New Montessori School in South Knoxville

[Whispering Pines]

For those of you with young kids or those who know some, I just wanted to let you know that Mead Montessori School is opening this fall in South Knox. The school will be located in the old Island Home School just off of Island Home Avenue near Ijams. Mead is being opened by Ruth and Ella Jones. Ruth has operated Farragut Montessori for the last fifteen years and has a masters in Montessori education. Her daughter Ella will take on the day to day running of the new school; she also has a master's in Montessori education and has completed training and certification through Association Montessori Internationale in Portland, OR. I believe their goal is to make Mead the first Montessori in Knoxville to be accredited by the international Montessori association.

This year the school is only opening to three and four year olds (possibly as young as two and a half) as they start a phased opening of the school which will culminate with the school offering classes for grades Pre-K through Five in the next several years. They are doing numerous renovations to the building and grounds (two acres which sit adjacent to the Mead's Quarry section of Ijams) and have subsequently not focussed much effort on marketing. As a result, while they are only accepting around fifteen kids this fall, there are still some slots remaining. The first day of classes is scheduled on August 18th, coinciding with the start of Knox County schools.

We are sending Hayden there this year (Max's Mom and Pixeljockey are also sending their illustrious progeny) and they have been great to work with. Both from discussions with parents who have sent their kids to Farragut Montessori over the years (who tend to rave) and from personal observation, the folks at Mead seem to have a great understanding of the mechanics of making Montessori work while still developing a great rapport with the kids and letting them have fun.

Mead is having an open house on Sunday, August 10th from 2 until 6 p.m. There will be refreshments, activities for the kids, and a chance for parents to talk with the staff. The address is 2647 Bafford Place. Please pass the information along to anyone who might me interested.

[Whispering Pines]

Just an update. We went by today to look at the school and it is looking great. Lots of fruit trees, a garden is started, the materials are getting set up and things are generally coming together for the start of school. Ella said that they are getting 5 or 6 inquiries a day and that several people are coming out before the open house to tour the school in interest of having their kids attend. If anyone was interested in the school, it might be a good idea to call the school at 577-0760 to set up an appointment. There are only a few spots remaining and they may be gone before the open house.

[madameRoyali]

ella is awesome!

[Tess]

I am highly in favor of Montessori for young children.