Garden Montessori Charter School

Garden Montessori Charter School won’t open in 2015

August 5, 2015 By Kathy Steele

A unexpected snag in securing a lease means the Garden Montessori Charter School will delay its opening date by at least a year.

The school for students in kindergarten through sixth grade was scheduled to open on Aug. 24 at the Sports and Field Complex, off State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel.

Ella Selover works on a botanical puzzle at Garden Montessori, a private, preschool. The school’s board had hoped to open a public charter school, with free tuition, for kindergarten through sixth grade in 2015. Those plans are now on hold after leasing negotiations fell through. (File Photo) — Ella Selover works on a botanical puzzle at Garden Montessori, a private, preschool. The school’s board had hoped to open a public charter school, with free tuition, for kindergarten through sixth grade in 2015. Those plans are now on hold after leasing negotiations fell through.
(File Photo)

“The difficult decision, made by its Board of Directors, was based on a breakdown in the final negotiations of the lease contract,” according to a statement released by Garden Montessori’s board. “The deciding factors to delay the opening of the school year were based on the need to ensure the future success of the school, faculty and most importantly the children.”

Garden Montessori is one of two Pasco County schools awarded charters for 2015-2016. The other is Plato Academy, which started in Pinellas County, and is in an expansion mode. Its eighth location would have been in Pasco, but district school officials said that also is being delayed.

Darlene Pla-Schantz, Garden Montessori’s associate education director, said the school had enrolled 196 students for 2015-2016.

She said school and district officials are working to answer parents’ questions and help with a smooth start for those students affected by the delay.

The school district had not received Garden Montessori’s enrollment list for the upcoming school term, said Linda Cobbe, Pasco school district’s spokeswoman. So she said the district routinely had assigned all but one of those students to schools in zones where they would have gone last year.

Any placement changes will have to wait until the 20-day enrollment count after the district’s Aug. 24 opening day. “We don’t know where we’ll have seats,” Cobbe said.

The district office has fielded a few calls from parents.

“This is pretty last minute, especially for parents of kindergartners,” Cobbe said. “This is all new to them.”

Garden Montessori’s board has sent a letter to the Pasco school district requesting approval for a “planning year” in 2015-2016. The school board will vote on the request at an upcoming board meeting on a date to be determined.

The school’s charter is in effect for five years, including the requested planning year.

Garden Montessori began in 2009 as a private preschool and kindergarten academy, teaching with the Montessori method. The charter delay doesn’t affect that school’s operations.

One of the Montessori features is a multi-age classroom where students have the same teacher for three years.

Parents had urged the board to pursue a charter so their children could extend their Montessori experience.

The approved charter is for a tuition-free, public kindergarten through sixth grade school. The opening year allowed for up to 270 students. The board planned to begin with kindergarten through second grade, adding a grade each year until the fifth year when enrollment would increase to 540 students.

“This time will be used to define, develop and execute a strategic plan for the immediate and future needs of the community,” according to the statement from Garden Montessori’s board.

Published August 5, 2015

Charter school finds a home

July 1, 2015 By B.C. Manion

Garden Montessori Charter School has signed a five-year lease on a new 22,000-square-foot home in a former fitness facility in Wesley Chapel.

“It’s a beautiful property,” John Selover, a consultant for the charter school said. “We’re really excited about it.”

Garden Montessori Charter School has signed a five-year lease on the property now known as Sports and Field, at 2029 Arrowgrass Drive. (Photos courtesy of Garden Montessori Charter School) — Garden Montessori Charter School has signed a five-year lease on the property now known as Sports and Field, at 2029 Arrowgrass Drive.
(Photos courtesy of Garden Montessori Charter School)

In addition to the building at the Sports and Field Inc. location, at 2029 Arrowgrass Drive, there’s a large fenced play area, Selover said.

“When we move in there this year, we’ll have temporary walls and partitions, with the idea that we’ll make that more permanent down the road,” he said.

The school is opening this fall with an enrollment of around 215 children, in kindergarten through second grade.

Selover said many people believe that Montessori education is a private-school only type of situation.

But Garden Montessori School is a charter school, meaning there’s no tuition for children attending the school.

