Montessori News

Contents

US Department of Education Announces $488 million to Pay for Private School Tuition For Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina -How One School Responded: Beach Park School, Tampa, Florida

Association Montessori Internationale 25th International Congress in Sydney, Australia

The Montessori Foundation / Island Village Video Library Project

Joy Turner 1939 - 2005

Inner City State Primary Will Be First State-Funded Montessori School In The United Kingdom

The Montessori Schools Association of the United Kingdom 2005 National Conference - Saturday 1st October, London

Montessori Association of New Zealand Seminar, Collaborative Montessori Cultures with Jonathan Wolff, Cambridge, NZ, September 24-28, 2005

DOE Announces $488 million to Pay for Private School Tuition For Students Displaced

The United States Department of Education (DOE) has included $488 million in its Hurricane Katrina aid package for parents of private school children displaced by the storm.

The legislation, the McKinney-Vento Act, pro$2.1 billion will help public schools cover the unbudgeted expenses of educating additional students. $488 million will compensate parents who have had to find alternative private schools for their children.

To read the entire text of the DOE announcement, go to

http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/0916-factsheet.html

How One School Responded: Beach Park School, Tampa, Florida

Montessori schools across the United States and around the world have expressed their desire to help families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The American Montessori Society is serving as a clearinghouse for those wishing to offer help: http://www.amshq.org

There are thousands of stories like this one from our friends at Beach Park School, a Pre-K3 through 8th grade independent Montessori school of 75 children in South Tampa.Like so many schools around the world, the tragedy of the Gulf Coast’s Hurricane Katrina hit home. In the true spirit of community, the families rallied to help. Within one week of the violent storm, Head of School Richard Winker and two others were driving $6,000 worth of supplies donated by Beach Park School families to the Red Cross Shelter at Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Beach Park School volunteers Tim Delaney and Gini Roberts with Head of School Richard Winkler (from L to R)

“It makes me feel good to help people,” says 10-year-old Tyler Hughes, an Upper Elementary school student. “And we need to help those people because they have nothing.” Six-year-old Sam Russell added, “You need to help people because someday they may help you.”

The Beach Park School relief effort began at the request of an alumni parent, Gini Roberts, whose brother was already in Mississippi helping in the relief efforts. Through Mrs. Roberts, Jeff Cummings relayed the needs of the shelter residents.

“We asked our families for help through an e-mail distributed Sunday night and by Wednesday morning we had enough bleach, disinfectant, and trash bags to fill a 14-foot truck. The response was overwhelming,” recalls Director of Education Ann Winkler

“Banding together to help people the children only knew through television and the news provided a very purposeful way to rally around those affected by the storm’s devastation. By providing a concrete way to meet the needs of the storm victims, the children’s fears about hurricanes and weather were calmed through discussion and hands-on service.”

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Stepping Stones Montessori School
552 Terry Parkway
Gretna, Louisiana 70056
504 362 0513 email address: navarro36@aol.com ssmnav36@aol.com

September 19, 2005

To: All Montessori Organizations involved in Fundraising for Montessori School Katrina Victims

From: Joan Navarro, Admin.

Re: Montessori Schools in the New Orleans area and along the gulf coast of Mississippi who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.

There have been a multitude of schools around the country who have offered to place students from Montessori Schools in the above area. There are have even been families associated with many of these Montessori Schools who have graciously opened their homes. In addition, some of these schools are taking up donations to replace a material(s) for schools who were damaged and even wiped out from the wrath of this storm. All of the above is wonderful to see the caring and compassion of the Montessori communities around the country.

There is, however, an area that is being overlooked that is very important. Some schools in this storm- ravaged area will be able to get physically up and running after repairs to roofs, replacing flooring were flooding was minimal, etc. This in itself is a blessing. However, many of our students have been displaced, parents reassigned to new areas, or due to loss of employment can no longer afford tuition. Teachers and staff are coming home anxious to return to their students. Parents who can continue their children in a Montessori education and who need to return are ready for our schools to open. We all want to be there for our students.

The area that is not being realized is that there are schools that need financial help to be able to make it through the school year due to lack of enrollment because of displaced students or parents who maybe no longer afford tuition.

