more consistently during these times. The
result of any or all of these could easily be
that your school would have to close permanently.
If your families value what you
do for their children – and I certainly hope
they do – they should be able to see that
this is not in their long-term interest, even
if it is difficult in the short term.
The overall point here is that you
should not undervalue the amazing education
that you provide to your students,
even if you have to provide this education
in a very different way for a while. And you
should not undervalue the support you
provide parents, which is more important
than ever during this very difficult time.
You need to communicate all of this
information to your parents as clearly and
compassionately as you can, and you may
need to make individual accommodations
for families in which one or both parents
have lost their jobs, been furloughed and
had their income temporarily reduced,
or been impacted in other ways. But,
your overall policy should be to continue
collecting full tuition from everyone who
can afford to pay.
In order to make this work, it’s important
to add language to your parent contracts
saying that if you have to close your
physical facility for reasons outside your
control, you and your staff will continue educating
your students to the fullest extent
possible – and that parents will be expected
to continue paying tuition. If parents
have already signed contracts for next year,
you can send this as an addendum to the
contract, giving them the option to withdraw
without penalty if they don’t agree.
The schools I know that have already done
this have found most of their parents to be
very understanding and supportive.
• Develop a plan for at-home learning,
so your school can pivot quickly to this
if it becomes necessary. Doing “virtual” or
“at-home” learning can feel antithetical to
the Montessori approach, which relies so
heavily on the physical materials and the
interaction of students and teachers in the
classroom. But, a key part of the Montessori
approach is Maria Montessori’s advice
that the teacher should “follow the child,”
and if public health needs force schools
to close and children to stay at home,
©MONTESSORI LEADERSHIP | WWW.MONTESSORI.ORG/IMC | VOLUME 22 ISSUE 4 • 2020
then surely teachers and schools can follow
them there and support their learning
in that environment. Countless Montessori
schools did that last spring, and most
found that while it wasn’t optimal, it was at
least possible – and that there were some
unexpected benefits as well, including the
opportunity to gain more insight into their
students’ lives and to work more closely
with their parents.
In order to make this work, and to keep
charging tuition, it’s important to have a
plan to shift quickly from on-campus to
at-home learning in case of a shut-down,
and to prepare your staff and parents so
they know the procedure if it is necessary.
If your school did this in March, 2020, you
already have experience with this. If you
didn’t do this, you can talk to schools in
your area that did and draw on their experience
and on the information and resources
collected by groups like AMI, AMS, IMC,
Trillium Montessori, and others.
• Charge tuition that reects as
closely as possible the true value of the
education you oer. In my view, Montessori
schools offer the best possible education
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