Glen Montessori School to gain space in move to Perrysville
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Sebastian Mross, 4, uses blocks in a number counting exercise in his class at the Glen Montessori School in Emsworth. -
Teacher Sandra Kutchman works with students in her class at The Glen Montessori School in Emsworth.
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At any given moment at The Glen Montessori School in Emsworth, every child can be doing something different.
On a recent school day in a primary classroom, 6-year-old Vijay Arora tackles the seven continents as he colors a map of Australia. Coloring, he explains, is a close second to his favorite activity -- eating lunch.
A little girl sits at a table and matches animal figurines to their name. Another child sits on the floor and rubs her fingers across sandpaper cutouts of letters.
Throughout the room, built intentionally so that everything is within the grasp of children ages 3-6, students engage in the activity of their choice as "directresses," or teachers, guide those who need it.
"Their interest motivates them," said Jeanine Thornton, a head teacher. "A lot of time what's happening in your classroom is started by the children."
In the elementary classroom, where the first- through sixth-graders are responsible for completing their own weekly work plan, many youngsters are proud supporters of the child-centric Montessori approach to education.
Addison Dexter, 9, of Ohio Township, likes the freedom to pick his activities and especially enjoys the absence of homework.
But the school's gym period, he said, doesn't match up to the opportunities he had in public school.
Without a gymnasium, the school gets a visit each Thursday from the gym bus, a school bus without seats and stocked with physical education equipment. The bus parks outside and serves as a mobile gym. The driver is a physical education teacher and leads the young children in activities.
On cold days, the older children do indoor exercises, such as yoga, which, Addison said, he and the other five boys in his class don't like.
The problem, executive director Lois Payne said, is that the school and its 200 students have outgrown the 14,600-square-foot facility on Huntington Avenue. There's a solution, however, and it's the former Perrysville Elementary School in Ross, which was closed in June 2010 by the North Hills School District.
First Published February 2, 2012 5:07 am
