Page 8 - Flathead Beacon // 3.5.14

8 | MARCH 5, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Kalispell Montessori to Add Middle School

READER Program would be the

only one of its kind in the
POLL
state, educators say
FLATHEADBEACON.COM

By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon
Is the Severe Weather Making
You Stay Indoors?
One of the valley’s Montessori schools
has plans to expand its program to include
middle school students, making it the only
one of its kind in the state.

Kalispell Montessori Elementary, a pri-
vate school located on Willow Glen Drive,
is starting to emerge from a recessionary
slump. Though still not back to its 2007
high of 105 students, the school enrollment
is back to nearly 70 kids and growing.
55% YES 45% NO “Now we’re looking to grow the pro-
gram,” David Cummings, a 13-year teach-
TOTAL VOTES: 183
er at the school, said last week.
Cummings will be spearheading the
Do You Agree with the Obama Montessori school’s next phase of devel-
Administration’s Proposal to opment: a middle school program, for Zia Walker, left, and Margo Cummings at Kalispell Montessori Elementary.
seventh and eighth graders. Currently, GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Reduce Defense Spending?
Kalispell Montessori teaches kids from there last summer. He will head back to gration of the new middle school is inding
irst to sixth grade. The children are delin- inish up his training this summer.
an adequate replacement for Cummings.

eated into two groups, with irst through When he came back, Cummings said “We’ll have to advertise nationwide,”
third grade in one part of the building, and he had a better idea of what the curricu- she said.
fourth through sixth on the other side.
lum would look like, and could adequately Otherwise, Boisseau believes a mid-
The plan for the upcoming 2014 fall se- promote it. The Montessori middle school dle school program will only enhance the
mester is to add the seventh- and eighth- model has only been in development since school and its students.
graders to the mix, with their own space the 1980s, he said, which is a relatively “In terms of curriculum and the struc-
on the far end of the building.
short time in education years.
ture of the middle school, I don’t have any
57% YES 43% NO “We will be the only (Montessori) mid- This program will be structured spe- qualms about that at all,” she said.

TOTAL VOTES:239
dle school in the state,” Cummings said.
ciically for adolescent minds, Cummings So far, four students have signed up
Montessori education is based on the said, which are in a great state of lux as for the inaugural seventh grade class, and
ideas developed by Italian physicist Maria they continue to mature. It will be an in- Cummings said he would have room for
Montessori at the beginning of the 20th dividualized curriculum, just like the ele- about 16 students. Boisseau said one of the
Should the Entire Blacktail century. The philosophical tenants are mentary education, but there will also be a questions new parents most frequently
Mountain Road be Paved?
based on an emphasis in independence, great emphasis on the changing social de- ask is what happens after their children
freedom within limits, and respect for velopment in the teenage students.
complete sixth grade, and many parents
each individual’s natural, psychological, “It’s a very connected curriculum,” she’s talked to are excited about the possi-

physical and social development.
Cummings said.
bility of staying with a Montessori educa-
Typically, students take part in Mon- In the middle school program, there tion until high school.
tessori education at an early age, especial- will be ive sections touched on through- Students from outside Kalispell Mon-
ly around the Flathead Valley. Programs out the year: math, language, social stud- tessori who wish to be part of the middle
for older kids are harder to come by, Cum- ies, science, and the individual. Each school will be dealt with on a case-by-case
mings said, which is part of the reason his year will have a common theme running basis, Boisseau said, and not having a pre-
61YES 39NO school wanted to consider the idea.
through each section, he said, such as vious Montessori education doesn’t auto-
% %
TOTAL VOTES: 137
He had been tossing the concept around “forces,” which can be applicable in all ive matically discount any potential student.
for some time, but the school wasn’t ready areas of study.
For more information, call 406-755-
to move on it until about a year ago. Cum- Renee Boisseau, principal at Kalispell 3826, or visit www.kalispellmontessori.
mings traveled to Houston to get his irst Montessori, said one of the biggest chal- com.
ONLINE POLL RESULTS ARE NOT SCIENTIFIC
period of training, spending two months
lenges she expects to face during the inte-
[email protected]

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