By AMANDA SAOUD

Senior Reporter

Oakland University will be expanding its role in the local education community, acting as the advisory school for a new charter school set to open in Royal Oak in September 2009. OU’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the application from the Four Corners Montessori Academy at their meeting on June 25.

The Four Corners Montessori Academy’s application was among 35 others reviewed by the Public School Academies and Urban Partnership Office, which is a division of the School of Education and Human Services. Of those 35, Four Corners and two other schools were selected for a full review, and Four Corners was selected as the finalist by the School of Education for its outstanding application qualities.

This partnership will bring both financial and educational benefits to the OU community. The university will receive three percent of the state school funding for the Academy as an administrative fee, and the alternative educational program at the Academy will offer hands-on learning opportunities for OU education students who are interested in alternative education. Currently none of the public schools that the university works with has alternative education.

“As an education major, I think it’s a great opportunity. We learn about so many different methods for teaching children, and having direct experience with as many education programs as possible is an excellent resource,” said senior Jamie Boyce.

The school, which will educate children from preschool through the eighth grade, provided its mission statement on the application to OU: “To allow each child to discover his/her learning potential, inborn talents, and love of learning by providing him/her with a limitless educational environment.”

Application reviewers from the School of Education felt that this fit well with the University’s own mission statement.

The Academy will be located in an area of Royal Oak designed to serve the cities of Royal Oak, Ferndale, Berkley and Oak Park, but will be open to students in Detroit and surrounding communities as well. The area was chosen because of a need in the region for more educational options where public school redistricting and school closures have left a void. The Academy will be the only one of its kind in the area, as most local Montessori programs end when children reach kindergarten.

A letter of recommendation from Mary Otto, dean of the School of Education and Human Services, was sent to Provost Virinder Moudgil and presented to the Board of Trustees by Dr. Moudgil.

In it, Otto lists a number of reasons that she believes Four Corners is an excellent candidate for approval including but not limited to “anticipation of a diverse student population from metropolitan Detroit area and southeast Oakland County communities, research-based Montessori approach with reputation for high achievement, quality services for special needs students, and a focus on character development and positive values.”

The curriculum followed by the Academy, though currently in development, will be “based on consistent adherence to the ‘Michigan Curriculum Framework’ requirements” according to the Academy’s application. This means that students who complete their education, through eighth grade, at Four Corners will be fully prepared to enter public high schools at the same educational level of their peers who attended traditional schools.

“There is consensus among all involved in the decision-making process that Four Corners Montessori Academy has the potential to achieve its goals of excellence under Oakland University’s authorization,” Otto concluded.

A full copy of the Academy’s application, as well as University guidelines for applications and charter school programs are provided in the agenda from the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting, available online at the OU website.