Montessori school will open a new school building in Polná

Polná (Jihlavsko) – The Montessori kindergarten and elementary school Meruzalka will open a new school building in September in Polná in the Jihlava Region, currently operating in rented premises. The wooden structure in the shape of a circle is set to accommodate not only the elementary school but also a kindergarten and a high school, which Meruzalka is striving to establish. CTK was informed by the school's founder Jana Procházková. Currently, a section of the circle designated for primary education has been built. By September 2021, additional parts, including those intended for the kindergarten, will be constructed. The complete circular building could be finished within five years.

Meruzalka started taking care of its first children in 2013 in Jihlava, has been operating for the third year in Netín in the Žďár region, and since last year in Polná in the Jihlava Region. On September 1, 30 children will enroll in the elementary school there. According to the school principal Lenka Marková, the fact that they will see the ongoing construction every day is an advantage. The traditional construction process can be excellently demonstrated through basic mathematics, she says.

The building, which was highlighted this week by Czech Radio Vysočina, began to take shape last September. The main task for the architects from the A.LT Architekti studio was for the individual functional units to be able to be created gradually while remaining interconnected. The result will be a circular building with an internal covered walkway and an atrium that can also serve as an outdoor classroom with a capacity for two hundred pupils and students.

From September 1, a part with three classrooms, a practice kitchen, changing rooms, sanitary facilities, and facilities for a team of about ten staff members will start to serve. Within a year, a cafeteria and a kindergarten with a capacity of 24 children will follow. Currently, Meruzalka operates a children's group in Polná attended by seven children. "The capacity is 12; I expect we will fill it during the fall," Procházková said.

In addition to caring for preschool children, the school also looks after schoolchildren from the first to the ninth grade. "This year we have ninth graders for the first time; we have hired new teachers with experience in high school and we aim to offer some tutoring as well," Procházková said. The high school that Meruzalka is preparing should focus on technical, natural science, and possibly educational fields.