Charter schools usually don’t appeal to Montgomery County Board of Education President Christopher S. Barclay.

But Monday night, he supported Community Montessori Public Charter School’s application, because he believes it might help the school system consider education from a holistic perspective.

“I’m hopeful that what we haven’t done is given way too much focus on test scores,” said Barclay (Dist. 4) of Takoma Park.

Community Montessori, which will serve students in pre-kindergarten through the third grade in Kensington, was approved in a 6-2 vote Monday evening by the Board of Education. Judith Docca (Dist. 1) of Montgomery Village and Michael A. Durso (Dist. 5) of Silver Spring were opposed.

The school will be run by Crossway Community, a nonprofit organization that serves low-income women and children and already operates a Montessori school for children. Crossway has operated as a nonprofit since 1990. It listed $2.42 million in total revenue according to its tax information from 2009.

The school is scheduled to open in 2012-2013, and will conduct a countywide lottery if necessary for all prospective students. In its first year, projected enrollment is 122 students. In addition to a lottery, the school will conduct targeted recruiting throughout the county to ensure a diverse student body, Barclay said.

“It’s authentic,” said Crossway CEO Kathleen Guinan after the vote. “It's really 20 years of work.”

A Montessori school’s learning atmosphere includes multi-age groups of students, allowing students to choose their activities with teacher guidance, and uninterrupted, lengthy blocks of work time. A major goal for Montessori education is to mirror a real-world environment where people of different dispositions and ages work and socialize.

Crossway Community applied for charter school status unsuccessfully last year. As the result of an appeal Crossway filed, along with unsuccessful applicant Global Garden, the Maryland State Board of Education ordered the school system to reconsider the applications this year, and said it was concerned that the board appeared biased against charter schools.

But former schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast recommended approving Crossway a few days before his retirement June 30, and his replacement, Joshua P. Starr, also recommended approval.

The school’s enrollment would expand from 122 in its first year to 188 by 2015-2016, the last year of the four-year charter.

Citing Maryland charter school law to explain her supporting vote, board member Patricia B. O’Neill (Dist. 3) of Bethesda said, “That law encourages charters, and we have not yet had one because we have very high standards. We believe that any application must dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t.’”

A July 7 vote on Community Montessori had been postponed. The school system and Crossway had been attempting to create a “catchment area” that would give students in a geographic area priority for enrolling before opening seats to all students. Crossway had expressed a desire to continue serving and prioritizing low-income students.

A catchment area was not part of Monday’s approval.

Much of the testimony in support of the school Monday came from women who came to Crossway Community from backgrounds of domestic abuse or other difficult circumstances.

Michele Harris said she was homeless with a 3-month-old daughter when she came to the organization. She now supervises 24 employees at a security services company and has seen her daughter make the honor roll at Judith Resnik Elementary after attending the organization’s Montessori school.

Serena Crawford, a victim of domestic abuse who attended the organization’s Family Leadership Academy to improve parenting and economic skills, noted that the services helped her save more than $20,000 while her daughters have achieved success in public schools.

“Crossway has given me a sense of hope for my own future and they continue to offer supportive services for me and family,” Crawford said. “I have successfully graduated from this program a better person and my children have more security, opportunities and resources available to them.”

The Montgomery County chapter of the NAACP did not endorse the new charter school. Citing reports that showed the majority of charter schools in the U.S. did no better or worse than their public school counterparts, Jennifer Dobbins, chairwoman of the NAACP’s education committee, indicated the present emphasis on charter schools was misplaced.

“MCPS should focus attention, funding and policy advocacy on improving existing, low performing public schools,” Dobbins testified.

aujifusa@gazette.net