There should be little surprise in the Valley that La Tierra Montessori School of the Arts and Sciences in Ohkay Owingeh is on the verge of closure.
Reports of problems at the school have raged on for more than a year but intensified within the last 12 months. As with many instances of failure we continue to cite in Rio Arriba County, no competent leadership emerged to take control and listen to the school’s primary constituency.
That constituency is made up of parents and students at the school. The school teaches children from kindergarten through sixth grade, according to La Tierra’s website.
Now, the New Mexico Public Education Commission has revoked the school’s charter and the roughly 90 students who attend will likely have to find a new school by next fall. There is a chance of appeal but the governing council at the school has not indicated whether they will fight back. There is also a new initiative by parents to start a new Montessori here.
We applaud their temerity and hope that, if successful, they can do a better job than their predecessors. The Montessori philosophy has proved effective going back to the early 19th century when Italian physician Maria Montessori began introducing her innovative teaching concepts. Her ideas began to blossom in the United States in 1912.
The public charter school here was co-founded in 2012 by Roger Montoya who was also a founder of Moving Arts Española and later served one term as a state representative. The school’s other co-founder was Prairie Boulmier.
Methods at a Montessori school, properly executed, are unique and freeing for students, particularly compared to typical public education programs.
Here’s the official description of Montessori.
“The Montessori method of education involves children’s natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places emphasis on hands-one learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes independence and it views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment. It discourages some conventional measures of achievement, such as grades or tests.”
Children in Rio Arriba County deserve the opportunity for different learning options and a Montessori education offers unlimited chances for personal growth.
There are five principles outlined in the Montessori method and philosophy. Those are: “respect for the child, the absorbent mind, respect for the child, the absorbent mind, sensitive periods, the prepared environment, and auto education.”
La Tierra in its current form appears to have been practicing anything but this method or Montessori principles.
As Senior Rio Grande SUN reporter Kevin Deutsch wrote on today’s front page:
“Among the most troubling issues discovered at the school, the commissioners said, were significant financial irregularities uncovered in a recent audit, poor student performance, a lack of proper student supervision, safety risks to kids, withholding of information by school officials and a failure to properly communicate with Ohkay Owingeh officials, despite the school being on tribal land.
“Other problems at the school included a large turtle tank that posed a drowning risk to kids, potentially dangerous playground equipment, improper chemical storage, teachers who routinely showed up late to school and a failure to use Montessori lesson plans.
“There was also at least one reported incident of physical violence involving a teacher and student, officials said.”
The commission reportedly had been trying to help the school fix its problems for years.
Deutsch reports that commissioners were outspoken in their criticisms of the school.
“There are too many issues with the school that are severe issues, and I think the health and safety and academic success of students is at risk by continuing the school,” Commission Vice Chairwoman Rebekka Burt said at last week’s commission meeting.
“In almost every respect they’re below state averages,” Commissioner Michael Taylor said of student performance at La Tierra.
At this point, La Tierra s a dream that has turned into a nightmare. Perhaps from this fire and rubble, a new dream will emerge.