Why do some public schools have specialized curricula or programs — what have come to be called schools or programs of choice?My story of leading a process to become a public Montessori school, in Chetwynd, B.C., offers one look at this.
The province’s School Act notes that a “board is responsible for the improvement of student achievement in the school district.” As principal I was responsible for the school and had a duty of care to the students already in our catchment area. I also believed adopting a Montessori approach would enable the school to enrol and attract students from out of our catchment area
As a school with low enrolment numbers we already had teachers teaching multiple grades in a single class, and Montessori encourages split grades. We included support staff in our conversation and shared with them our excitement about this venture. With those two groups on board, we talked to our parent advisory committee.
At the conclusion of each meeting we had a short survey to gauge interest, and to provide us with data that we used to inform our decision to proceed.