Tavernier's Montessori Island School
Receives Gold Seal Accreditation
February 2007

The Florida Dept of Children and Families recently awarded Montessori Island School of Tavernier the status of Gold Seal Quality Program. The accreditation took place under the auspices of a state-approved national accrediting agency for Montessori schools, MSAC, which follows the highest standards set out for early childhood education and child care at the national level.

"The State of Florida gives out the Gold Seal to programs that far exceed the minimum state standards for good, safe, quality child care and education," said Steve Hansen, co-owner with Sarah Smith of the school at mile marker 92.2 oceanside. "As far as I know, ours is the only medium to large-sized Montessori school in the Upper Keys to qualify for such an honor."

Paloma Johnston, a MSAC validator, came from California to lead a team of inspectors that visited the facility for three days in February. During that time, they reviewed all aspects of the school's operations including philosophy and practices, financial and administrative, facilities, materials and equipment, as well as curriculum and personnel, to name a few. For example, the teaching staff must have the appropriate degrees and certification for the level at which they are hired. Also, the curriculum shall be comprehensive and based on the highest educational standards, in accordance with the best Montessori practices.

"The process of seeking the Gold Seal was two years in the making," said Smith. "We knew we wanted our re-vamped program to be of the highest quality and this was one way to insure that. The notebook alone for this process is three inches thick and the staff really rose to the occasion. They certainly deserve this."

The Montessori-trained staff includes:

• Pegi McLarty and Carita Seals, with their assistants Kathi Burton and Donna Garner (Infants, Toddlers, and Twos)
• Sylvie Turner and Melissa Perkins (Preschool/VPK)
• Bridget Dangel and her assistant Kristina Koch (VPK, Kindergarten, and Elementary)
• Jennifer Flores, Lead Director
  (VPK, Kindergarten, and Elementary)

Call 852-3438 for more information.

Scholarships Go Unused at Tavernier's Montessori Island School

Montessori Island School in Tavernier offers two scholarship programs that subsidize tuition for Kindergarten, First and Second grade children but since the beginning of the school year, there has been only a single applicant.

"After we became a Gold Seal School early in 2007, I discovered two scholarship programs for which our school qualifies," said Jennifer Flores, one of the directors of the school. "There are income qualifications for one of them, and the other is for Special Needs children." Flores said more than 60 percent of tuition would be covered by these programs. Depending on the number of hours at the school necessary to fit a particular schedule, a full time Kindergarten or Elementary student might need to pay as little as $150 a month. Special Needs children might be eligible to pay even less.

"If any families with early elementary aged children wanted a high quality private school education like we have here at our Montessori school but thought it was beyond their budget, they should get in touch with us," Flores said.

As a Gold Seal School, Montessori Island School also has higher tuition subsidies than other schools for Wesley House recipients, a state-run program for pre-school kids. MIS also has ongoing Infant, Toddler and Pre-school classes. Interested parties are invited to call Jennifer Flores at the school at 852-3438 or visit the Florida Pride web site at www.floridaschoolchoice.org.