We are a small school that has been located on the Westbank of New Orleans for 25 years. We are certified by the Louisiana Montessori Assoc. In our case we have less than 50% of our enrollment that is returning when we open sometime in October. Many of our parents worked the central business district of New Orleans and are displaced. Several of the older siblings of our students went to New Orleans Private High Schools that will not reopen until next year, if at all. These families will not return until these schools reopen. All of our teachers of many years are coming back as well as our assisting staff. The tuition from these families will not be enough to make payroll and basic operational expenses.

The SBA only is available if you can not get loans from other lending institutions, and operational expenses do not qualify at all.

Schools such as ours seem to have nowhere to turn. Please help us to be there for our students. These children want to come back to their school and their friends. The Schools along the Gulf Coast, that can be physically up and running, need to survive this disaster for the sake of the children that are coming back and the dedicated staff members who want to be here for them.

Please look at this area of need in your fund raising efforts. Scholarships for the school year for students who financially cannot return would be a great help.

Thank you all for your caring and compassion.

Association Montessori Internationale 25th International Congress in Sydney, Australia

This July the Association Montessori Internationale held its 25th International Congress in Sydney, Australia. The aim of the Congress was to reinvigorate the Montessori movement restoring it to its original dimensions, that of a social movement, intended to champion the cause of all children, in all strata of society, of all races and ethnic backgrounds, within and beyond educational institutions.

The following declaration was read and affirmed at the conclusion of the Congress:

The 25th International Montessori Congress has breathed a new spirit and a new energy into the Montessori Movement.

In Australia, the land of the “Dreaming” and the “Spirit Child”, we have come together from 36 countries and 6 continents and dared to dream our Montessori dream of championing the cause of all children, in all strata of society, of all races and ethnic backgrounds, within and beyond the educational institutions.

We stand together to believe in and support this mission.

Let us now translate our Montessori dreams to actions - because
“a great reform can only be accomplished through actions.”

Let us declare a call for action and with a new resolve, work together on behalf of children everywhere. Keeping in mind the ideas discussed at this conference, let us vow to act sooner rather than later, because the lives of the children today, in both rich nations and poor, are in a state of crisis.

The papers from the 25th AMI International Congress in Sidney are available to download from two sites: http://www.montessori-ami.org and from http://www.montessori.org.au

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The Montessori Foundation / Island Village Montessori Video Library Project

Click here to see the list of titles in the online library.

The Montessori Foundation and the Island Village Montessori Charter School of Venice, Florida have begun to collaborate on the creation of an online library of video segments that address basic issues of interest to Montessori teachers, including topics in classroom leadership, classic presentations of the elementary Montessori materials, and topics in Montessori philosophy and practice.

Thus far we have completed video segments that show the basic presentations of the Lower Elementary Math curriculum and a number which address issues in classroom management and basic Montessori principles.

The project owes its birth to Island Village's tireless Director, Kym Elder, and to the talents and long hours of Mary beth Sullivan, who is the teacher in the initial collection of presentations, and Jim Dunn, who serves as cinematographer and video editor.

We are now in the process of mounting the first collection of video clips up on our web site. We hope that they will be a useful resource to the entire Montessori community.

The clips are all saved in Apple Quicktime 7, a free program built in to Mac OS 10.4 and available without charge as Quicktime Player 7 from Apple: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/ for Mac users.

PC users can download Quicktime 7 from
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/preview/

Click here to see the list of titles in the online library.

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Joy Turner

1939 - 2005

Joy Turner, one of the leaders of the American Montessori Society over the past four decades, died July 11.

Joy played many roles at the national level in the American Montessori community. It was largely her vision and tireless work that led to the creation of the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE). She served as its Founding Director, and before that as director of ACCESS, the first accreditation council that we formed before MACTE came into being. She served as the editor of Montessori Life, the journal of the American Montessori Society, from 1989 until failing health led her to retire in 2004. Joy was also a member of the American Montessori Society board of directors from 1979 to 1985.

As a fellow AMS board member, Joy and I worked together on many projects. Her energy was tireless, her mind was razor sharp, and the depth of her contribution to the Montessori community would be difficult to measure.

I will always remember and appreciate Joy's vibrant intelligence and tireless energy. She was a force unto herself, and I am proud to have worked with her for so many years, and pleased to have called her my friend.

