Buying into Montessori

The latest magnet lottery results have revived perennial questions about the popular Montessori schools, which work differently from most elementary magnets in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

If parents wait until their children are approaching kindergarten to apply for Park Road, Chantilly or Highland Mill Montessori schools, they're probably too late.  Students admitted as prekindergarteners have guaranteed kindergarten spots, which means there aren't many seats left for newcomers.

The Montessori schools are the only magnets that accept 4-year-olds, and their pre-K classrooms are the only place in CMS where Mecklenburg students pay tuition.  Diane McClure emailed to ask whether that effectively bars low-income families from those schools:  "It also has the appearance of paying to get into the magnet school."

Magnet director Jeff Linker says pre-K students are chosen by random lottery.  If they're selected, he said, income-based scholarships are available.  He also noted that the tuition of $3,000 a year for 10 months of full-day prekindergarten is well below the market rate.

Poverty levels are relatively low at the Montessori schools, from 12 percent at Park Road to 35 percent at Highland Mill.  If nothing else, pre-K admissions favor families who know the system and are prepared to seize the opportunity.


Continuing the Montessori theme,  the 2012-13 results show that CMS' recently-launched middle school Montessori magnet at Sedgefield is growing,  from 57 students placed in the 2011 lottery to 82 students this time around.  CMS created the magnet based on parent requests,  but there were concerns about whether families would actually pursue the option.  The goal is 100 to 120 students, Linker said.

CMS magnets: What are your odds?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools launched its online magnet applications for 2012-13 today, and kicks off the school-search season with its magnet fair on Saturday.  One of the biggest questions prospective magnet families have is, "What are the odds of getting in?"

That's impossible to predict with certainty,  but you can get a pretty good idea by checking lottery results from prior years.  Some schools consistently generate long waiting lists,  while others have room for all or most who apply.

There are no major changes in lottery programs or neighborhood school boundaries for 2012-13,  though a few magnets are continuing to expand grade levels.  One twist this year:  Families who want to apply for a transfer based on medical issues or "extreme hardship" for the coming year can start the process now,  rather than waiting for the magnet lottery to end.

"That was the question we got from parents:  'Why do we have to wait?'  We asked ourselves that question,"  said student placement official Scott McCully,  who decided to let both events happen at the same time this year.  Children of CMS employees are also eligible for transfers without having to cite medical problems or hardship.

p.s.  A couple of people have asked whether CMS plans to revise bell schedules for 2012-13 and/or back off on the longer elementary school day that started this year.  I started asking that question on Tuesday but haven't gotten an answer yet.