What Happens to Montessori?

We do not believe that Montessori needs to remain a magnet school in our model. Montessori is historically in high demand, so we want to create an opportunity to expand both access and capacity. Making the existing building larger is not financially feasible at this time, nor do we believe that very large elementary schools are particularly beneficial.

Instead, we propose adding a second Montessori school in the West region. Locating it in the West helps balance the building capacity needs of the regions and makes it more accessible to more of the city. We suggest the Beechwood facility, but are open to any other options. The existing Friendship Montessori school would be available to all East, Central, and South region residents to rank with their other elementary school options, and this new Montessori school would be available for residents of the North and West regions.

It is not currently feasible to create a Montessori “focus” in each of our elementary regions, so this plan would double the Montessori capacity and improve accessibility for all of our residents, while remaining financially feasible.