Field Notes

M:Magazine's Future Uncertain

Peace Event Held in Appleton, WI

Cincinnati's Clark H.S. Featured in Report

PA Community College Program to Close

Boston Planning Programs at 2 Sites

Grant Starts Program in Red Wing, MN

NC District Adding Modular Classrooms

Montessori Schools in 2 Corporate Deals

AMS OKs Plan to Absorb MSAC

Miller Offers Online Alt Education Course

School Board Member Offers a Sound Bite

If You Build It, Will They Come?

M:Magazine's Future Uncertain

The future of M the Magazine for Montessori Families remains uncertain after editor-publisher Kirk Dooley announced in a January 23 e-mail that  he and his company, Creede Media, would not be able to continue.

Michael Jacobson of BidGive, who helped create the two-year-old magazine as part of the Montessori Initiative, said he was working with a couple potential partners who may be able to carry the magazine forward. He predicted a decision could come in March.

The e-mail sent from the BidGive-mail domain by signed by Creede Media, noted:

Our Publisher/Editor, Kirk Dooley came down with a respiratory infection that steadily worsened to the point of his having to be rushed to the emergency room. He was hospitalized with a collapsed lung and a debilitating viral infection.  This infection caused Kirk's MS, which had been under control, to escalate.  After two weeks in the hospital, he was released but readmitted again with a relapse this past weekend.

As the Publisher/Editor for "M the Magazine," Kirk personally handled many of the publishing functions at Creede, which makes it almost impossible for us to continue handling the publishing of the magazine ourselves.

We are working with person and entities in the Montessori community to transition the publishing of "M" to another group.  ...We appreciate all the support we have received during this difficult time, and your continued patience while awaiting your next issue of "M."

Jacobson, who drew initial investors through BidGive, said he sees one option as going electronic. "I think an on-line version makes more sense, the Internet provides the solution and great reach to the parent community."

The magazine, distributed primarily thorough bulk sales to schools, fell far short of an early circulation projection of 300,000. School leaders seeking refunds on missed issues have been unable to contact Creede Media.

Jacobson urged patience.

"All of us-subscribers and investors-we all believe in the magazine as a source of intelligent unbiased information that parents can utilize."

As M struggles, Tim Seldin announced that his Montessori parent-oriented publication, Tomorrow's Child, will begin offering subscribing schools a set of print and video resources for parents.

Although many other elements of the Montessori Initiative did not endure, it continues to operate a Model United Nations program and, Jacobson said, its school supply discount programs with Staples and Office Depot can be accessed through the BidGive website.

Peace Event Held in Appleton, WI

Parents, teachers and children in the Appleton, WI, area joined in a day-long Montessori centenary peace event on Nov. 30 organized by Emily Forslin of Montessori Adventure School.

Presenters included local educator Rob Beck, M.J. and Jerry Park of Little Friends for Peace, Cathleen Haskins of Teach Peace, and Jonathan Wolff of Learning for Life.

"Everyone who came enjoyed the program, and the interactions of children, parents, teachers and presenters at the conference," Forslin wrote on the school's website. "I urge my colleagues to host something similar.  At our school during the immediate week that followed, our children who had attended were singing the new songs they learned and seemed to show a deepened delight in peaceful actions.  It continues to this day."

INFO: http://www.montessoriadventure.com

Cincinnati's Clark H.S. Featured in Report

Cincinnati's Montessori middle and high school program got a bit of national publicity in a report recently revised and republished by the Center for School Change (CSC) and the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.

The report, Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools, is a collection of research in support of small schools. Clark Montessori is among the 22 schools featured.

Joe Nathan, director of the CSC and a co-author of the report, is familiar with Montessori education, has spoken at a conference of the North American Montessori Teachers' Association and provided material support for the start up of a Great River Montessori Charter High School in St. Paul. He noted that the report focused on size rather than curriculum.

"This is not a report about education theory," the report states. "It is a study about how real existing school can help the nation offer saner, safer, smarter, better public education."

The brief snapshot of Clark highlights its outdoors, community experts, "active hands on learning," and year-long senior projects.

Copies can be downloaded from

www.edfacilities.org/pubs/saneschools.pdf

or

www.centerforschoolchange.org/2008/smaller-schools-are-safer-saner-2.html

PA Community College Program to Close

A community-college based Montessori teacher education program will close this spring rather than apply for reaccreditation from the Montessori Accreditation Commission on Teacher Education.

Lehigh Carbon Community College Montessori program in Schnecksville, PA, is less than five years old and was not attracting enough students to support an accredited program.

"We couldn't maintain the program," said Dianne DeLong, dean of Professional Accreditation and Curriculum at the college. "The numbers of students registered in the program were small, maybe four or five."

She said she was proud of the American Montessori Society-affiliated program, led by Catherine Constantin-Reid, but geographic and demographic challenges seemed insurmountable.

She said there were a few students who took a course or two-private school parents, homeschoolers or teachers with elementary degrees-but not enough in the certificate program.

The college may consider offering non-credit workshops or professional development and enrichment opportunities.

Boston Planning Programs at 2 Sites

Boston parents may soon have the option of sending children to the district's first public Montessori schools.

