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Expanding windows of opportunity through personalized place-based Montessori education. 

Who Do We Serve?

PCM seeks to expand educational opportunities for students, adding access to curriculum and educational programs not accessible through Pullman School District.  

Enrollment at PCM is FREE and no financial responsibilities are expected of families. PCM is a public charter school open to any student regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religious affiliation, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, social or economic status, and/or special needs. ALL enrolled students regardless of background are afforded the same rights, privileges, programs, and activities available to all students.

PCM provides support services, common to any public schools, in order to meet the needs of ALL students. These services include special education, 504 plans, English Language Learner programs, and highly capable programming.

PCM’s Board of Trustees and staff are committed to equal access regardless of a student’s race, socio-economic status, or level of academic skill.  We believe all students should be enculturated in an environment of high expectations and prepared through rigorous, whole-child education.

Did you know?

Child Find is a process designed to locate children with a suspected disability to evaluate and identify a need for special education and related services. PCM conducts specific activities for the purpose of locating, identifying and evaluating students enrolled in our school, which currently serves students in Kindergarten through the 6th grade.

WHO: Students enrolled at PCM with a suspected area of disability.

WHY: As a public school, PCM is responsible for locating, evaluating and identifying individuals with suspected disabilitiies who may be in need of special education and related services.

WHEN: Any time a parent or teacher has a concern.

Please contact Laylah Bewick at LaylahB@mypcm.org with questions.

Staffed for success

Each classroom is staffed with a dual certified Montessori Teacher (Guide) and Montessori trained classroom assistant who is trained as an interventionalist.  Training is tailored to the needs of our student population.  We will also staff a full time Special Education Teacher - Program Manager who will lead in coordination of any additional specialized services that are necessary.  We will provide professional development to all staff members on working with students with advanced needs, ranging from special education to highly capable. 

Specialized services for special education (SpEd), English-language learners (ELL), highly capable students (HiCap), and others, will be provided in the general education classroom.  This has been show to benefit all students when staffed appropriately.  Services will be coordinated in a collaborative manner between the Guide, assistant, and specialist to provide a unified front of support for the student and family.

Reaching All Students

At Risk Services

The Montessori model by design, lends itself to accommodating and welcoming students with a wide range of personal and educational experiences, ensuring provision of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in compliance with all state and federal statutes including: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Revised Code of Washington, and the Washington Administrative Code. Personalized instructional strategies, developmentally appropriate age groupings, and the all-inclusive classroom and instructional design of the Montessori environment provide for rigorous and timely education for all students, ranging from those who are at risk to those who are exceptionally high performers.

All students needing support will be served in the least restrictive environment with support services and personnel integrated into PCM classrooms, unless the students IEP plan dictates otherwise. This integration is naturally facilitated by the personalized, self-directed nature of the Montessori model. Keeping with the Montessori philosophy of a data-driven practice, cutting-edge tools that align with Montessori will be integrated to ensure PCM meets the needs of all students. A rigorous and continuous review, reflection, and adaptation /incorporation process will be used to ensure practices are implemented with high fidelity, are working as designed, and fit the needs of our diverse and continually evolving population.

What is a Lottery?

Why and When?

If enrollment needs exceed the capacity of the school, in accordance with WA State law, the school may run a random open public admission lottery as an equitable way to fill open seats in the school.

At PCM, should there be more applicants than seats available within a given grade band, PCM will hold a public admissions lottery on Should there be more applicants than seats available within a given grade band, PCM will hold a public admissions lottery on March 30, 2023 in accordance with Washington State law.

 

Families are not required to attend but the process is open to the entire public. For transparency purposes, PCM will secure a neutral, non-affiliated observer to oversee the random lottery process for PCM admission. 

After March 30, 2023 enrollment will transition to acceptance on a rolling basis.  Applicants will be enrolled if open seats are available and if none are open, applicants will be added to the waitlist on a first applied basis.

Weighted Lottery

As allowed by Washington State law, PCM will grant the following enrollment preferences subject to the approval of the authorizer and any other guiding bodies.

 

1.  Siblings of currently enrolled students (ALL public schools hold this preference)

  • These students will receive an absolute preference and will automatically be offered a spot in the school if space is available in the grade level. If space is not available, the program will randomize all siblings in the same grade level and generate a sibling waitlist for the next available seat.

  • Siblings who are newly attending PCM together will only generate a preference after one of the siblings is selected during the lottery process of that school year.

  • Siblings of students who have graduated from PCM, or left the school, will not be granted a “legacy” preference, or a preference for having a sibling who has previously attended.

  

Students who do not qualify for the sibling definition will all be placed in a lottery for enrollment for the remaining available seats in each grade level. Some students will receive a preference in the lottery if they meet one of the criteria mentioned below. All applicants who do not qualify for a preference on the list below will have their names entered once in the lottery. For a point of clarification, the list below are preferences and DO NOT guarantee enrollment at PCM, the preferences simply increase the likelihood of a student being selected in the general lottery.

 

2.  Students of PCM staff

  • Children (in legal custody) of contracted full-time staff members will be given an 8:1 preference in the lottery. This decision was made by PCM’s Board of Trustees to show good faith in our program and to reduce the logistical challenges of staff members with children trying to match schedules of schools with different lengths of day and school year. In addition, it aligns to our goal of having staff representative of the anticipated student population.

3.  Students from economically disadvantaged families

  • Economically disadvantaged family will be defined, for this purpose, as families who qualify for federal free or reduced-price meals. Students fitting this description by the deadline will be given a 5:1 preference in the lottery.

    • To be considered, this status needs to be indicated on the application materials submitted by the Application Submission deadline. Status will be confirmed via a completed and approved Meal Application form submitted in the summer prior to the beginning of the school year.

 

All preferences will be based on information provided to PCM on the original enrollment application. Any family that omits information that would have qualified them for a preference prior to the lottery running will be subject to the general lottery and will not receive that preference after the enrollment window closes. All applicants who do not qualify for a preference will have their name entered once in the lottery for consideration.

Please review our full 2023-24 Enrollment Policy & Procedures for more details.

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