How did our school start?

Our school was born as Acapella Montessori, a fine arts preschool.

Acapella came about when I began to look around for a preschool for our twin boys. I had sent my older children to a preschool in the area where they had lots of fun but learned very little. During Covid my impressionable preschooler was exposed to far too much political talk and while we all have to give grace to everyone during that trying time of life, it just wasn't an environment I wanted to send anyone back into.

In looking around for different schools I realized a few things that shocked me.

• In the state of Iowa Preschool is classified legally the same as daycare meaning, you don't have to have a teaching degree to teach in a preschool. In fact, the requirements were simply that you are 16 years old and have passed a background check.

• You could call yourself a preschool even if no one there knew how to teach preschool.

• There were almost no options for Montessori in our area, and those who were teaching the Montessori method were mostly not accredited.

• Schools that considered themselves a great place to get an education wouldn't accept CCA (ChildCare Assistance) and while we didn't need assistance for childcare what I realized is that this caused a clear socioeconomic divide for education

• Schools in our area were severely lacking diversity and I wanted my children to learn alongside friends who exposed them to an entire world of difference.

I also wanted a school that was a safe and clean environment. One where machines like an Air Doctor are used to clean the air, and cleaning products are non-toxic and the room is completely filled with natural light.

Acapella Montessori was created by

• Hiring teachers who all have their 4 year teaching degree and experience teaching children.

• Renovating a portion of a dance studio to have not only a preschool space but also the ability to use dance studio rooms for our fine arts classes.

• Casting a vision for something different for parents who also had to see the vision. You see, our parents joined when we didn't have the floor or walls even finished on the school. The entrepreneurial mindset helps us know they were the right kind of families because Montessori is all about thinking outside the box.

• Committing to transparency, caring about each student individually and make a space that was able to be their safe space.

Acapella Montessori