Districts Weighing Futureof Montessori Programs

South Bend to Delay Plans for Program

A proposal to the South Bend (IN) Community School Corporation to open a Montessori program was put on hold in April.

The plan was proposed by retiring Supt. Joan Raymond as part of a $33.2 million facility-upgrade plan. According to Sue Pace, the district's communications director, there was some community support for the idea but the board decided to wait until a new superintendent is in place.

Raymond came to South Bend after serving as superintendent of the Yonkers, NY, public schools, where she started that district's public Montessori program.

Meanwhile the area's only charter school, Veritas Academy, has begun looking into adding a Montessori program. Angela Piazza, the academy's director of education, said that process is just beginning and no Montessori program will be added at the school in the next year.

Budget Gap Forces Michigan Closure

A small Michigan district decided to close a recently opened Montessori program because of financial cuts.

Supt. Carl Hilling proposed the cut, which was approved by the Gaylord Community Schools Board of Education in April The district was facing a $600,000 budget deficit for next year.

The district three years ago spent about $100,000 for materials and teacher training to set up the Elmira Montessori Program three years ago.

Katy Ross, Elmira PTO president, countered with a survey indicating that 42 of 76 families polled would removed their children from the Gaylord district, resulting in a substantial loss in revenue to the district. Several families transfer into the district for the Montessori program.

Ross said parents did not have time to gain approval for a charter school for the 2006-2007 year but have approach a neighboring district about offering a Montessori program.

She said she had initially advocated for the Montessori program because of her desire to keep Elmira school open and good experiences her daughter had had in visiting a Montessori classroom . She said it was more likely the desire to close the building rather than dissatisfaction with the Montessori program that led to the Gaylord board's decision.

Cambridge, MA, Study Shows Parent Support

The Cambridge (MA) Public School Committee is scheduled to vote in June on a proposal to open a Montessori elementary program.

The proposal, supported by Supt. Thomas Fowler-Finn, was based on a survey of 404 Cambridge parents. The company that conducted the survey, RKM Research and Communications, reported that 59 percent of parents would enroll their children in a Montessori program if the district offered it.

The proposal to create a Montessori program is part of an effort to stem declining enrollment at the district's Tobin School.

Researchers called a random sample of 1,100 households. A total of 404 parent surveys were completed, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.:

• 52 percent said they had a "good understanding of what a 'Montessori school' is."
• 59 percent said they would send their children to a Montessori school.
• 19 percent of parents said they would be "extremely likely" to enroll their children in a Montessori program. When told the Montessori program would be offered at no cost, the percentage of parents "extremely likely" to enroll their children increased to 27 percent.