Welcome to Towles Intermediate School

2-Hour Delay: 9:55 am - 2:35 pm 

New Tech Director: Derek Leininger

Welcome to Towles Intermediate School!

Our school is one of Fort Wayne Community School’s magnet schools. Our 1st through 6th grade follows the Montessori curriculum and our 7th and 8th grade is a New Tech school and follows a project-based learning curriculum.

What is Montessori?

     In our Montessori magnet program, all classrooms are multi-aged with most students staying with the same teacher in the same classroom environment for three years. This gives the teacher valuable time to get to know each of his or her students’ learning styles, interests, and abilities so as to personalize the daily instruction. The students become familiar with the routines of the classroom, expectations of the teacher, and availability of materials to help with completing work choices. Parent involvement in their student’s education prospers.

     Teachers are trained beyond their normal university degrees required for licensing in Indiana at an American Montessori Society accredited teacher education center. The Montessori teacher is well trained in Montessori philosophy, curriculum, instructional materials and activities. All of these compliment the FWCS Literacy Program, Envision Math activities, Science kits and Social Studies curriculum. 

     Classroom environments that fascinate both students and parents are carefully planned and prepared by the teachers. Each room is a learning laboratory where the children are free to explore and discover more after lessons have been given. Children develop independence as they choose what work they need to be complete. They also become comfortable and confident in their abilities to master the environment, ask questions, problem solve, and pursue a love for learning. As children move into the upper grade in each classroom, they have opportunities to mentor and assist younger students in the room. Children learn to respect others, respect themselves, and respect the classroom environment. Much time is spent learning how to solve conflicts harmoniously.

Peace is key to the success of our Montessori program.

What is New Tech?

    The Project-Based Learning (PBL) that we do at New Tech focuses on facilitators creating real-world projects that have authentic products (real-world solutions). Students are presented with a problem for which they will then have to create a solution. The environment our students have at school is based on the principles of trust, respect, and responsibility. For more information about our New Tech culture, check out the New Tech culture page on the menu above.

How do projects work?

    At the beginning of a project, facilitators have an entry event that prepares the students by getting them excited and telling them about the topic. After the entry event, students read through an entry document that tells them what the project is about and what they will be doing to complete it. Students form teams and draw up a contract where they list their team agreements, goals and tasks. Once their team contracts are completed, students then generate a list of “Knows” and “Need to Knows” that they will use throughout the project to request workshops from facilitators when they do not understand a specific topic about which they are learning. Each project is comprised of benchmarks that allow students and their facilitators to track the progress of their team. As teams complete their benchmarks, they are building their final product which is often a solution to the problem that was first introduced in the entry document.

Trust, Respect, and Responsibility is key to the success of our New Tech program.

What is New Tech? What makes it a powerful way to engage and connect with students to prepare them for college and empower them to be successful adults in the 21st Century?