Montessori school eyes growth in 2024

Dec. 28—FAYETTEVILLE — Mountain State Montessori, formerly the New River Gorge Learning Co-op, was selected earlier this year as a recipient of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) POWER Grant.

And, school officials are eager to put the money to good use in future expansion efforts.

The ARC recently awarded nearly $54 million to 64 projects in 217 counties through its POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative, which directs federal resources to economic diversification projects in Appalachian communities affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations and coal-related supply chain industries.

According to school representatives, Mountain State Montessori is a non-profit Montessori school that has been in operation since 2016 and serves students from ages 2-12 in Fayette, Nicholas and Raleigh counties.

The $50,000 planning grant from the ARC for the Mountain State Montessori Early Care and Education Expansion Plan is a crucial step toward the school's goal of expanding its early childhood education program in an environment that empowers students to thrive academically, socially and emotionally, according to a recent press release.

Megan Gonzalez, director of the school located off Rte. 16 in the Fayetteville-Beckwith area, said, "We've been in operation since 2016, when it started as a homeschool co-op. In 2020, we shifted to being a registered, non-public school."

The preschool and kindergarten program is called the Children's House. "Children ages 3-6 go to school together for three years in a mixed-age classroom," Gonzalez said. "Students get to learn from their teachers and from each other."

Both Gonzalez and Glisyn Lewis, of the nonprofit's board of directors, said the grant will be a major boost to the school.

"We are honored to be the recipients of the ARC POWER Grant, which will play a pivotal role in advancing our vision of providing an exceptional Montessori education," Lewis said in the press release. "This grant enables us to strengthen our commitment to fostering a love of learning, individualized development and community engagement. We are excited about the positive impact this will have on our students — and the broader community.

"More specifically, this grant will help us get into position to apply for a much larger implementation grant, which has the potential to radically alter the area's available early childhood education opportunities."

"We're very excited," Gonzalez said of the opportunity to expand early childhood education. "We've had this preschool Children's House program for many, many years, but this is our second year of having a toddler community for students age 18 months to three years old, and we'd like to expand those programs to offer more child care options to families in our area."

The grant will help school leaders develop a business plan and attempt to find a permanent school, Gonzalez said. "We're currently renting our facilities here (former Drift-A-Bit rafting campground). We want to build a permanent school and expand the child care openings."

Two of the buildings currently being utilized for the school are old campground facilities, Gonzalez noted.

"Access to the outdoors is a really important part of our curriculum, so we're hoping to guarantee that access for the students as long as we can," she said. "We just want to grow if we can and continue to offer the best services we can for students."

The Montessori school curriculum was designed by scientist Maria Montessori. "Everything we do is hands-on and child-led, so students get to have a say in what they study each day," said Gonzalez. "And they also get to progress through the curriculum at their own pace."

"A big focus is on social/emotional learning, outdoor education and nature and ecology education," she added.

Kindergarten at Mountain State Montessori is a state-approved kindergarten program, Gonzalez said, and MSM has a relationship with Fayette County Schools to support students with speech needs (and other areas).

MSM also accepts the HOPE Scholarship through West Virginia in grades kindergarten and up, according to Gonzalez.

Every class has two teachers, and the toddler community has three full-time teachers. There are still limited spots open for toddlers, Gonzalez said recently.

"Quality early childhood education and child care is really important to allowing people to enter the work force," Gonzales said. "We're just really excited to be able to expand offering child care to families in our community who are looking for excellent child care for their kids."

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