About Wild Rose
A community-based school fostering independence and a love for learning.
Wild Rose draws on Montessori’s honoring of the individual, Reggio Emilia’s recognition of many types of competencies, Waldorf’s focus on relationship and the Agile Learning Center’s flexibility to create customizable experiences for all learners in the community.
Each child’s personal development stages and motivations are taken into consideration when math, sciences and arts offerings are being tailored to their needs. Meanwhile, all children learn to be fully functional citizens in their community by experiencing the democratic process, collaboratively managing their schedules and caring for their school environment.
Each term, your child will further skills in:
Curriculum
math
literacy
scientific understanding
debate
cooking
budgeting
social-emotional awareness
Dependent on season and interest, growth will also be seen in the areas of:
home repair
safety in the digital world
navigation
event planning
gardening
housekeeping
Schedule
The school program runs 9:00 to 3:00, Monday through Friday for four terms of two and a half months each.
Winter term: January through mid-March
Spring term: April through mid-June
Summer term: July through mid-September
Fall term: October through mid-December
Family involvement
Alongside facilitators, families support learners in setting goals, choosing curriculums and crafting personal weekly schedules of group activities and classes, free exploration and work periods.
One adult member of each family is expected to attend a monthly community meeting. Children of all ages are also welcome to attend and dinner will be served.
The first week of each break will include a family-facilitator meeting where we will reflect on the learners’ growth of the previous term and set goals for the following.
Meg Crane
Wild Rose Facilitator
I’m Meg Crane, a nanny turned journalist turned Agile Learning Center facilitator turned micro-school executive director. My path to education has truly been self-directed, learning from my talented peers and the learners I work with.
Wild Rose School was born from the closure of the full-day program at Cottonwood while I was pregnant with my first child. Looking at Cottonwood’s young people and thinking about my own growing family, I was motivated to co-create another community where children could learn in their own way, at their own pace, to be functional citizens of our society.
I believe we can all live happy, fulfilling lives we don’t need breaks from and I bring this belief to Wild Rose. When young people understand their passions and motivations, they can find an internal drive to learn. When learning is a choice, it becomes more meaningful. As a result, Wild Rose School is a place children are excited to be. In fact, the quarterly breaks are met with sadness!
While I also miss the community during our weeks off, I do enjoy additional time exploring Helena with my adventurous baby and dogs, playing in my garden alongside my cats, and experimenting with new art projects. I am continually inspired by members of the Wild Rose School community and love returning to school to share my own new experiences with everyone.
