Montessori school will return to GTC

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Valley Montessori School will return to its original location in the Ground Transportation Center for the 2010-11 school year.

Parents and staff were informed of the decision in August.

“We were just waiting for the city to make a decision because we lease the space from the city,” said Linda Rehnstrom, school administrator.

The school has operated from First Baptist Church-Church of the Brethren, 5200 Northland Ave. NE, since the June 2008 flood.

The city awarded a contract for the renovations last month. Sandy Pumphrey, Cedar Rapids Public Works Department, said work should begin this month or in early February.

The project is slated to be finished May 31. Rehnstrom doesn't know if the school's summer program will operate from the downtown site or remain in the temporary location.

“It's too soon to know,” she said.

Other floors of the Ground Transportation Center, not owned by the city, have remained occupied since the flood. Pumphrey said the city is looking at what could be done with the former bus depot space.

Cedar Valley Montessori had leased space in the Ground Transportation Center for 12 years before the flood.

“We loved our original site,” Rehnstrom said.

“It was spacious and had a great location downtown, which was convenient for many of our families.”

For more information, visit http://cedarvalleymontessori.org/