New superintendent Carol Johnson announced in January that Montessori programs would be in the mix of new initiatives she would bring to the district. She told Boston Globe reporter Tracy Jan that she "would like to open up to two Montessori schools by fall 2009."  According to the Feb. 18 article,  "she wants to start sending teachers to training this spring and to visit public Montessori schools. She has not determined which Boston schools would be converted."

The article cited a 60-student waiting list at a new public Montessori school across the Charles River in Cambridge, noted the success in a four-year-old program in Springfield, MA, and quoted Boston parents who said they would keep their children in the city schools if a Montessori program were offered.

INFO: www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/02/18/montessori_moves_in/

Grant Starts Program in Red Wing, MN

The Red Wing, MN, school board approved in early February a privately financed Montessori program.

The pilot early childhood program will be funded by a $100,000 grant from the Jones Family Foundation.

NC District Adding Modular Classrooms

To fill burgeoning demand from parents for spots in two Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Montessori magnet schools, the district board voted to spend more than $2 million to purchase modular classrooms.

The board vote to buy 10 units for Park Road and Highland Mill Montessori schools, as well as three crowded neighborhood elementary schools.

Last year 327 children were on waiting lists for Park Road and Highland Mill, which have a combined enrollment of about 760.

Montessori Schools in 2 Corporate Deals

Two large corporations with Montessori holdings that are relatively minor within in their portfolios, but large within the Montessori world, were gobbled up recently.

Bright Horizons-In February, Bain Capital, a private equity firm, received U.S. antitrust approval to buy Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., which specializes in employer-sponsored child care and early education. It operates more than 600 such centers the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, and also reports operating Montessori programs at 13 sites in Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Texas.

Bain reportedly will pay $640 million of its own funds and borrow $850 million from investment bank Goldman Sachs, according to a filing in January, when the deal was announced.

Montessori Unlimited-In March, ABC Learning Centres Ltd. of Australia, the world's largest publicly traded owner of child-care centers, sold 60 percent of its U.S. business to investment banker Morgan Stanley.

The sale involves some 29 Montessori Unlimited schools in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon and Texas plus more than 1, 000 childcare centers in the U.S. The deal was valued at $700 million.

AMS OKs Plan to Absorb MSAC

The integration of school accreditation protocols-one of the final hurdles in the merger of the National Center for Montessori Education and the American Montessori Society-is reportedly on track for approval by the end of June.

The AMS board approved parts of the plan at its March meeting. Outstanding issues, including the stickiest issue-the requirement of a bachelor's degree for Infant-Toddler and Early Childhood school accreditation, are being addressed by members with a deadline in the next few months. Negotiators are also addressing revisions of standards, policies and procedures.

Montessori School Accreditation Commission (MSAC), the school accreditation organization developed by NCME is scheduled to be fully absorbed by AMS by the end of June.

As each currently accredited MSAC school's accreditation term expires, the school will have the option of applying for accreditation under the new AMS standards and protocol.

No new programs will be accredited under MSAC standards after June 30.

According to AMS board president Marilyn Stewart, a task force will be asked to report in August on the issue of bachelor's degree for teachers in AMS-accredited Infant-Toddler and Early Childhood schools as well as standards for secondary and administrator credentials.

Miller Offers Online Alt Education Course

Ron Miller, one of the most respected observers of alternative education, has begun offering an online course on the topic that may appeal to Montessori educators.

Miller, who completed Montessori teacher training and has written several books on education, is now editor of Education Revolution Magazine.

"We are asking," Miller said of the course, "'what is the purpose of education in modern culture and how do we in alternative movements answer that question differently from each other and the mainstream?'"

He said 19 people, at least two with Montessori backgrounds, from several countries took the course in the first session. Other sessions are being planned.

One participant was South-Africa-based Sharon Caldwell, who is active in the Montessori Foundation and International Montessori Council. "The course," she wrote in an e-mail,  "was well structured and managed with a lot of interaction and input from the presenters... Ron and his assistants are well versed in alternative education so were able to bring both theoretical knowledge and personal experience to the mix. The course covered a wide diversity of educational alternatives, even those from the opposite end of the spectrum, as well as a section on the critiques of educational alternatives."

INFO:

www.educationrevolution.org/historycourse.html

School Board Member Offers a Sound Bite

Looking for the ideal sound bite to sell Montessori education to public school constituencies?

One was offered in an article in American School: The American School Board Journal in its December 2007 issue.

Columnist Gary Lister, a member of the Bleckley (Georgia) County Board of Education wrote of the importance of speaking clearly, as if there were a "little man" on a board member's shoulder, constantly asking "so what?"

He wrote:

"You say, 'We use Montessori methods in our new school.'The little man asks, 'So what?'You reply, 'Our school focuses on children as individuals and enables them to learn to manage their own study independently.' You further elaborate, 'For instance, we enable children who are gifted in specific areas to proceed in advance of the rest of the students.'"

It is, however, theoretical advice. Bleckley County has no Montessori program.

Lister, author of 99 Reasons to Never-Ever Run for School Board and Purest Democracy: Leadership and Citizenship Lessons learned while serving on the Schoolboard, said he had recently been reading about Montessori education and thought it provided a good example to demonstrate clarity.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Latest numbers on the lottery for spots in two new Montessori magnets in Chicago:

Drummond Montessori -995 children applied for 36 slots.

Suder Montessori-550 children applied for 28 slots.