Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) will livestream a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, April 15 for the district's new Montessori school being constructed on Franke Road.

The ceremony will take place from 5pm-5:30pm. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook for families and the public to watch here. A larger grand opening celebration is expected to take place after the school’s completion. The new school will replace the existing TCAPS Montessori at Glenn Loomis school on Oak Street. The two-story building is planned to house 22 classrooms, including two toddler classrooms, five children’s house classrooms, six lower elementary classrooms, six upper elementary classrooms, and three adolescent classrooms (the school will accommodate toddlers up through eighth graders). TCAPS Montessori will have a total capacity of 500-550 students. Other amenities include a pod structure for classrooms, cubbies in all classrooms (no lockers in the building), a science lab, gardens and a greenhouse, a maker’s space, art/music/band rooms, and a dedicated Spanish room and itinerant spaces.

More than $20 million in construction bids were awarded for the new school by the TCAPS board in March. The school is being funded through a 2018 voter-approved $107 million capital bond plan – monies that can only be spent on certain project areas, like buildings, facilities, and land. The school should be completed in term for the start of the fall 2022 semester.