It’s only a matter of months before 295 Emerson Elementary students enter the school’s new digs, and their teachers still have weeks of training to do before the students enter the new Montessori school.
The renovated elementary school just north of downtown will be the first public Montessori school in the state when it opens for the fall semester.
The school, at 909 N. Boston Ave., represents a blending of public and private dollars. More than $8 million in Tulsa Public Schools bond funds have paid for the renovation of the building and its expansion so that it could one day serve up to 650 students. And private dollars have paid for the specialized training needed for the 13 new Montessori teachers to earn their certification in the teaching method.
That’s among the things incoming Principal Diane Beckham has had to manage: helping make sure her teachers are ready for next year. Her guidance of some of her staff members has already begun.
People are also reading…
Much of what a teacher does in the Montessori model depends on how the room is configured for students. Decisions about placement of shelves and other furniture are important, more so than in a normal classroom, explained Beckham, Mariah Wicks, one of the incoming Emerson teachers, and their instructional leadership director, Kayla Robinson.
The Montessori model includes uninterrupted periods of work time, a focus on materials that help teach topics in a way that is different from traditional curriculum, and relative freedom for students.
TPS decided early on that Wicks, a first-year teacher and the daughter of Tulsa Public Schools Campus Police Chief Matthias Wicks, would be right for the Montessori method.
“I believe that, as a teacher, it’s not my role to be up there and teaching and telling them this is what you need to learn. My belief is that I learn from the students,” Wicks said. “I can present an idea and then ask them what their ideas were about and pretty much try to bridge the gap.”
Most students from Emerson plan to continue at Emerson when it becomes a Montessori school next year, Beckham said. But other students are transferring in from across the district, including from midtown schools such as Lee, to take advantage of the Montessori method, she added.
About 13 teachers will teach in the four Montessori grades next year — prekindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grades, Beckham said.
Tulsa Public Schools is asking a little more from the teachers, who have spent the better part of the past year working to get certified in the Montessori teaching method. And the district is asking them to sign a letter that indicates a three-year commitment to teaching in a Montessori classroom.
Why?
Because it’s expensive to train teachers in Montessori methods.
Robinson estimated that the training cost the district about $10,000 in donor funds per teacher. By signing the commitment, she said, teachers are agreeing to reimburse the district for the cost of their training on a prorated basis if they leave before the three years are up.
“They’re committing to a financial agreement that ensures that our investment, at least in the short-term — three years — is secure with them,” Robinson said. “We’re making a long-term commitment to their education.”
