In 2014, my daughter started 4K at a Madison public school. She was so excited to be going to school. We took pictures on her first day, and she made friends quickly. My partner and I were so relieved. My child is black and I had been afraid of all of the things black parents have to be afraid of when they send their children to school in Madison.
But my relief was short lived. A few weeks into the school year, my 4-year-old started to get in trouble at school. She was being reprimanded and disciplined for things like going to the bathroom without asking, and getting in line too fast, or getting in line too slow. She started to cry before school. She started describing herself as “difficult.” She started to show stress and worry, and when this would happen, she would bite her hand. She began to lose skin. At nine weeks into the school year, her hands bled constantly, she seemed anxiety-ridden most of the time, and when we asked her about school, she mostly didn’t want to talk about it. We were heartbroken.
At the parent-teacher conference, my partner and I expressed our concerns, but my daughter’s teacher wanted to spend our limited conference time to focus on her standardized test scores. The teacher told us our child had only recognized six letters in the alphabet. We knew this wasn’t true; she’d been good with letters for a long time. The teacher explained that our child had cried through most of the testing. The children are tested individually, and our child thought that she was separated from the class because she was in trouble again. My partner and I asked the teacher if she thought she could “get an accurate test score from a child who was cried through the test?” She told us she was unable to speak to her opinions about giving standardized tests to four-year-olds.
Our family decided that Adrian would transfer to a Montessori school. A woman named Kristin spoke softly to Adrian as she put Band-Aids around my child’s soft brown fingers before the tour. I had to bite my upper lip to keep from crying. Kristen showed Adrian the school and as our tour ended, Adrian told me that she thought her teachers at this new school really liked her. Soon, her heart-melting smile was back. She stopped biting herself. My child came home excited to talk about learning. Explaining her work and projects to our family seemed to fill her with joy, as it filled us. Our child felt smart at school again and was no longer describing herself as difficult.
“Certain people opposed bringing this public Montessori school to MMSD, and I have watched these opponents pit students against teachers while positioning themselves as advocates for students with disabilities and students of color, as if there is some outcry from those communities – both of which I am a part of – to protect them from public Montessori schools. There are very real threats to public education right now. And there are very real threats to the learning opportunities of students of color and students with disabilities. A public Montessori school is neither.”
My partner and I knew we had found what worked for our child. That is what I want for every parent: to be able to send your children to school and to know that they are learning how valuable, capable, and intelligent they are. For families with children like mine, the place for that might be a Montessori school, and there’s no reason that Montessori education in Madison should only be accessible to families who can afford private tuition. All our students should have access to whatever tools serve their learning and allow them to access their brilliance.
In a Montessori environment, my daughter at five years old was able to interact with mathematics curriculum in the way most appropriate for her developmental stage. Beginning with addition in its simplest, most concrete form, she counted out small golden beads, each identical, the size of her fingertip. Later she moved to the representational “stamp game,” where little wooden tiles have place values of units, tens or hundreds, depending on their color. These colors for place value remain the same on the bead frame, a sort of colorful abacus-type tool that is yet more complex and abstract, and where the beads are the familiar size and shape of the golden ones she began with. This is just one example of one lesson on one set of tools introduced at the right time and at the right pace to achieve the best outcome for each child.
The conversation about public Montessori schools should be a conversation about outcomes, and what promotes the best outcomes for students. It should be a conversation about inclusion and reconciling with a history of discrimination. Embracing Isthmus Montessori Academy as a public school is an opportunity to offer a new tool to families that could benefit, but who have been economically denied access. Children whose challenge is sitting still and paying attention may thrive in an environment that requires them to move about the class and self-assign the work that will inspire their focus. Children who struggle with boundaries may find relief in a classroom where kindness, respect, and conflict resolution are explicit components of the curriculum.
Montessori education is rooted in the principle that children are constantly learning from every environment and every experience, and it’s a method that intentionally addresses the needs of the whole child. The outcomes that Montessori produces are increased executive function, improved self-confidence and self-control, deeper mastery of each subject matter completed, and a love of learning. In addition to the outcomes of this, and likely future Montessori programs, this school also represents an opportunity to absorb certain components of Montessori education that could be applied to our entire school district. Montessori principles around positive discipline, family engagement, and child-driven curriculum could inspire district-wide practices that can enhance our capacity to provide students with learning environments that are meaningful to them.
Certain people opposed bringing this public Montessori school to MMSD, and I have watched these opponents pit students against teachers while positioning themselves as advocates for students with disabilities and students of color, as if there is some outcry from those communities – both of which I am a part of – to protect them from public Montessori schools. There are very real threats to public education right now. And there are very real threats to the learning opportunities of students of color and students with disabilities. A public Montessori school is neither.
My hope is that we will do all that we can to continue expanding access to opportunity within our public schools. That we will not settle for more of the same, but instead that we move forward with intention and integrity. We must focus now, more than ever, on equipping public schools with the tools they need to provide an excellent education to all students. The AMI Montessori method is a scientifically developed approach to education, created by a physician, and supported by decades of research. Montessori schools are among the offerings of public school districts across the country and throughout the state. Our community deserves to have IMA as part of the tuition-free public offerings, and specifically as part of MMSD, where it will employ only licensed, unionized teachers. This is our chance to give children access to Montessori education, regardless their income, for the first time. This is our chance to be bold.
