Montessori remake gives Winn school 2nd chance
Underenrolled campus shifts educational method.
The campus halls and playground for years bustled with students at Winn Elementary in East Austin, but its enrollment has plummeted by nearly 60 percent over the past decade, to 241 students.
Neighborhood parents seeking to reverse that trend pushed to convert Winn into the Austin school district’s first Montessori school, hoping the hands-on, child-directed method of learning is in high enough demand to draw families back.
Winn this fall will launch the Montessori program, starting with 96 students in prekindergarten and kindergarten and adding a grade level each year. Students zoned for Winn will get priority before seats are opened to others in the district.
The school’s survival might depend upon the Montessori plan’s success. Recommendations from an advisory committee this spring renewed yearslong talks about potential closures of chronically underenrolled schools, and under the facilities plan, campuses that continue a downward decline, despite interventions, could be shuttered after three years.
“It seemed like something that could save the school and take it off a potential chopping block,” said University Hills resident Andy Sams, who has rallied families to support the change. While his
2-year-old daughter won’t quite be old enough to enroll this fall, “the goal of this process would be for Winn to be the No. 1 choice for families in this area.”
Montessori is a child-centered educational approach that departs from traditional teaching methods, allowing students to self-direct their activity. Montessori, which places students in multi-age classrooms, offers an individualized learning plan for each student to foster independence and emphasizes multisensory learning.
Ron and Keri Aladeniyi were among the parents who petitioned the district to transition the school into a Montessori one. Keri Aladeniyi said she felt the school’s academic program was lacking in previous years and hopes the Montessori approach gives Winn a boost. The couple hopes to enroll their 3-year-old daughter, Lola, in the program this fall.
“It’s our neighborhood school, and we want to support the new program,” Keri Aladeniyi said. “It think it’s great for early learning. For younger kids, it definitely is a great program.”
Edmund Oropez, the district’s chief officer of teaching and learning, said the program aligns with the district’s change in its instructional practices, moving away from task-driven teaching to an approach that emphasizes collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking.
“We think it’s going to be a popular program with our families,” Oropez said.
The district will spend $440,000 to launch the program this fall.
Austin already has one public Montessori school, a charter campus less than one mile from Winn, but there are hundreds more families looking for a free public Montessori option, Oropez said.
While the early grades will be immersed in the Montessori program, the upper grades will continue through the traditional school model, in essence, running two schools out of Winn until the Montessori program is fully built up.
“We want to get as many students and families involved, and get the word out,” Winn Principal Anayansi Blessum said. “We’re ready for this.”
As is the practice at other elementary schools in the district, a tuition option for prekindergarten will be offered for families whose children don’t qualify under the state’s eligibility requirements. Those who do qualify for free prekindergarten include students who are learning English as well as those who are homeless, come from low-income families or have an active-duty military parent.
For more information about the program, contact the district’s Early Childhood Department at 512414-4790 or the campus at 512-414-2390.