7/28/2019 Community Montessori Charter School
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3015 Upton Drive, Kensington, MD 20895Tel 301.929.2505 Fax
301.949.4741
www.crossway-community.org
Crossway Community, Inc.
Community Montessori Charter School
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Crossway Community?
Crossway Community, Inc. is a pioneering, community-based
nonprofit organization that has
been implementing innovative ways to end the cycle of
generational poverty through
education for more than 20 years. The Crossway model integrates
asset-based family
support with rigorous academic and social development
programming to fulfill its mission of
promoting community, creativity, and learning for all families.
As the first charter school in
Montgomery County, Community Montessori Charter School (CMCS)
will marry Crossways
acclaimed approach with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
tradition of
educational excellence to build a strong pathway of meaningful,
responsive, life-long
learning.
2. Why Montessori?
For more than a century, Montessori education has been
recognized internationally as a
thoughtful, child-centered, and innovative instructional model.
Crossway will make excellent
Montessori education central to its mission of serving the
family through focus on the child.
Pubic Montessori schools exist in more than 300 communities
throughout the U.S., and a
strong research base affirms the power of Montessori to promote
both high academic
achievement and enhanced social development.
3. How will Community Montessori Charter School benefit from
Crossways existing
strengths?
In support of students and the proposed CMCS, Crossway will
deploy existing assets to:
Forge new partnerships and expand current ones to support
family-centered learning
communities;
Develop additional operational and administrative systems that
allow school leaders
to concentrate on their primary purpose, the students, and
instructional outcomes;
Raise capital, complete special projects, and generate operating
funds to provide
exemplary programming and replicable service models;
Advocate locally and nationally in support of education,
prevention, family
development, and economic empowerment; and,
Provide community outreach that embodies a broader understanding
of the direct
correlation between investment in families and the elimination
of poverty.
Crossway engages thousands of stakeholders annually and has
raised over $20 million
dollars to support its mission. Crossway will continue to engage
a wide array of partnerships
to support planning, design, and implementation of CMCS. In
turn, CMCS will benefit from
the wraparound support supplied by the networks of people,
wealth of experience, collection
of resources, and connection to services Crossway contributes to
the entire community free
of charge.
7/28/2019 Community Montessori Charter School
2/2
3015 Upton Drive, Kensington, MD 20895Tel 301.929.2505 Fax
301.949.4741
www.crossway-community.org
4. How is Crossway Community successful?
Crossway has a 20-year track record helping at-risk single
mothers break the cycle of multi-
generational poverty and social isolation. Outcomes of social
change and progress include:
85% of Crossway Family Leadership Academy graduates report they
are living without
public assistance;
Nearly 60% of alumni have earned or are working towards college
degrees; and
More than 90% of the children from Family Leadership Academy
families have
graduated from high school or remain in school performing at
grade level or better.
The Family Leadership Academy (FLA) students attend classes at
Crossway while
maintaining jobs and raising their children. While Crossway
works in a multi-generational
approach, the greatest return on investment in Crossway is shown
through the success of
our effective early intervention Montessori programs for
children from birth through six years
of age. More than 40% of Crossways FLA families with children
enrolled in the presentMontessori Pre-K program are below federal
and state poverty guidelines.
5. During these challenging economic times, why take money away
from the public
schools to educate a child in a charter school?
Per-pupil funding follows the child. CMCS will bring additional
resources, in partnership with
MCPS, to income-eligible students and their families. This
strategy will support the
educational infrastructure of the Wheaton/Kensington community.
Crossway Communitys
20-year track record of serving vulnerable families has made it
possible to leverage non-
governmental resources and raise $500,000 annually.
6. How can I contact the Community Montessori Charter
School?
Contact Ms. Kathleen Guinan, Chief Executive Officer, Crossway
Community, Inc., 3015Upton Drive, Kensington, Maryland 20895
(301.929.2505), or reach us by email at
[email protected].
