Lander expands Program

A federal grant will help Lander University expand its Montessori teacher education program.

The quarter-million dollar grant, announced in late May, will help the college, based in Greenwood, SC:

~ Expand to include an EI (6-9) Montessori teacher education program.

~ Support the extension of a preschool program at Greenwood's public East End Elementary School to include a 6-9 component.

~ Support a research study of the 14 public Montessori schools in South Carolina.

~ Expand Lander's on-site Montessori preschool through the purchase of materials and by funding seven full or partial scholarships.

According to Barbara Ervin, Lander's Montessori program director, the initiative will help the Greenwood school district open the East End elementary Montessori program to all students in the district. It previously had served only families in one zone. This would make East End a destination for families and children across the district who have a transfer option if their schools fail to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards.

The research study, still to be fully defined, will be led by Marilyn Mecca, a retiring Lander faculty member, Ervin said.

Teachers from five South Carolina public school districts are enrolled in Lander s American Montessori Society-affiliated Primary Montessori Teacher Education Program.