WHAT GRADES WILL BE OFFERED? For the 2018-2019 school year we plan to offer 6 classrooms serving Pre-K through 3rd grade. We currently have 4 Primary rooms, 2 Pre-K/K rooms and 2 lower elementary for 2017-2018. We're committed to expanding to 3rd grade for current students 2018-2019. We welcome family engagement in the ongoing process to plan for future enrollment and growth, to ensure our plans are responsive to our school community.
WHAT WILL THE MULTI-AGE GROUPINGS LOOK LIKE? For 2018-2019, we will have Primary classrooms with Kindergarten and a small number of Pre-K students, and Lower Elementary combined 1st-3rd grade classrooms. This is because Montessori teacher credentials and learning environments are divided into Primary (ages 3-6) and Lower Elementary (ages 6-9) based on Maria Montessori's understanding of child growth and development.
HOW WILL MONTESSORI PRE-K ENROLLMENT WORK? For 2018-2019, we will offer a small number of Montessori Pre-K slots (we anticipate 1/3 of each Primary Pre-K/K room). Openings will be filled by lottery, through families who have completed an Online Interest Form for the Asheville City Schools Preschool Program, and selected the Montessori option as a preference. Returning ACS Preschool Program student requests to transition enrollment options will also be considered using lottery as needed. Pre-K Enrollment options in our Montessori rooms are Tuition or Scholarship, for families who are eligible for the no-cost income-based programs offered at Asheville Preschool. Pre-K enrollment will be coordinated by Primary/Preschool staff rather than the Magnet School office. This enrollment option is an exciting blend of our Primary and Preschool programming, and we hope to grow the Montessori Pre-K option in the coming years!
HOW IS ASHEVILLE PRESCHOOL CONNECTED WITH ASHEVILLE PRIMARY SCHOOL ? With the launch of Asheville Primary School in August 2017, our school building is now called Asheville Primary School. Asheville Primary houses both our Montessori magnet school and the main campus of the Asheville City Schools Preschool program, known as Asheville Preschool @ Asheville Primary. Visit the ACS Preschool Program webpage for more information. While our "Primary" and "Preschool" offerings vary, we are one school family!
WHAT IS YOUR MAGNET THEME? Asheville Primary School has adopted the Montessori Philosophy of Education as our approach to teaching and learning.
WHAT IS MONTESSORI EDUCATION? Montessori is an innovative, child-centered approach to education, developed a century ago by a woman ahead of her time. The Montessori approach includes multi-age groupings that foster peer learning, uninterrupted blocks of work time, and guided choice of work activity. The teacher, child, and environment create a learning triangle. The classroom is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, freedom within limits, and a sense of order. Please see our website for more information, or visit the American Montessori Society site for resources.
HOW DOES IT WORK TO BE A PUBLIC MONTESSORI SCHOOL? Other schools in North Carolina and across the country have selected the Montessori method as their curriculum, and are able to maintain accredited Montessori standards while meeting public school requirements and expectations. We plan to learn from such schools in our state, including Park Road in Charlotte.
WHAT AFTER-SCHOOL OPTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE? We offer an onsite after-school program with the Roots + Wings Community Design Lab, and have various community afterschool partners who pick up at our location.
HOW WILL TEACHERS BE TRAINED? All teachers will have a K-6 teaching license and will either have Montessori certification or will be in the process of obtaining the certification.
WHAT WILL CLASS SIZES BE LIKE? We're planning for maximum class sizes of 18-20 - along with the other ACS elementary schools due to a new state regulation for K-2 classrooms. Our enrollment target for 2018-2019 is 6 classrooms, but class sizes could be smaller in some rooms based on enrollment fluctuation. Each room will have a lead teacher and assistant teacher.
WHAT TRANSPORTATION/PICKUP AND DROP-OFF OPTIONS EXIST? Asheville City Schools students may access the same school bus service to our school as the other district schools. In addition to our current parking, we also have a car rider line for drop off and pickup of our elementary-age students next year.
ARE YOUR FACILITIES LIKE OTHER ACS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS? We are housed in the former Aycock building, designed for K-5 students. We have a full gym, blacktop, and cafeteria, as well as a library known as the Learning Commons. We also have a large former baseball field behind our building. In recent years, we've fenced "The Field," and have been transforming it into a nature playspace, featuring a large garden, new forest, sand and dirt play, a dry stream bed, hills, fort-building, and many future plans!
WHAT WILL I SEE IF I COME FOR A TOUR? We'll show you our campus as a whole so you can get a feel for our indoor and outdoor spaces and the existing school community. For 2017-2018, we have 4 Montessori rooms in session that you will see. We'll also share more about our vision, plans, and Montessori, and answer your questions personally.