The Sports and Field building, which has been leased to Garden Montessori Charter School, has an exterior rock wall.

The same is true for Countryside Montessori Charter School, which is located in Land O’ Lakes.

Garden Montessori School has its roots in a private preschool and kindergarten that has been offering the Montessori approach to education since 2009.

Parents of some of those children were interested in continuing to pursue that type of education in elementary school, and the school sought permission from Pasco County to open a charter elementary school.

There are still some seats available at Garden Montessori Charter School.

General information and enrollment details can be found at GMCSWC.weebly.com.

Published July 1, 2015

New Wesley Chapel charter uses Montessori method

February 18, 2015 By B.C. Manion

When school begins in the fall, a new educational option will be available for parents of children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Garden Montessori School has been approved as a charter school in Pasco County, meaning that there’s no tuition for children attending the school.

Ella Selover attends the private pre-school that has inspired the creation of Garden Montessori Charter School which will open this fall in Wesley Chapel. Deadline for applications is Feb. 27. (Courtesy of Garden Montessori School) — Lilly Selover attends the private pre-school that has inspired the creation of Garden Montessori Charter School which will open this fall in Wesley Chapel. Deadline for applications is Feb. 27.
(Courtesy of Garden Montessori School)

The new charter has its roots in a private pre-school and kindergarten that has been offering the Montessori approach to education since 2009.

“It’s going to continue the Montessori that’s here,” said John Selover, a consultant to the school.

“The genesis of the (charter) school was that a lot of the parents here were very interested in continuing the Montessori method of instruction. Montessori is much more than a method. It’s kind of a culture of its own,” he said.

Darlene Pla-Tschantz, associate education director, said, Montessori focuses on teaching the whole child.

“It’s based on grace and courtesy,” she said.

The children do a lot of hands’ on work, and the work is designed to build on previous work that has been accomplished.

“In terms of the social piece, it is a community involvement,” she said. One of the values of a Montessori education is giving back to the community in which the sits.

“We have permission to open with up to 270 students,” Selover said. It will begin with kindergarten through second grade and will add a grade each year, until its fifth year of operation, when it will reach 540.

One key difference between this school and traditional public schools is that the children will be taught in multi-age classrooms and they have the same teacher for three years.

“We’re meeting the kid where they’re at,” Selover said.

“Everybody knows the child. They have some history with the child. They’re able to really, truly meet them where they’re at,” he said.

Pla-Tschantz explained: “It’s really not teacher-centered. It’s child-centered, with the guidance, of course, from teachers.

Teachers observe children closely and keep good records, to keep tuned into the child’s progress and where they should be, she said.

Teachers look at benchmarks to make sure that children are reaching them and when they’re not, they ask themselves why children aren’t reaching them and they make recommendations on what they can do to make progress.

Besides paying close attention to a child’s progress, there’s also peer teaching.

The school also pays attention to how the children learn.

“Are they visual? Are they tactile? Are they auditory?” Pla-Tschantz said. Or, perhaps like most people, they learn using more than one style.

The school’s charter application was approved for five years.

Applications are being accepted through Feb. 27.

School officials expect more applications to come in than there are slots, so a lottery system will be used to select the students.

Applications are being accepted through Feb. 27.

A site has not yet been acquired, but officials expect that to be done soon.

Initially, the school will use portable classrooms.

Parents can attend a parent meeting on Feb. 18, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, 2818 Collier Parkway, to learn more about the school.

Questions parents have asked at previous meetings include such practical considerations as the start and end times of school, whether there is before and after care and what kind of lunch program is available, Selover said.

The school will follow the Pasco County code of student conduct. It also will serve Pasco County school lunches, providing free or reduced-price lunches to those qualify.

It will not provide transportation, but will help parents who want to arrange car pools.

Parent information session
Garden Montessori Charter School is a tuition-free, public kindergarten through sixth grade school slated to open in August, serving the Wesley Chapel area.

There will be a parent information session Feb. 18 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, 2818 Collier Parkway.

General information and enrollment details can be found at GMCSWC.weebly.com.

Published February 18, 2015

Garden Montessori Charter School