Baker Montessori School

File:WilsonElementaryHouston.JPG

The land that currently houses Baker Montessori was previously occupied by the summer house of Mirabeau Lamar, a President of Texas; it was located on the Oak Grove acreage site. The acreage was broken up in 1923.{{cite news|author=Behrens, Tom|url=http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/heights-news/article/Wilson-alumni-sought-for-April-reunion-fundraiser-3421584.php|title=Wilson alumni sought for April reunion fundraiser|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2012-03-20|access-date=2017-03-11}} Construction began in 1924 and the school opened in 1925."[http://www.houstonisd.org/domain/22163 History]." Woodrow Wilson Montessori School. Retrieved on March 11, 2017.

For much of its history it was a standard neighborhood elementary school. Tom Behrens of the Houston Chronicle described Wilson as "the showplace school of the city for many years".

From 1986{{cite news|author=Berryhill, Michael|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/class-war-6572370|title=Class War|newspaper=Houston Press|date=1995-04-13|access-date=2016-12-20}} to 1996,"[https://web.archive.org/web/19970630192140/http://www.houston.isd.tenet.edu/MAX.HTM 1996-1997 HISD ATTENDANCE BOUNDARIES]." Houston Independent School District. June 30, 1997. Retrieved on September 8, 2009. "To create boundaries for River Oaks ES, Kindergarten to 2nd grade " Wilson Elementary served a section of River Oaks as the neighborhood program of River Oaks Elementary School had been removed.Markley, Melanie. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1995_1265468/winds-of-change-alarm-river-oaks-vanguard-parents.html Winds of change alarm River Oaks Vanguard parents]."{{dead link|date=August 2016}} Houston Chronicle. Sunday April 2, 1995. p. A33. Retrieved on October 22, 2012. Available on NewsBank (Record: HSC04021265468), accessible with a Houston Public Library card. "Indeed, River Oaks Elementary ceased to be a neighborhood school in 1986. [...] As it now stands, River Oaks children are zoned to one of three schools outside their community -- Wilson Elementary to the east in Montrose,[...]"

In the 2000s Wilson Elementary experienced a decline in enrollment since the surrounding neighborhood had fewer families with children attending school. In 2005 there were 410 students. A group of area parents suggested converting Wilson into a Montessori school. HISD and the group, All Montessori School Project, negotiated for two years to determine how the school would be established. Not all area parents agreed with the proposal; 208 parents had signed a survey stating opposition.

In 2005 HISD announced that Wilson was scheduled to be converted into a PreK-8 school using a Montessori program for all students. Friends of Montessori agreed to assist the effort and signed a two-year agreement to assist the conversion of Wilson; it was scheduled to raise $6,000 to buy the materials used for the Montessori program. All teachers were to be Montessori-certified, and existing teachers staying at Wilson were to undergo training to deliver the curriculum.{{cite web|author=Contreras, Leslie|url=http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Wilson-to-be-all-Montessori-next-fall-9812782.php|title=Wilson to be all-Montessori next fall|agency=River Oaks Examiner|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2005-04-27|access-date=2017-03-11}} Parents acquired an additional $345,000 in the period 2003-2008 to convert Wilson into a Montessori campus. The 7th and 8th grades were to be established at Wilson by late 2009.

In 2008 there were 440 students. That year Jennifer Radcliffe of the Houston Chronicle wrote that "Parents rave about Wilson". After the Montessori program was established, enrollment at Wilson increased; in the 2013-2014 school year, the school had 501 students, including 90 middle school students. The expected enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year was 530.

