NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A new public charter school has officially received final approval from the state to move forward, according to Jennifer Friend, one of the school's founders.
Friend wrote that the charter council feels it will be beneficial to add a school in the southern part of New Hanover County, as Carolina Beach, Anderson and Bellamy are overcrowded.
The Island Montessori School will be accepting applications from March 11 to April 12, and information sessions will be held later this month. Applications will be available at the information sessions and at IslandMontessoriSchool.com.
Right now, the school is operating a preschool for students from ages 1 to 6 at its building in Carolina Beach.
The school will expand into a second building on Carolina Beach Road to accommodate its kindergarten to 5th grade. Between 2014 and 2016, the school plans to expand to grades six through eight.
The school is tuition-free and will accept 144 students. If school leaders get more applications than they have spaces, they will hold a lottery.
Anyone can apply to send their child to the school, as long as they live in North Carolina.
According to board members, the facility will be Wilmington's first fully public Montessori school and one of the newest charter schools in New Hanover County since the state cap was removed.
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