A local charter school will make room for a 9^th grade class this upcoming year and has plans to add a grade each year until its implementation of a 12^th grade class in 2017.

Washington Montessori Public Charter School will welcome 15 students for its 9^th grade class this year, said the school’s Director of Administration and Finance Austin Smigel. A staff of four teachers will instruct the class, and three more teachers will be hired over the coming years to meet the needs of the added grades. This year, one full-time instructor, a part-time English instructor, a part-time Elective instructor and a Spanish teacher will lead the new class in their educational curriculum.

The class will follow the school’s educational philosophy, designed by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, said Darla Prescott, the school’s directress of education and academics. The philosophy promotes independent learning, freedoms with responsibility, personal and community accountability and children are allowed to learn at their own pace. In addition to the philosophy, students will participate in immersion trips, which are outings planned and financed by the students and business models they create. The students will also be required to participate in community service and internships, Prescott said.

The curriculum will be geared toward college preparation, but students have the option of taking any pathway post-graduation, including career pathways or technical school routes. Although the school uses a different philosophy to instruct its students, it is still a public school and adheres to the NC State EOG/EOC testing requirements, Prescott said.

“Montessori philosophy takes precedent in the classroom, but we align it closely with common core,” Prescott said. “We are excited about the curriculum. It is set to challenge the child and allow he or she to fulfill his or her potential. The sky is the limit.”

Smigel said the implementation of the new class was a result of a mission by parents and community supporters to add a high school component to the school. That mission has been solidified through the school’s campaign to construct a new building, which will house the middle school grades, high school grades, a science lab, kitchen, central conference/community area and a full-size gym. The school will break ground on the building this September and hopes to finish construction by the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, Smigel said.

The school, which has 305 students from five area counties, including Beaufort, Pitt, Washington, Craven and Martin, uses a public lottery to determine its enrollees, Smigel said. Governed by an independent board, the school selects students based on a random drawing at an annual General Board Meeting each January. Based on the drawing, slots are filled for each grade and students who do not make the lottery are added to a waiting list in the order they were drawn.

Prescott said the school is unique in the sense that extracurricular activities offered by the school are solely generated by student interest and support from parents and the community. The school has several extracurricular programs, including a soccer team, a volleyball team and a chess club. The school hopes to implement intramural sports and a Ted Ed program, which is a flexible forum for students to share, discuss, present and pursue new ideas and projects, Prescott said.

“In a child-centered environment, if there is a student need, we try our best to meet it,” Prescott said.

For more information about Washington Montessori Public Charter School, visit WMPCS.org.