OKEMOS - Okemos Public School's Superintendent Catherine Ash said the school of choice posted on the website is just for the district's Montessori program.

Dates for the 15 day application period will be set in late April/early May.

Eligible students must be residents of a district served by the Ingham Intermediate School District.

"We basically coordinate our enrollment process with the private Montessori schools in the area, so every year at this time we post or advertise for School of Choice in our K-4 Montessori program, our 5/6 Montessori program, and our 7/8 Montessori program," Ash said.

Montessori teaching is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the teachers offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process.

"Several years ago, we initiated a public Montessori," Ash said. "The rest of our schools are more of a traditional model of teaching, and the Montessori Model it brings in the Montessori philosophy of teaching as well as a blended model because we have to abide by all the state rules and guidelines."

Ash said the application process involves the school first determining how many vacancies are open and added that the K-4 program is already quite full.

Tours are offered at the K-4 Montessori where parents can come and fill out and enrollment application form.

When the 15 day window period ends, the school reviews the applications and if there are more applications than openings, they determine acceptance first on certain criteria.

"The first step is to look to see who are Okemos residents. We also look to see if they have previous Montessori experience," Ash said. "And then if we still have more additional applications than we have seats available, then it's a random draw."

The Montessori Method has become a very popular program and the school has had a decrease in the number of spots available as a result.

"In the beginning when we opened the program I would say it was 60 percent non-residents, and 40 percent Okemos residents so it's actually flipped now," Ash said.

Ash said it's a valuable choice or option for many Okemos resident families and the school wants residents to have that ability assuming they have Montessori experience in the upper grade levels.

"I think the program's been highly successful, and I think it's highly sought after, and I think our residents were in kind of a wait and see mode because it was a new way of delivering instruction here in Okemos," Ash said.

The model historically isn't new, but it's new to the area and the school is finding that the model, along with the great teaching staff has led to highly successful students.

"It's been a nice option for our Okemos families and they're starting to take advantage of it," Ash said.