Choua Kue
Head of school
Leads the school and gives lessons in the middle school room on Thursdays. Speaks English and Hmong with families, and greets most of them at the door.
Montessori elementary and middle school
Mixed-age rooms where children choose their work
Folio teaches ages 6 to 14 in three rooms, with guides who speak English and Hmong. Families visit first, then apply in the winter for the fall.
The three rooms
Three mixed-age rooms, from first grade to eighth
Children stay in a room for three years, learn beside older and younger classmates, and move up with their guide's help.
Lower elementary
Ages 6 to 9, grades 1 to 3SkillsReading and writing, each child at their own pace
Math with beads, boards and cubes a child can hold
Stories of how the earth, living things and people came to be
Cooking and gardening in small groups
Moving upA child moves to the upper room when the guides and the family agree it is time, after visiting the room and meeting its guides.
Upper elementary
Ages 9 to 12, grades 4 to 6SkillsResearch that starts from a child's own question
Fractions, geometry and first algebra, worked with materials
Long writing: reports, stories and letters
Small seminars and a weekly class meeting
Moving upOlder children lead lessons for younger ones. Moving to the middle school room is planned with the family, with visits first.
Middle school
Ages 12 to 14, grades 7 and 8SkillsWork on the land: a garden, a greenhouse and the compost
A service morning each week in Sheboygan
Essays, lab notebooks and one long project each term
Class meetings where students help make school decisions
Moving upGrade 8 ends with a presentation before families, and the school talks with each family about the next school.
Where to startAsk which room fits your child
Sample levels.
Classes
Rooms by grade and by hour
Every room keeps the same school day. Extended day and early arrival are by sign-up.
| Ages | Class size | School day8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.5 days | Extended day3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.5 days | Early arrival7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower elementaryGrades 1 to 3A three-hour work cycle every morning. | 28 | Offered | OfferedSnack and outdoor time | Offered |
| Upper elementaryGrades 4 to 6Group lessons in the morning, projects after lunch. | 28 | Offered | OfferedA quiet work room and outdoor time | Offered |
| Middle schoolGrades 7 and 8One morning a week is spent on the land and in the community. | 24 | Offered | OfferedA study room until 4:30 p.m. | Not offered |
Fees and what each is for
- Application
- Covers reading the application and the visit with the child. Due when a family applies.
- Enrollment
- Holds a place after an offer is accepted, and goes toward tuition.
- Materials and supplies
- The work materials, art supplies and books for the year, ordered by the school.
- Extended day and early arrival
- Billed by the month for the days a family uses.
- Field trips
- A few day trips in the year, billed when a family signs the permission slip.
Sample programs.
The school year
When to visit, apply and hear from us
Families apply in the winter for the fall. The office sends exact dates each summer.
This school year
Open houses
October and January · Walk the rooms, meet the guides and hear from the head of school.
Visit days
Most Wednesdays, October to March · A morning in a room, then a talk with the head of school.
Applications open
November · For the fall that follows.
Application deadline
Early February · Every family hears at the same time.
Decisions
Early March · By letter and by phone.
Enrollment agreements
Late March · Signed to hold a place.
Orientation
Late August · New families meet their guides and see the room.
First day
Early September
Sample dates.
A morning at Folio
Three hours to follow a question
Each morning begins with a work cycle: a long, quiet stretch when children choose from the lessons their guide has given them, work alone or with a partner, and come to the guide when they want a new lesson.
No bell breaks it up. A guide might sit with one child over a fraction while another reads in the corner and three more plan a map.
Lessons given to one child or a small group
Materials a child can hold and check alone
Notes sent to families twice a year
Guides
The guides you meet at the door
Ten guides share the three rooms, and two speak Hmong as well as English.
Kabao Vaj
Upper elementary guide
Gives the math and geometry lessons in the upper room and runs the garden. Speaks English and Hmong.
Anita Mehta
Lower elementary guide
Gives the reading and language lessons in the lower room and sits with each new family at a visit.
How tuition and aid work
The school gives its figures at a visit, so you never read an old one.
Tuition is set by the year and by the room a child is in. Extended day and early arrival are billed apart, by the month, for the days a family uses. The school gives its figures at every visit and in the enrollment packet.
Set by the room
Extended day billed apart
Figures given at the visit
Registration
A family pays an application fee when it applies, which covers reading the application and the visit with the child. After an offer there is an enrollment fee that holds the place. Each is listed, with its purpose, below.
Application: when a family applies
Enrollment: when an offer is accepted
Financial aid is available; here is how to apply. After you submit an application, the office sends an aid form. A small committee reads each form and answers when admissions decisions go out. Ask the office about state programs for families who may qualify.
An aid form follows the application
Decisions come with admissions decisions
Ask us about state programs
Siblings
A second child, or a third, is handled differently, and the office will explain how when you apply. Brothers and sisters are read in the same admissions season so a family hears about everyone at once.
Come and see a morning
Book a visit day, or come to an open house in the fall.