Longtime LP Montessori School Volunteer To Buy School

LAKE PLACID - An ownership change is in the works for the Montessori Children's School of Lake Placid, which opened in 2001.

Jennifer Payne, a longtime volunteer at the school, recently became its director.

"I have a contract right now to purchase the school," Payne said Monday. The school's owner, Shannon Fritzius, has been ill, according to Payne.

The school will likely close under Fritzius' ownership in mid to late July and then reopen for the fall semester, she said.

"The school truly won't actually close because before the summer session is done my husband [John] and I will take ownership and we will finish out the summer with the students and then go right into the fall semester," Payne said.

Located at 9 Lakeview St., the school will be under a new corporation with a name change to The Lake Placid Montessori Academy.

For the 2007-08 school year, the school employed five full-time teachers and three part-time teachers for Spanish, music and art. The school offered prekindergarten through third-grade, accepting children as young as 2 years old. Last year, 57 students were enrolled.

"Fortunately, most of the teachers are going to stay with me," Payne said. The school has an opening for an elementary teacher.

The tuition charges won't change, according to Payne. For example, for the 8 a.m. - 3 p.m., five-day-a-week programs the tuition is $437 per month for pre-K and $480 per month for elementary grades.
The school will offer programs for children from 1 year old through first-grade, including voluntary prekindergarten.

Currently, the school is operating a summer camp, which serves as a daycare for children with working parents, Payne said.

"We will still use the Montessori philosophy," she added.