Denali Montessori School

OVERVIEW OF THE DENALI MONTESSORI PROGRAM

The Montessori program at Denali K-6 Elementary School is located at 952 Cordova Street in Anchorage, Alaska. The program began with two combined classrooms of kindergarten/first/second grade in 1985. It is now one of the largest optional programs in the Anchorage School District.

Montessori class sizes at Denali are in compliance with Anchorage School District goals. Currently these goals are 20.5 students for Kindergarten classes (with a half-time assistant in each classroom), 24 students for grades 1-3, and 27 students for 4-6. Additionally, the Montessori curriculum meets the Anchorage school district standards.

Parents play a primary role in the success of the Montessori program. Because Montessori is a highly individualized learning method, it is exceptionally demanding for the teacher. The program relies on parent volunteers to help in the classrooms. To be successful, Denali relies on each and every family to contribute to the program through volunteer hours and/or financial support.

The school building houses the Montessori Program which includes both neighborhood students and students accepted through the Anchorage School District lottery, two special education classrooms for children with intensive needs, and various resources such as special education, gifted education (Ignite), speech, migrant education preschool, and physical and occupational therapy. Denali also has a full time school counselor and utilizes the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), which helps develop student mediators to help problem-solve. School activities (assemblies, after-school clubs, multi-cultural activities, spelling bees, etc.) include all students.

Two before-school and after-school programs operate separately in the building, and require a payment of fees. Campfire offers a before-school and after-school program on-site. In addition, the Denali Community Schools Program, which is sponsored by the PTA, offers various classes including Spanish, Chinese, and Computer Lab. Please see the Menu for more information about these programs and other after school programs available with transportation to other facilities.

The Montessori, special education, and preschool programs are all administered by Principal Brooke Hull. The support staff (school nurse, counselor, librarian, psychologist, etc.) offer services to all students. The Montessori program is projected to have approximately 398 children enrolled in 19 classrooms as of the Fall of 2007. There are one preschool classroom, four kindergarten classrooms, seven primary classrooms (combining grades 1, 2 and 3), six intermediate classrooms (combining grades 4, 5 and 6), and two intensive needs classrooms.