In 2016 groundbreaking occurred for an expansion of the campus.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2016/11/15/wilson-montessori-breaks-ground-on-new-addition/|title=Wilson Montessori breaks ground on new addition|publisher=Houston Independent School District|date=2016-11-15|access-date=2017-03-12}} The original building is to be renovated, and a three-story structure designed by Smith & Co. Architects will be added on. The total cost will be $18.9 million, and the campus will have a total area of almost {{convert|58000|sqft|sqm}} of space.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2016/02/26/new-addition-at-wilson-montessori-k-8-to-complement-historic-building/|title=New addition at Wilson Montessori K-8 to complement historic building|publisher=Houston Independent School District|date=2016-02-26|access-date=2017-03-12}}

In March 2021 the HISD board announced it will consider renaming the school due to racist actions Woodrow Wilson took in his life, with civil rights activist Ella J. Baker being the new namesake.{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/HISD-board-woodrow-wilson-montessori-school-name-16064997.php|title=Should Woodrow Wilson's name stay on a Montrose-area school? HISD's board will decide.|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2021-03-31|accessdate=2021-05-31}} On April 8 all members of the HISD board approved of the rename.{{cite web|last=Carpenter|first=Jacob|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/Houston-ISD-board-approves-Wilson-Montessori-name-16087583.php|title=Houston ISD board approves Wilson Montessori name change, citing former president's racist actions|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2021-04-08|accessdate=2021-05-31}}

Baker Montessori School serves as the neighborhood elementary school for a section of Neartown,"[https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Baker_K8.pdf Baker K-8 School Attendance Zone]." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on October 1, 2022."[http://www.neartown.org/nta-index.php?menu=comm Neartown Boundaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629074241/http://www.neartown.org/nta-index.php?menu=comm |date=2018-06-29 }}." Neartown Association. Retrieved on March 11, 2017. including the Cherryhurst main and addition subdivisions,[https://web.archive.org/web/20050316222947/http://www.cherryhurst.org/docs/plat_original.pdf Cherryhurst Original subdivision map]. Harris County Appraisal District. Retrieved on March 11, 2017.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050316222216/http://www.cherryhurst.org/docs/plat_addition.pdf Cherryhurst Addition subdivision map]. Harris County Appraisal District. Retrieved on March 11, 2017. a portion of the original Montrose subdivision,[https://web.archive.org/web/20030417153651/http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/business/homedata/m/montr.jpg Map of Montrose]. Houston Chronicle''. Retrieved October 20, 2008. a portion of Hyde Park,"[http://hydeparkhouston.org/?page_id=5 Hyde Park Civic Association Boundaries]." Hyde Park Civic Association. Retrieved on December 19, 2016. Mandell Place, Park, Vermont Commons, WAMM, and Winlow Place, as well as most of Audubon Place and portions of Avondale, Lancaster Place, and North Montrose."[https://www.neartown.org/our-boundaries Our Boundaries]." Neartown Association. Retrieved on March 23, 2019. [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ad0d15c4eddec75eef10467/t/5bb932f5e2c4833b728057d5/1538863863555/Houston-Super-Neighborhood-Neartown-Association.pdf PDF version with detail] - Individual subdivisions are noted The Driscoll at River Oaks{{cite web|url=https://www.riveroaksshoppingcenter.com/directory/|title=Directory|publisher=River Oaks Shopping Center|accessdate=2021-04-09}} - Compare map to school boundary maps. and the Residences at La Colombe d'Or are zoned to Baker.{{cite web|url=https://www.livelacolombedor.com/contact/|title=Contact|publisher=The Residences at La Colombe d'Or|accessdate=2022-10-01|quote=3411 Yoakum Blvd, Houston, TX 77006}} - Compare the address with the Baker boundary map.

In the event that a parent zoned to Baker is not interested in having his or her child educated in the Montessori style, the administration of Baker Montessori will assist the parent in selecting a different school. Baker Montessori functions as a magnet school, and children from outside the Baker boundary who apply to Baker are selected on the basis of a lottery.

In 2008 the school had 440 students, including almost 90 learning English as a second language. In 2021 the school had 600 students.

All students at Baker are taught in the Montessori educational style. The school day is divided into three-hour blocks, and students are expected to perform tasks on their own within those three hour blocks. Assignments involve students working in pairs and using flashcards, blocks, beads, and other objects. The school provides Spanish-language Montessori materials, in addition to English-language ones, for students with English as a second language. Each class has a mixture of different ages, and as a result each teacher is required to study, for a period of one year, how to customize a lesson plan for different students. In order to increase relations between the teachers, students and parents, each student stays in the same class for a three-year period. Students are required to take state achievement tests.

