First State Montessori Academy

About FSMA

First State Montessori Academy's Founding Board of Directors is happy to announce that its application to become a charter school is being forwarded to the Secretary of Education with the recommendation of approval. The final decision will occur at the beginning of May. This is a great milestone on our road to opening the first Montessori charter school in Delaware. It took a lot of hard work from this Board, the neverending input from the Advisory Committee, and the support of families and friends like you. Thank you to everyone.

But this is just one step in the path towards opening the doors. So what does this mean as we move forward? 

Assuming that the final decision is favorable, FSMA's work continues throughout the rest of 2012 with the collaboration of the Delaware Department of Education in a Phase II of the application process. This involves the detailing of the curriculum we've set forth. During this time, we will also continue our location search and the securing of Federal and private funding. Lastly, budget refinements will be finalized by the end of the year. In respect to Federal funding, FSMA will need to respond to a Request for Proposal for a Federal grant for start-up monies. This competitive process, previously handled by the Delaware DoE, is now required by the United States Department of Education to be handled by all new charters and those currently in the funding cycle. This change is being rolled out throughout the country.

 As you can see, there's much work to be done and FSMA will certainly need your generous help whether its extra hands, eyes, or specific expertise. We do hope that you'll consider joining this historic effort when the time comes. If you have any questions, please feel free to email fsma.charter@gmail.com. We will be updating the FAQ section to our website to reflect changes as a result of the application process and the Charter School Accountability Committee Meetings. 

The final hearing for FSMA will occur in Dover on May 8th, from 5-7:00pm, in the Cabinet Room, 2nd floor of the Townsend Building (401 Federal Street, Dover DE 19901). This is a public meeting and open to anyone who wishes to show their support for our effort.

 We do plan to hold another open-house meeting soon and will provide details when a date is set. So please stay tuned... and once again, thank you for your continued support.

 Kind Regards,

Oliver Yeh and Victoria Hostin

Co-Chairs, First State Montessori Academy

Join The Conversation on Facebook

If you like the idea of a Montessori public educational choice in New Castle County, DE you can voice your support by "liking" the First State Montessori Academy on Facebook.