Creating a Real School: Lake Country School Montessori Learning Environments 1976-1996

Explore the historical blueprint of institutional development and student-centered learning with Creating a Real School, an insightful educational case study written by pioneering educators Larry and Pat Schaefer. Drawing directly from their profound twenty-year experience (1976–1996) founding and operating the Lake Country School in Minnesota, the authors detail the evolution of authentic Montessori learning environments. This highly scannable volume addresses a critical cornerstone of academic administration: building a sustainable learning institution by shifting parents from passive consumers to active pedagogical partners. By utilizing a cross-disciplinary pedagogical blueprint that bridges educational history, alternative child development philosophies, school administration, and institutional sociology, this guide acts as an essential enrichment manual and structural resource for school directors, administrative coordinators, teacher leaders, and pioneering parent boards.