ABSTRACT
In January 1988, the author and his wife began operating a private Montessori preschool in Flagstaff, Arizona. Their program was very small, for three related reasons. First, the expense of starting a completely equipped and staffed Montessori elementary program is quite high. Second, Flagstaff lacks the wage base that would allow people to charge the private school tuition necessary to support a new high caliber program. Third, being "poor but proud", people could not bring themselves to offer and advertise a second-rate program. After the state legislature passed charter school legislation that was arguably the most progressive of its kind in the country, people applied for a charter by the end of 1994. As private individuals, one could apply to the state for the authority to operate a public school, and he recognized his opportunity to offer Flagstaff a real Montessori elementary program. The relentless pursuit of perfection that characterizes the Lexus luxury sedan somewhat imperfectly parallels one's own experience.
