As educators around the state continue to develop plans for in-school and remote learning for the new school year, Apple Montessori Schools have released a plan that its founders say will be effective for everyone. 

Apple Montessori Schools has 15 locations in New Jersey.

“We are so ready for September,” says Apple Montessori founder Joanne Mooney.

Mooney says that the school announced in-person, five full-day or half-day programs and virtual program options for the upcoming school year.

“We have parents who are very concerned about coming back to school and when we also have parents who are ready and children who are ready to be back to school, so we really wanted to meet the needs of our community,” she says.

The options are all about choice – even giving the teachers a choice to work virtually or to teach in-person.

“Some teachers were nervous, certainly and we understood, about coming back to school and being in-person and didn’t want to, and so that was a beautiful way to fit them into our virtual, as well, and then some teachers were happy to be back,” Mooney says.

The schools have also been running a summer program featuring socially distant yoga. It is an option that Mooney says will still be available both in-person and virtually this fall.

The schools have also made adjustments to follow safety guidelines. Mooney says that they are limiting classroom sizes to just 10 students.

“Each student has their own rug and their own work station…there’s no Play-Doh. There’s no manipulatives,” she says. “We’re doing additional cleaning and sanitizing all day long. It’s just endless.”

Mooney says that the key to getting ready for school in September is to communicate with everyone involved, allow for flexibility and to ultimately design a program that works best for everyone.