Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) will host a public ribbon cutting today (Tuesday) to celebrate the opening of the new TCAPS Montessori building at 4053 Franke Road. The event is scheduled for 4pm at the school.

The ribbon cutting celebration marks the end of a three-plus-year journey to relocate the TCAPS Montessori school. The TCAPS Board of Education voted back in February 2020 to build a new $16 million Montessori school to replace the aging facility at Glenn Loomis, selecting the site on Franke Road as the best option to allow space for the program to flourish and grow. The project was paid for through bond funds that were approved by TCAPS district residents in 2018.

Construction on the TCAPS Montessori project began in September of 2020, and was initially slated to finish in the summer of 2022, in time for the 2022-23 school year. When the project hit delays due to labor and state inspection shortages, though, the move-in date for students and staff was pushed back.

The 84,000-square-foot school is now complete, and will become the new hub for Montessori education within TCAPS. Beginning with the 2023-24 academic year, the school will accommodate the 500-plus students – from ages 18 months through eighth grade – who currently attend Glenn Loomis.