Tim Seldin
President, The Montessori Foundation
Chair, The International Montessori Council

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Inner City State Primary Is First
State-Funded Montessori School In The United Kingdom

A primary school in the fourth poorest area of England will become the first state-funded Montessori school in a unique £100,000 public-private partnership between Manchester City Council, central government and the Montessori St Nicholas charity based in London.

The aim is to raise educational standards at the 350-pupil Gorton Mount Primary School, in inner-city Manchester, where 71% of children have free school meals, 36 languages are spoken and 37% have special educational needs. The school has had seven head teachers in six years and was placed in ‘special measures’ by the Department for Education and Skills until last year.

The project to turn Gorton Mount into a Montessori primary school has been devised by the current head teacher, Carol Powell, her school governors and the Montessori St Nicholas chief executive Philip Bujak. It would take eight years. Funding for the first phase (till April) will be shared between the DfES and the Montessori charity, which is also providing teachers to train and assist the school staff.

Mr Bujak said: “This partnership between the private and public sectors shows that we at Montessori reject former Chief Inspector of Schools Chris Woodhead’s view that struggling state schools should be ‘left to die’. We believe education is too important to be put into separate compartments. Despite huge challenges, this school has made tremendous progress in recent months through the commitment of the head teacher and staff but they and we believe that Montessori methods can make a real and lasting difference to attainment at Gorton Mount and elsewhere.”

The principal aims of the Gorton Mount project are to raise pupil attainment over three phases ­ Foundation Stage, involving 100 children, and Key Stages 1 and 2 (ages 7 and 11) create a Montessori learning environment
introduce a skills-led Montessori curriculum train staff in Montessori teaching methods

Head teacher Carol Powell said: “Our partnership will reduce under-achievement and raise attainment for all children. We want them to be Montessori children. This means that they will be rounded citizens for the 21st century. They will be high achieving individuals who believe that anything is possible, but also able to work in harmony with others in school and in their wider society.

“We have a group of dedicated and skilled teachers but sadly many of them are lacking basic knowledge about the teaching and learning relationship because they have never been taught it. Montessori training will expand their individual and collective view of teaching and learning and will make sure that underachievement ceases to be a feature of school life. We also intend to involve parents in monitoring the effects of Montessori methods on their children’s learning.”

Ms Powell said raising attainment levels would include raising the proportion of children reading at or above their chronological age from 47% to 80% and increase the number of high attaining pupils raising the number at age 11 able to read and write independently, and apply mathematical skills to solve problems, from 30% to 80% increasing from 10% to 80% the number of children able to set up, measure and conclude science experiments.

Staff training will be provided by four experienced heads of Montessori schools ­ including one, Sarah Rowledge, who will leave her Absolute Angels Montessori School in Coggeshall, Essex, for two terms to oversee the Gorton Mount project, teach in the school and be involved in staff training.

The effects of the project on teaching and learning will be monitored by Manchester University and the London University Institute of Education.

Contacts for further information:

Craig Morrison, 86 PR,
105 Westbourne Grove,
London, W2 4UW
T 020 7229 1958
M 07971 102868
craig@86.co.uk

Or Philip Bujak, Chief Executive, Montessori St Nicholas, 07813 901830

Or for more detail on Montessori please visit www.montessori.org.uk

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The Montessori Schools Association of the United Kingdom 2005 National Conference - Saturday 1st October, London

The Montessori Schools Association is proud to invite you to our 2005 National Conference on Saturday 1st October. Once again we will holding our conference alongside the Early Years & Primary Teaching Exhibition at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

This year’s theme is Creativity

We’ve lined up two big names in Montessori Early Years education as our Keynote speakers: Marlene Barron from West Side Montessori School, New York City and Peggy McClatchie from St Nicholas Montessori College, Dublin.

I n addition there are exciting creative workshops for you to attend.

This is a great opportunity to:

Hear two exceptional Montessorians speak on the subject of creativity

Learn new ways of working with your children through attending the workshops

Meet with fellow Montessorians from all over the UK

Receive a Certificate of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for attending the Conference

Ticket Price - £40 MSA members, £75 non-members.

For more information, go to

http://www.montessori.org.uk/msa/MSASeminar.php

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