Montessori school gets support for expansion

The Montessori Community School’s plans for expanding its facilities received heavy support from parents, neighbors and faculty at Monday’s Chapel Hill Town Council public hearing.

The school, located off Pope Road near Ephesus Church Road, has submitted a special-use permit application — the subject of Monday’s hearing — to expand its gymnasium while adding an art room, a wetland area and a music classroom.

The school now serves 220 children ages 2 to 12.

The expansion will create space for both seventh- and eighth-grade levels, allowing the facility to add 40 students in the next several years.

Even surrounding neighbors, who had raised issues regarding the noise created by children, runoff control and mosquitoes created by the contained runoff when the school was first built in 1984, voiced support for the plans Monday.

“We got off to a rough start, but we got out,” said Diane McArthur, representative for Colonies Communities, a nearby neighborhood association group.

Representatives with the architectural firm Innovative Design worked with members of the surrounding neighborhoods and faculty members to identify problematic issues and solutions.

In response to noise concerns, the group recommended that buffer zones, which include evergreens and other plants, can serve to reduce noise and create space between the school and the surrounding communities.

The inclusion of a wetland area in the plans will help control the mosquito population by introducing natural predators.

Bill Davis, architect with Innovative Design, said this was both the most effective and cost-efficient way to control the pests.

And the school’s accommodation of the neighbor’s concerns has paid off.

“We completely support this application,” McArthur said.

Council member Ed Harrison, who excused himself from the hearing because he lives near Ephesus Church Road, spoke in support of the proposed expansion project.

“I’m here with a project I can live with and actually like,” Harrison said.

Josh Gurlitz, consulting architect on the project, with GGA Architects, requested that the hearing be continued before April 5 — the date originally scheduled — so designs could be finalized and construction could begin during the summer, while school is not in session.

The council agreed to continue the hearing March 7.

The only bump in Monday’s hearing came from council member Jim Ward, who asked that an additional 10 bicycle spaces be added to the plans.

The consultants for Montessori quickly agreed.

Montessori Community School was founded on the principles of Maria Montessori, M.D. — that children should teach themselves with teachers as mere guides through the curriculum.

“Kids learn at different paces,” said Barbara Crockett, the head of the school. “Chronological age is not a precise indicator.”

The school offers an alternative form of education where classes are not guided by strict age distinctions. Classrooms are divided into groups of 3- to 6-year-olds, first- through third-graders and fourth- through sixth-graders.

Crockett added that the fine arts building, gymnasium and wetland area would allow increased movement and less rigid classroom settings.

“Research shows that kids learn through movements.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.