Congrats to this new Montessori high school!

http://www.chron.com/news/article/First-Montessori-high-school-opens-in-Lexington-2128170.php

First Montessori high school opens in Lexington

Updated 02:32 p.m., Friday, August 19, 2011

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The first Montessori high school in the state has opened for classes in Lexington, according to a published report.

The Montessori High School of Kentucky opened Thursday in the basement of St. Augustine's Episcopal Chapel next to the University of Kentucky campus, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/pko2m0 ).

The school is small — it has 12 students and seven faculty members — but there's room to grow.

Organizers say the facility will follow the basic principles of 19th-century Italian educator Maria Montessori, who was convinced that children learned best by being able to choose educational activities in a carefully prepared atmosphere for their age groups.

One of the first orders of business was a student-led discussion of how to keep instructional spaces clean.

Curriculum director Winni van Gessel told them to come up with their own solution, saying, "It's going to be your school."

Organizers say students will be active participants in running the school and three will serve on the 15-member board of directors.

"This will be a school, not just for the kids, but with the kids," van Gessel told parents, students, faculty members and supporters who joined Mayor Jim Gray for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The school will operate in conjunction with UK, and students will have access to UK's library and computer systems.

Faculty members from UK will be available to help, including UK education dean Mary John O'Hair, who is serving on the high school's board of directors.

Chris Brannock-Wanter of Paris, an Episcopal priest and an artist, will be teaching art at the school. Her son, Joseph, is enrolled as a student.

"Montessori high school approached our diocese about using this chapel building, and that was the first I'd heard about it," she said. "I got so excited about their presentation that I started emailing them, and here I am.

"Can you imagine what it will be like coming to a school like this? The students will have access to the university, to lectures, to the library. It's going to bring so many things together."

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com