Montessori Most Popular with Parents of Youngest Children

There's no question that creating a new Montessori elementary school was a welcome opportunity for many Wauwatosa parents. But the school district is facing a bit of a juggling act because that popularity is not spread evenly over all grade levels.

Daniel Chanen, director of human resources, told the School Board this week that overwhelming interest in starting children at the earliest grade, junior kindergarten, already has the district pondering whether to expand the program.

However, that could create a need to keep expanding the Montessori charter school in years to come as those children advance through the grades.

In Montessori education, children are not divided into one-year grades but rather are grouped in developmental stages. Not all programs are identical; Wauwatosa's is divided as follows:

• Early education, junior and senior kindergartners, typically ages 4 and 5;
• Lower elementary, equating to grades 1 and 2;
• Upper elementary, equating to grades 3, 4 and 5.

The intention was to enroll about 23 students this year in each level and then to evaluate the program in coming years based on its success and parent interest. A little flexibility was built in so that any of the groups might have a few more or less than 23 students.

But already, a much greater disparity between the youngest and oldest grades is raising questions about whether the program design ought to be tweaked.

Chanen reported the current enrollment numbers to the board, as follows:

• Early education, 23 children enrolled, 12 in junior and 11 in senior kindergarten, with a waiting list of 44 – all for the junior level.
• Lower elementary, 22 enrolled and three offers outstanding, with 10 more on a waiting list.
• Upper elementary, 15 enrolled and three offers outstanding, with no waiting list.

Furthermore, the breakdown of ages following the standard grades shows a steady decrease in interest in the upper elementary level.

• Eight children are enrolled in 3rd grade;
• Four are enrolled in 4th grade;
• Three are enrolled in 5th grade.

The numbers clearly show a much greater interest among parents in starting their children out in the Montessori program than in entering it at later stages, and Chanen told the School Board that has the district considering whether it would be possible to add another junior kindergarten class this fall.

That immediately raised a flag, though.

"If you open up to a second JK class (this year), you're going to have a second SK class next year," said board member Phil Kroner.

True, Chanen replied, and that would likely carry over in subsequent years until the district could be looking at up to six classes.

Chanen said that the district would have to look not only at the cost of expansion but simply "at the constraints of this building."

The Montessori school is housed in the Fisher Building, which also contains the district administration offices as well as the Tosa School of the Trades. Part of the lower floor is now being rebuilt into three classrooms for the Montessori program.

"Are the resources for so few (grades) 3 to 5 students worth it, compared to the opportunity for more younger students?" board member Mary Jo Randall asked.

Chanen said that reducing the scope of the program now could still require the same level of expansion and the return of those grade levels if community interest demanded a full elementary experience in the Montessori system.

Chanen made note of another fact that could make expansion attractive. Twelve students enrolled who are already of school age, from senior kindergarten through 4th grade, are Wauwatosa residents who were not enrolled in Wauwatosa schools.

Each additional student attracted to the public schools brings state aid to the system, and Montessori education appears to be attractive to a number of families that had previously sought other alternatives.