EDGEWATER —Construction is wrapping up on a Montessori school on the border of Lakewood and Edgewater that school leaders say will house a teacher training center while offering a Montessori education to a diverse range of students.
The new school has the attention of parents from across the Denver region, and, closer to home, local residents say another school choice is welcome
The Great Work Montessori School is set to open April 1 at 6001 W. 16th Ave., with an initial group of 30 kids ages 1 to 4. Great Work Montessori executive director Amy Malik said plans outline adding a grade level a year through 12th grade.
Malik said Montessori schools are generally associated with more affluent areas, and building a Montessori school in the 80214 ZIP code area — encompassing most of Edgewater, a small sliver of Wheat Ridge and Avenue — provides an opportunity to bring a diverse educational experience to one of the lowest income areas in Jefferson County.
“We really feel all children benefit from being exposed to a diverse social and economic population,” Malik said. “We feel kids benefit going out in the world after being exposed to this type of diversity.”
The group has been working with Jeffco Public Schools to submit a charter application before an April deadline, the district confirmed. In the meantime, the school is offering a sliding scale for tuition based on parent income. Malik said the preschool will always remain private with the sliding scale tuition.
According to the school website, a single parent making $22,000 a year would pay roughly $50 a month in tuition. A married couple with a combined income of $175,000 would pay around $1,312 per month.
Assuming the charter application is approved, enrollment will be on a lottery-based system, and Malik said the plan is to reserve one-third of the spots for those that qualify for free and reduced lunch.
At a recent community meeting in Edgewater, parents from across Denver showed up to hear more about the program.
“There’s nothing out there that seems quite this innovative,” said Denver resident Amber Hill. “This creation of a lifelike, real-world environment, and having it so that people who make less pay less — this is something unique that we’re willing to travel to so our kids can have that benefit.”
Founded by Italian physician and teacher Maria Montessori more than 100 years ago, the educational approach is known for encouraging creative thinking, personalized learning and embracing individuality. It includes mixed-age classrooms and student choice on educational activities.
A training center for instructors is expected to be relocated from rented space at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design to the new Great Work building. It’s anticipated that about 90 people will be trained in the Montessori method annually.
“It’s going to be a demonstration school where we want to create a pedagogically sound model so people can see what Montessori can do when authentically implemented,” said Chris von Lersner, the school’s pedagogical director.
Joel Newton, executive director of the , has worked closely with struggling schools in the area. He said data shows one of the problems is many Edgewater kindergartners start school behind their peers. He’s optimistic that opening up more local preschool spots could help alleviate this.
“I don’t see this opening as competition at all,” Newton said. “I think it’s important they’re leaving spots open for local kids and that diversity is important to them … I would say the bottom line is, they’re bringing resources to an area of Jefferson County that needs more resources.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729 or abriggs@denverpost.com
For more information on upcoming community meetings on great work montessori, visit http://www.greatworkinc.org/or call 720 839-7728.
