The Big 3

Last Wednesday (October 3, 2007) the Charter School group met again. It wasn’t a calm meeting – we had 12 different ideas from 6 different people. But then three issues started to emerge, three parts of one big picture that left us all feeling quite excited. We ended the meeting with a much clearer picture of where Our Children's Center may want to head, and the school needs people – perhaps you – who will help with one of three specific actions items.

1, The first task, very much on the mind of Tricia Cossick, OCC's director, is to increase our fundraising for OCC Kindergarten scholarships. The scholarships are crucial NOW, so that many of our students can fulfill the full 3 year cycle prescribed by Montessori philosophy of education. (We would love to offer as many partial and full scholarships to as many families as we can.) Montessori described how having several grades together enables the older students to grow in leadership and solidify their knowledge, even as the younger students gain the benefits of the K students’ experience and knowledge. It is mutually beneficial.

We won’t know the precise amount needed until next Fall 2008, but it will be in the neighborhood of $25-40,000. Part of this money must be raised by January 2008, when parents start to make decisions about their children’s education for the following year.

ACTION ITEM: If you have expertise or experience in raising funds (in addition to those fundraising events we already have), or have fundraising ideas, will you join us to raise those scholarship funds for next year’s K students? If you are interested in this, please contact Stephanie Velegol at svelegol@comcast.net. Many hands will likely be needed.

2. There is a program in Pennsylvania called “Pre-K Counts”. The purpose of this state program is to provide funds for preschool families so that their child can attend Pre-K Counts school. The program is meant for those who make less than $64,000 per year, or for students who have English as a second language, or who have special needs. The funds are designated for schools who can work with these pre-K students, and that includes OCC. But we must apply in order to be a Pre-K Counts program. Not only will being a Pre-K Counts program ease the financial burden for current families, but it could draw new students into our program, increasing our diversity and strength. And as far as we can tell, while there would be some extra paperwork and regulations, we would not have to sacrifice Montessori principles or our OCC community one bit. This proposal is due in May.

We are also interested in making OCC a Charter school, starting just for Kindergarten and possibly extending into elementary school. The charter application is due in November and we will not write a charter for this year but possibly next year.

ACTION ITEM: Will you join the writing group for the Pre-K Counts proposal (and eventually the charter)? We think it is best to finish the PreK Counts application around December 31, 2007 (less than 3 months). Heidi Watson has agreed to coordinate this writing process and the first official meeting on this will be this Wednesday evening at 6:30 at Heidi’s home. If you have a talent for writing proposals or understanding regulations, please contact Tricia Cossick at occmontessori@gmail.com.

3 Over the past 30 years – and especially over the past 2 years – OCC has grown and moved locations and has experienced positive and powerful changes. The easy thing would be to rest for a while. But there is one more item that we are strongly considering for our children: an elementary program for grades 1 to 3 (6 to 9 years old) that could constitute a charter Montessori school. We are still not certain that we can charter without sacrificing our Montessori principles or OCC community, but we think that there is a strong possibility that we can do it. This third item is still in its infancy and we feel it is important to deal with the first 2 items now, but we know there are many OCC parents who are interested in moving with us on this idea.

ACTION ITEM: Would you like to meet to discuss the possibility of extending OCC to include higher grades? This would involve brainstorming, research into other Montessori schools and discussion of feasibility, among other things. If you are interested in this, contact Darrell Velegol at Velegol@psu.edu.