Dear GMS Families,

On behalf of everyone at Greensboro Montessori School, we hope you and your family are safe, healthy, and hopeful. We appreciate the many ways you are supporting your children's learning and staying connected to our community.

Our task force of administrators has continually been assessing when we will be able to return to in-person learning. Based on Governor Roy Cooper's announcement that North Carolina K-12 public schools will continue remote learning through the end of the 2019-20 school year and informed by guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), government leaders, public health officials, and local medical professionals, we have made the difficult decision that we are not able to return to in-person learning this school year. Consequently, we will finish the 2019-20 school year with remote learning.

Planning is already underway for how we will wrap up the school year under such extraordinary circumstances. We will stay in touch with these decisions in the coming weeks. For now, please review the following section of Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about a myriad of topics ranging from progress reports to graduation to summer camp. 

While these circumstances are obviously not ideal and the logistical, health, and financial challenges facing us all are very real, I am constantly impressed with how our students and families continue to respond to this crisis with grace and positivity. We will make it through this, and I have full confidence our school community will emerge only stronger from the challenges we face together.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time.

Thank you for continuing to partner with Greensboro Montessori School.

Dr. Kevin Navarro

Head of School

Will we receive new materials for the last three weeks of school?

Your teachers have been bracing for the possibility of remote learning through the end of the school year and have already begun planning the final weeks of curriculum through Friday, June 5. We do not anticipate another mailing at this time; however, we will finish the year strong with your teachers providing continued group and individual Live Lessons, weekly Video Check-Ins, recorded video lessons, projects, and more. Teachers will work with their classrooms and families individually to ensure every student is nurtured and challenged through the end of the year.

How will we assess student progress?

Faculty will still write progress reports at the end of the year, but they will be different than our normal progress reports. Progress reports will be individualized even more so as to reflect the unique remote learning approach for every student and their family. Additionally, students will not be penalized for any lack of progress resulting from the remote learning program.

Will my child be "behind" for the next school year?

No, your child will not be behind. Every child in every school is experiencing a similar situation to all of our students. Independent schools, in particular, across the country are having success in meeting the academic needs of their students, even in a remote learning environment. And remember, one of the reasons you chose our particular independent school is that we are able to individuate curriculum for each child and to meet them where they are – your child is our curriculum. Never has this been more important. Your child is set up to handle and recover from this situation better than their peers in non-Montessori schools, where every student is expected to be at the same level based on the teacher’s pacing guide.

How will we celebrate the end of the year?

Greensboro Montessori School has so many rich traditions celebrating the end of a school year. Whether it's Council of Elders for our graduates or the Moving Up Ceremony for the entire school, we are exploring all the possibilities for honoring, acknowledging, and commemorating 2019-20. Our team is fully engaged in looking for the best approach to each event, whether that be moving it virtual, re-imagining the event, or postponing it to a later date. Of course, commencement ceremonies and rituals for the graduating Class of 2020 are very high on our list of priorities. We will let you know as plans take shape and look forward to celebrating with you!

Will you offer tuition refunds for this spring?

As we look to balance the needs of our families, our employees, and the overall financial health of our School, the board of trustees has decided to not issue tuition refunds from our time in remote learning. We are proud of our remote learning program and what we've achieved as a community of lifelong learners, and we know that different families are able to engage the work are different levels due to various constraints. We also know families are experiencing these same challenges throughout Greensboro and our state, and independent schools are responding with similar plans. In our continued value for family partnership, we remain committed to doing everything we can to support our families. Additionally, if you are experiencing a financial hardship due to COVID-19 that threatens your continued enrollment at our School, please  reach out to me to discuss options.

When will we know about Summer Camp?

In The Pinwheel from March 29, we announced that registration for our All-Inclusive Summer Camp had closed and our Primary and Elementary summer camp programs are full. We also asked families to save the date for two Upper School weekly camps: Week at The Land, July 6-10 (for rising fifth to ninth graders) and Trailblazers, July 27-31 (for rising fourth to ninth graders).

For our families participating in All-Inclusive Summer Camp, we do not currently know if we will be able to begin camp on Monday, June 8. We will let you know by Friday, May 15 if we will open as scheduled or if we will have a different plan. If we have to make any adjustments to the Summer Camp schedule, we will make corresponding financial adjustments to families' fees. For families interested in our Upper School weekly camps, we will let you know by Friday, June 5 if we will open registration and run these camps.

When will we know about plans for the 2020-21 school year?

At this time, we hope the 2020-21 school year will begin as planned on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. We also know the landscape may change in ways that could affect that start date. As new information from the CDC, government leaders, public health officials, and local medical professionals becomes available, we know that how we begin the 2020-21 school year could look different from previous school years. We are going through scenario-based planning right now for next year, trying to anticipate and plan for all the potential realities we may face. We will share more information on our plans and possible scenarios with you prior to any June payments being drafted for the 2020-21 school year, so you can be as informed as possible about our year ahead.

While this lack of uncertainty is unsettling to many of us, know that our mission and vision as a school are rock-solid and field-tested. Throughout all of this, never have we, and never will we, waiver on our commitment to providing the best hands-on and personalized education for your child – one that nurtures and challenges them, guiding them to become their best possible person and to unleash their full potential.

We have already begun preparing for students' transition back to in-person learning and will focus heavily on reintegration back to the classroom in ways that support their cognitive, social, physical, and emotional well-being. Whether your child will return to their same classroom or enter a new division this fall, rest assured that we will be able to meet them where they are and go from there. Highly personal, individualized learning is what we do best.