5/11/22 • Lawrence, Kansas • New Montessori program in Lawrence Public Schools
5/11/22 • Lawrence, Kansas • Lawrence Public Schools will launch a new Montessori program at one of its elementary schools, New York Elementary, as reported in The Lawerence Times (Lawrence school board approves Montessori program for New York Elementary).
The program will open with three- and four-year olds and grow by a grade per year. Current New York students will continue in conventional classrooms which will phase out as the Montessori program phases in.
Lawerence, like many districts, is experiencing a budget shortfall worsened by declining enrollments during the COVID pandemic. New York Elementary had been particularly under-enrolled, and the Montessori offering was seen as a draw to bring families back into the system. In addition, District Director of Inclusion Engagement and Belonging Cynthia Johnson explained that New York Elementary was chosen because it has “the highest free and reduced lunch rate.”
For the three- and four-year-olds, priority will be given to young children who meet an “at-risk” criterion, and any additional spaces will go for $4,800. The school will be a “neighborhood school”, with families who want to opt out of Montessori offered transfers—but no families have as yet applied to transfer.
David worked in private Montessori for more than twenty years as a parent, three-to-six year-old and adolescent teacher, administrator, writer, speaker, and advocate. In 2016 he began working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. David lives in Portland, Oregon.