School Board Public Hearing on IMA’s Charter Proposal: NBC15 Story And Video

Last night’s school board public hearing on IMA’s charter proposal is in the news today: Madison’s WMTV Channel NBC15 has a story and video:

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV)–The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education will decide this month whether to make Isthmus Montessori School the district’s first public Montessori school.

A public hearing was held this afternoon and people had the opportunity to express their opinions about this issue.

Montessori schools have a different approach to teaching than public schools. Chief of Staff for the Madison Metropolitan School District Kelly Ruppel said the board needs to make sure the systems are compatible before approving the application.

“That’s the intent and the reason why we need a plan ahead of the proposal,” Ruppel said. “So we know what it is you’re proposing and ensuring it’s in line with our values as a school district.”

Isthmus Montessori co-founder Melissa Droessler said they are optimistic about the final vote.

“I see this working everyday, when I worked for Milwaukee public schools, I saw it working everyday. so we see it work and I know..I know, it’s going to happen.”

The final vote is scheduled for January 30th.NBC 15

Montessori Students Raise Chickens To Learn Business And Civics Lessons

IMA was featured on Wisconsin’s WMTV, NBC15 television station this week, in a story titled Montessori Students Raise Chickens To Learn Business And Civics Lessons.

The video features IMA adolescent student Sophie Griffith-Oh, and the story features Allison Bloom, IMA’s Adolescent Program teacher.

Allison Bloom, the teacher overseeing the project, says students are encouraged to explore and pursue their own interests.

“They’re learning all the basics of business,” she said. “A little bit about farming and biology and all of these things too.”

One of the biggest lessons of the project ended up being in civic engagement. While developing the project, students learned their school is in a zone that doesn’t allow chicken raising. The students had to work with city officials to get the city ordinance amended, so they could properly take care of the chickens on school property.

“The civics lesson was an amazing bonus to that because these students really feel if something needs to happen or they want something to happen, they feel empowered to do it themselves,” Bloom said.

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