photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

New York Elementary School, 936 New York St., is pictured Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. The sign in front says "Est. 1869."

The Lawrence school district has announced dates for the district’s open house regarding a potential Montessori program at New York Elementary School.

An open house regarding the Montessori education method is scheduled for April 19 and April 21 at New York Elementary, 936 New York St. The event is open to anyone living in Douglas County and will include dinner, a discussion about Montessori education, and a question-and-answer session, according to a district flyer.

As the Journal-World has reported, district leadership has been discussing the option of a free, public Montessori school as a way to provide additional educational options and to increase student enrollment in the district. The Lawrence school board has not discussed or approved the plan at this point. The district flyer notes that the plan is pending school board approval.

Superintendent Anthony Lewis recently told the Journal-World that the district was planning to have a meeting with New York School staff on Tuesday, April 12, and that the district was looking to bring the Montessori proposal to the school board at its meeting on April 25.

The district has discussed phasing in the Montessori program year by year, so that current New York School students won’t be affected if they decide not to enroll in the program. If approved by the school board, the district has proposed that the program begin next year at the “Children’s House” level, which would be open to children ages 3 and 4 as well as kindergartners, according to the flyer.

The flyer states that Douglas County families living outside of the New York school boundary area may apply for a transfer to New York for their kindergartner and elementary siblings. Families with kindergarten students who live in the New York boundary area but do not want to attend the Montessori program can apply for a transfer to Cordley Elementary. Transfers are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, and transportation is not provided, according to the flyer.

The flyer provides some information about the Montessori approach, stating that it stresses the importance of allowing children to experiment, learn independently and progress at their own speed, and that multi-age groupings encourage peer teaching and social interaction. The flyer states that professionally trained Montessori teachers will guide children through five main areas of the curriculum:

•Practical life: Children develop skills that enable them to function independently through purposeful work that encompasses order, exactness, concentration, control and sequencing.

•Sensorial: Children explore sensorial materials by using all five senses and begin to see relationships, develop recognition of form, and stimulate interests in geography, natural science, botany, and geometry. Children’s interests become the basis for study.

•Mathematics: Math is sequential with concrete quantities, symbols, putting the symbols with concrete quantities, operations and practice. Children progress independently through the math sequence.

•Language: Language development includes spoken language, written language, reading and verbal enrichment. Children progress independently through the language sequence.

•Expression: Children learn techniques and tools through exploration, experimentation and creative expression, working for process, not results.

Both the April 19 and April 21 open houses will follow the same format, with dinner beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the discussion taking place from 6 to 7:15 p.m. Dinner is provided by the Lawrence Schools Foundation and 23rd Street Brewery, according to the flyer. Children’s activities and child care will be provided for the event.