“Our parent base has grown with us through this management transition and said, ‘We like what you’re doing,’ ” said Tim Meixner, who is the school’s business administrator. “The big thing is continuity for the students, and expanding the offerings (allows us) to grow into an established building with established parents and meet that need for the Montessori curriculum up through the junior high years.”
The school has been in existence since 1964, and has occupied part of the former Rolling Fields Elementary campus on Acosta Street since 1988. The Meixners bought the building in 2009 and are growing.
“We’re working with Xavier University, which has a Montessori teacher education program ... to find staff,” said Toby Meixner, who also teaches at the school. “We’re working on developing curriculum above and beyond what the Ohio Department of Education requires, and visiting other Montessori schools (to prepare).”
The school offers French and Spanish, as well as art and music. Toby Meixner said intervention specialists can help students having difficulty. Tuition ranges from $3,500 to $6,200.
Montessori education focuses on independence and self-direction. Meixner said each class of 24 to 27 students has two or three teachers, and students at MCSD work in mixed-age classrooms, with 3 to 6-year-olds grouped, and 7 to 9-year-olds grouped.
“The kids work at their level,” she said. “Our job is to go where the child is, meet them, and move them forward so they can work at their own pace.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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