TRAVERSE CITY -- A public Montessori program within Traverse City Area Public Schools has a new director, a change that coincides with its move into a new building.
Angela Camp, a former Montessori teacher and principal, was tapped to lead Traverse City's program this summer after former director Brian Klauer resigned.
Administrators offered the position to Camp, 38, after she initially was hired as an assistant principal at Central Grade School.
"I'm coming in with a fresh mind," she said, adding that she wants to wait to develop specific plans until she can seek staff input. "I just see this as an excellent opportunity for the program to grow."
Camp had been principal at Grayling Elementary since 2000, and prior to that worked for seven years as a teacher and administrator at Saginaw Chippewa Academy in Mt. Pleasant, a Montessori school.
She earned a bachelor's degree in teaching, with a major in English, and a master's degree in educational administration from Central Michigan University.
Her interest in the Montessori teaching method, which favors multi-age classrooms and hands-on learning, influenced her career choices.
"It's important to offer diversified programming to students, because I think students need to be subjected to maybe more than one style of teaching," Camp said.
Klauer took a teaching position in Texas, where his family lives, said Christine Davis, the district's executive director of human resources. He first requested a leave of absence.
His resignation is effective Aug. 31, although Davis said he is not working for the district and thus is not receiving pay.
"It would be very unusual for us to approve a leave of absence for an administrative position," Davis said.
Parents learned in December the program would relocate to Glenn Loomis Elementary, which closed in June. The exchanges between parents on both sides often were heated, particularly at school board meetings in the weeks and months leading up to the decision.
Camp declined to comment on the rift, citing her unfamiliarity with the issue.
But, she said, the move ultimately will benefit the program.
"There's going to be a lot more cohesiveness," she said. "We are very thankful to have this space."
Any change is difficult, said Heidi Mello, who has two children in the program. But she wants it to be seamless.
"I'm hoping that she's going to be great," Mello said. "It's always an easier transition for the kids if the parents can be positive about it. It's the kids who have to live it."
For more information
The Traverse City Area Public Schools Montessori program will have an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 28, to be held at its new site on Oak Street in Traverse City. The building used to house Glenn Loomis Elementary. Visitors can tour the building, meet new Montessori director Angela Camp and participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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