Great River Strategic Work

Last spring Great River’s Board and Student Experience Committee developed a strategic plan and identified key Montessori principles to review and discuss. This fall and winter our community will be building on this valuable work to identify 3-5 core principles that will serve to both focus and deepen our work at Great River. To prepare us for crafting these guiding Montessori principles the Great River community will engage in some intensive work this December.

The four main components to this work:

Faculty conversations: Conversations with Great River faculty guided by the question “What does Montessori mean at Great River?”
Think Tank conversations: Faculty, Students and Board members will: Study Montessori pedagogy and other Best Practices in education to frame key questions, Engage in conversations with a panel of regional Montessori experts, Distill this into 3-5 key principles that integrate best practices in Montessori education with the unique talents and opportunities of the Great River community.
Observations: A faculty member and student will join Katie to observe at three established Montessori high school programs to study other successful interpretations of Montessori’s vision for the adolescent plane of development. Opportunities for local observations by elementary and adolescent faculty will be made available for guides at those levels.
Community Conversations: The final phase begins in late February and March as we bring forward proposed principles and invite feedback and discussion from Great River Board, faculty, students and families.

~Katie Ibes, Pedagogy Director