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Tomorrows Child Magazine Sepember 2011 www.montessori.org

Maintaining Positive
Momentum & Growth During
Challenging Economic Times
South Walton Montessori Academy
South Walon, FL
Editors Note: All schools, public and pri-
vate alike, are being challenged as never be-
fore.
In addition to having to budget for the ris-
ing cost of all expenses, many private schools
face the additional challenge of a parent pop-
ulation that is struggling with their own
financial crises and their decisions to keep
their children in Montessori programs, es-
pecially when traditional public school pro-
grams are available for free.
How can Montessori schools and their
families continue to provide the best
experiences for children during these
challenging economic times?
We posed this question to schools across the
country and got some very interesting re-
sults.
This article was submitted by the South
Walton Montessori Academy, which is lo-
cated in Florida, one of the states hardest
hit by the economic downturn.
Its a story of adapting, growing, and never
losing sight of the goal of Montessori, which
is to enhance the lives of children.
estled under tall oaks and magnolias, against a backdrop of Spanish
moss and saw palmettos, sits the little Montessori school I call home.
South Walton Montessori Academy is located in Northwest Florida,
near the bay and within easy access to the Gulf of Mexico.
My little Montessori school borders Eden Gardens State Park, just a bit down a
gravel road winding along Tucker Bayou. Our small staff, serving less than sixty fam-
ilies through Upper Elementary, has decided to add a Middle School.
Even in this uncertain economic time, without final numbers for enrollment this
year, we are striving for growth, breaking ground, and moving forward. As some
families shy away from alternative programs, such as Montessori, because of the
current debates about education, we continue to envision success and plan for the
future.
Day in and day out, I see passion. The director, teachers, and board members at
the South Walton Montessori Academy are serious about this school. We get in
early, and we stay late. We talk about school even when were outside of school. We
continue our own education by reading and reviewing the latest research for
fun! There are no weak links here.
by Natalie Jobling, M.Ed.
Primary Lead, South Walton
Montessori Academy
South Walton, FL
How is our small school even able to
remain afloat during such challenges?
There are four main factors that I see as
our keys to success: passion, conviction,
perseverance and shrewd budgeting.
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Tomorrows Child Magazine September 2011 www.montessori.org
We all want to be here, and we know
how lucky we are to be here, with each
other, doing what we love. We would
rather be here than anywhere else, and
Id wager to guess wed just keep com-
ing in for free if we hit the lottery tomor-
row! Our director hires happy, healthy,
passionate people. We run, we medi-
tate, we sing, we act, we create art, and
we love our students. Turnover is low
and commitment is extraordinary.
Another common theme is that we
all feel conviction about what we are do-
ing. None of us stumbled into Montes-
sori education because it was a back-up
for another idea that didnt come to
pass. We believe in our curriculum, our
mission, and the goals we have set. We
feel a great sense of meaning and pur-
pose in our lives. We believe in this vi-
sion with great conviction. We love
Montessori education. Our local Middle
school-aged children should have the
choice of attending an amazing
Montessori program; so our Middle
School must happen!
The last trait responsible for our suc-
cess is perseverance. Just as we nurture
and foster perseverance in our students,
we value perseverance as a school and
admire one another for the ability to
continue trying, continue growing, and
the determination not to give up even
when things are rough, uncertain, or dif-
ficult.
When our little school moved from
stationary trailers to our location in the
woods, it was teachers, students, par-
ents, and board members who showed
up to move an entire school. When the
Primary class was without an assistant,
our Spanish teacher stepped in and
took over that responsibility, despite
quite a stiff learning curve, becoming
my trained co-teacher and friend. When
a pipe burst and our school flooded,
everyone was there to trudge through
muck and floating materials. When I
had surgery, my class was covered.
When we needed art to auction for a
fundraiser, the art teacher came up with
last-minute ideas on the spot and
worked overnight to make it happen.
Each year for the annual yard sale, par-
ents and teachers work late into the
night and show up at five the next
morning to open the gates. This perse-
verance is the standard here.
The South Walton Montessori
Academy was founded in 2004 by a few
parents and an educator with a vision.
Like many Montessori schools, our
school was born of passion and com-
mitment and has a lot of heart. Now
seven years later, we have an amazing
staff and committed families who will
be with us for the long haul. We just de-
cided it was time for a Middle School.
In 2009, our schools Montessori
community formed a committee to dis-
cuss the feasibility of adding a Middle
School. Some questions came up:
Do we have enough Upper Elementary students
to sustain a seventh grade? Could a Middle
School survive from tuition income, or would we
need funding? Should we add on, or would we
need to purchase a new property? Is it the right
time, considering the economy? Do we have par-
ent and community support?
We held meetings, looked at proper-
ty, polled our parents, and reached out
to the outside community. We learned
that local schools are crowded and fam-
ilies are looking for educational alterna-
tives and some of our Upper
Elementary children approaching
Middle School needed a place to go.
Each year we lose some families, but
each year we also grow. Many families
with young children in our school have
told us they want to see their children
stay at SWMA for as many years as we
can provide. Our mission is to prepare
our children to be global citizens and,
certainly, adding a Middle School sup-
ports this mission. This was enough for
us to get started.
We knew we would need outside
funding. Our assistant director began
writing a grant in February 2011, and it
was approved in May 2011. We decided
to add onto our existing structure for
now, but we are prepared to entertain
the idea of a sister site when the need
arises. We are a non-profit school, so
we must work from a very conservative
budget. A parent with a contracting
business volunteered to do much of
the construction.
Because of our keys to success
(passion, conviction, perseverance and
shrewd budgeting), we will add a sev-
enth grade this year and expect to add
the eighth grade in 2012-2013. We will
succeed because of so many reasons,
but most of all, it never occurred to us
that we wouldnt.!