Magnolia Montessori For All from above when it was just a cleared plot of land
Many of you are aware that my wife, Sara Cotner, with several other awesome folks, like Sarah Kirby Tepera, started Austin’s first public Montessori School, Magnolia Montessori For All (MFA). There are over 20 Montessori schools in Austin and MFA is the only one (until this year) serving students that isn’t private (meaning the only one that does not cost anything for students in grades kindergarten and up).
Sarah Kirby Tepera and Sara Cotner before the groundbreaking ceremony
Two students carefully carry their groundbreaking shovels
Since MFA began three years ago the classrooms have been in portable buildings on their nine acre campus. While portables do the trick, they aren’t an elegant or long-term solution. They also aren’t what students deserve. Charter schools are unique in that, though they are public, in Texas they only receive per pupil funding, which does not cover any operations or building expenses. This means that any building (temporary or permanent) need to be maintained and built using a charter school's per-pupil funding or the money needs to be fundraised.
Amazingly, because of the awesome, awesome parents and donors of Magnolia Montessori For All, MFA will be opening up their first permanent classrooms TODAY. These classrooms will be serving grades PK3 through kindergarten and construction for classrooms serving grades 1 through 6 will begin immediately and will wrap-up in January.
These kids are just incredible. Everything about this picture makes me smile.
Six months ago MFA broke ground on these grade PK3 through Kindergarten classrooms and I was on-hand to take pictures.
Congratulations, my love. And, thank you to all the parents and foundations that put their trust and their money in this incredible project. As a husband to the founder, I know that things aren’t always perfect but that lack of perfection is never due to lack of trying or care. I can’t wait to watch what happens next!
I’ll be posting a follow-up to this blog post with footage from the completed buildings.
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