Things are moving rapidly for the expansion of Secondary Montessori next year. The official name of the school is John Taylor Williams Secondary Montessori (but most folks are calling it Williams Montessori for short), and our mascot will be the Trailblazer. The district graphics department is already working on logo proposals.

The construction upgrades are going well on the Williams Montessori campus, and painting is including our school colors of blue and orange. Check out the photo on Sedgefield Montessori PTSO’s Facebook to see paint samples.

Our own campus means we need our own staff, and there has been an overwhelming level of interest from talented people wanting to help build the Secondary Montessori program. The current Secondary Montessori teachers will move to the new program, and joining them will be new teachers in core subjects like Math and Social Studies, plus Art, Music, Theatre Arts, Spanish, Health/Physical Education, Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Exceptional Children (EC). Also on board are 2 counselors, 2 secretaries, and a technology facilitator. Most of the positions are filled or almost filled, with 9 or 10 team members scheduled to attend part 1 of Secondary Montessori training this summer.

Options are still being discussed on several other topics. A recent meeting with CMS Transportation and interested parents came up with ideas on making bus rides shorter. Rising 7th-graders should look for information this summer as we try to work through those options. The principal is meeting this week with CMS Athletics to see what options are available for sports at Williams Montessori’s campus. This year our parents and students established Ultimate Frisbee and Mountain Biking competitive clubs, and those will be going with us to the new campus as well.

Next year there will be a new liaison between Park Road and Williams. I’m happy to say that Jennifer Bagdan has agreed to step into this role for next year. Over the summer you can reach out to her or to me with any questions you may have. Thank you for an exciting year!
– Katie Parks