her 5th year at the school. My son is almost four, so he's actually officially in the private preschool part of the school. They are separated just for district funding reasons. We pay $6500 a year for his preschool, nothing for the K-6th.

I couldn't be happier with our school. It's amazing. We have 96 kids (about 65 families) ages 3-12. The teachers are well training in Montessori. The classrooms and materials are wonderful. We consider this school one of the greatest blessings in our lives.

Here is a link to our school:
www.LakelandMontessori.com