The ongoing dispute between the Kingston City School District (KCSD) and parents at George Washington Elementary School continued last week when around a dozen of the latter shared concerns that implementing the Core Knowledge Language Art (CKLA) would effectively end the school’s longtime Montessori program.
District officials have begun testing the new CKLA program in several elementary classrooms this year, including at George Washington, with plans to fully implement it districtwide by the 2025–26 school year. CKLA aims to boost reading and writing skills by weaving literacy instruction into lessons from other subjects — like math, history, science and the arts — so that students encounter vocabulary and other concepts in more meaningful, connected ways.
But George Washington parents say the rigidity of CKLA contradicts the student-led Montessori learning program, one which they’ve claimed has been systematically undermined by the district in recent years. The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector identifies over 500 public Montessori schools across the United States, but in part due to the testing rigors and curriculum demands of the state, there are just 12 in New York, including PS 482 Albee Square Montessori Public School in Brooklyn, which opened earlier this year.
George Washington’s Montessori program was phased in beginning with the 2008-09 school year, and district officials have acknowledged it has sometimes struggled with balancing a traditional free-flowing Montessori environment with the linear framework of public schools in the state.
Some parents at the Wednesday, May 21 meeting of the board of education asked that if implementing CKLA districtwide was indeed a fait accompli, that a dual track option be opened to allow for Montessori to continue at George Washington.
“Keeping the Montessori program going with its Montessori reading program, which is already science of reading aligned and has been the only science of reading aligned curriculum in our district that’s been in use for a very long time,” said parent Britta Riley. “Adopting CKLA is no reason to get rid of it…So that our kinesthetic learners, kids who learn with their hands and our visual spatial learners in this district have a way of learning that is science of reading compliant and that CKLA just does not focus on. It does not really provide a lot of options for hands-on learners.”
Parent Deborah Fitzgerald applauded the district for implementing CKLA, but agreed with others that it didn’t align with the Montessori principles that make George Washington a unique academic opportunity for students. Fitzgerald said that she and her husband moved to Kingston from Athens because many parents there sent their kids to a private Montessori school.
“The Athens Public School District lost a lot of resources through the families that chose the private Montessori school, and it really divided the community culturally, so much so that it was the main reason why we left Athens,” she said. “I really love that the Kingston School District has options for families. I feel that it’s important that two tracks are offered at G.W., because the options presented at this school help keep our community members invested in the public school system. I’m concerned that without the Montessori option in the Kingston School District, we’ll fail a lot of families who need this option.And I’m personally concerned about the resources in my neighborhood becoming divided like they did in Athens.”
The meeting included a presentation by George Washington Principal Wanda LoBianco, who shared data on CKLA pilot programs in kindergarten and 4th grade classes in the school. Compared to non-CKLA classes, the pilot program appeared to be successful.
In a 4th grade CKLA pilot class, 50 percent of students were mid or above grade level according to i-Ready spring testing, compared to 29 percent in a non-CKLA classroom. In both cases, numbers had risen since a round of testing in the fall, though the CKLA results (up 19 percent) were more dramatic than the non-CKLA (up 8 percent).
A CKLA pilot class in the school’s Children’s House (kindergarten) achieved its own comparable gains, with 88 percent of students mid or above grade level in the spring, compared to zero in the fall. In that class, 63 percent were one grade level below in the fall, and none were in the spring.
Trustee Marystephanie Corsones applauded the results from the CKLA pilot program at George Washington.
“I understand that instructional change is very hard,” she said. “We’ve gone through it so many times in certainly my educational career. And I think finding the right pathway and supporting our teachers so that we can provide the best for all of our students is absolutely critical.”
Earlier this year, superintendent Paul Padalino said he believed there is a future for Montessori in the KCSD, though it may not be exactly what some parents are hoping for.
“We’re doing what we can within the constraints that we have to try to make this as much of a Montessori school as we can,” he said. “We continue to invest, we continue to put a lot of time and money into that building to try to make this happen and make this work…But I think there needs to be an understanding that we have to find a middle ground.”
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