MONROE — It’s looking likely the upper-elementary Montessori program at Maltby Elementary will cease.
The combined grade 3-5 classroom’s teacher is exiting at the end of this school year. However, with already low enrollment numbers, the Monroe School District said it needs to see enrollment bump up. That’s half the challenge: It would then need to find a replacement who has a state teaching certificate who is also Montessori certified. The principal wrote to parents that finding a teacher with both is unlikely.
This year, Maltby’s lower K-2 Montessori program had 41 students, and its upper Grades 3-5 program had 17. Students from outside Maltby Elementary’s boundaries are allowed to transfer to the Montessori program. Of the 58 students, 13 are in-district transfers from other school boundaries and 18 are from outside the district.
At Sky Valley Education Center, the district has a Montessori Co-op program which students can transfer into as an option. It’s not apples-to-apples: The co-op model has weekly parent involvement in the classroom.
The Montessori method emphasizes independent decision making, problem-solving and using discovery and interaction with objects as the way to learn through, instead of a traditional classroom where students listen to a teacher’s instruction lesson.
Most public school districts do not have a Montessori program. Typically Montessori schools are private.
Montessori teachers are accredited by independent programs. The state K-12 office does not recognize a Montessori certificate as a valid classroom teaching certificate. The office said it does not track how many teachers are Montessori-accredited.