Before Baker was converted into an all-Montessori school, its magnet program was known as the "Woodrow Wilson Multi-Cultural Arts Program"."[https://web.archive.org/web/20010501221026/http://es.houstonisd.org/WilsonES/Pages/MagnetProgram.htm Magnet Program]." Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. May 1, 2001. Retrieved on March 13, 2017.

File:Baker Montessori A.jpg

The school property is located in the Cherryhurst Addition subdivision.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050316053626/http://www.cherryhurst.org/ Home page]. Cherryhurst Civic Club. March 16, 2005. Retrieved on March 11, 2017. "The Cherryhurst Addition is across Fairview from the original subdivision and includes the Woodrow Wilson schoolgrounds bounded by Yupon and Windsor streets." [https://web.archive.org/web/20050316222216/http://www.cherryhurst.org/docs/plat_addition.pdf See map of Cherryhurst Addition] It was built on Block 5.

Cherryhurst Block 5. Harris County Block Book maps Volume 38 Page 240. [http://books.tax.hctx.net/BlockBooksPDF/v038/AE1997_37-38_0558.pdf PDF] and [http://books.tax.hctx.net/v038/AE1997_37-38_0558.jpg JPG] - Indicates "Hyde Park School" (partially) meaning Wilson Montessori School

The school park is known as the Wilson Wonderground SPARK Park; the SPARK Park program is a joint City of Houston-HISD program to allow school parks to be used by the wider community. Around 2002 the Wilson Elementary park was developed as a SPARK Park. The condition of the field declined prior to 2012, but Camilo Parra, a parent of a Wilson student, led a campaign to revitalize the field; the proposal to improve the field was incorporated into existing plans to improve the park. Scott McCready, a landscape architect for SWA, designed the park renovation; McCready was also a parent of a Wilson student.{{cite news|author=Behrens, Tom|url=http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/heights-news/article/Community-unites-for-park-makeover-3421587.php|title=Community unites for park makeover|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2012-03-20|access-date=2017-03-11}}

Most residents of the Baker zone are also zoned to Lanier Middle School."[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Lanier_MS.pdf Lanier Middle School Attendance Zone]." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 11, 2017. Those east of Montrose Boulevard are instead zoned to the Gregory-Lincoln Educational Center middle school program."[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Gregory-Lincoln_MS_K8.pdf Gregory-Lincoln Middle School Attendance Boundary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202002110/http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Gregory-Lincoln_MS_K8.pdf |date=2017-02-02 }}," Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on December 19, 2016. All residents of the Baker attendance zone are also zoned to Lamar High School."[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Lamar_HS.pdf Lamar High School Attendance Boundary]," Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on December 19, 2016.

• Walter Cronkite
• Mark White, Governor of Texas

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite news|author=Wilson Montessori Alumni|url=http://www.chron.com/life/health/article/Alumni-invites-others-to-Wilson-Wonderground-Park-9370590.php|title=Alumni invites others to Wilson Wonderground Park planning kick-off special event|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2012-04-12}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.houstonisd.org/baker Baker Montessori School]
• [http://wilsonpto.org Wilson Montessori Parent-Teacher Organization]
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.wilsonspark.org/|title=Wilson Wonderground SPARK Park}}
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.allmontessori.org|title=Houston's New HISD All-Montessori School/Friends of Montessori at Wilson}}

{{Neartown, Houston}}

{{Houston ISD}}

{{coord|29.7477|-95.3990|type:edu_region:US-TX|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Ella J.}}

Category:1925 establishments in the United States

Category:Educational institutions established in 1925

Category:Houston Independent School District middle schools

Category:Houston Independent School District elementary schools

Category:Public K–8 schools in Houston

Category:Montessori schools in the United States

Category:Magnet schools in Houston

Category:Neartown, Houston