The Guidepost Montessori was approved unanimously during a Feb. 27 Richardson City Council meeting. According to Mark Goodman, project manager with Higher Ground Education, the company that owns and operates Guidepost schools, the new location is needed to meet the demand for private schools in the region. Guidepost Montessori will serve infants and those up to 6 years old.
“We do not have a ‘build it, they will come' mentality when we look at our projects,” Goodman said at the meeting. “We have to have the demand there, or we can't build."
According to the approved special zoning ordinance, the Montessori school will have a maximum enrollment of 163 students and 19 faculty members. Parents will be required to park their vehicle to drop off and pick up students alongside Jonsson Boulevard at select times, which officials said will prevent queuing along the street.
In addition, the school is expected to have 39 total parking spaces, according to a requirement of the approved ordinance. Other features of the school include an outdoor seating area near the northwest corner of the building and the addition of fenced playground areas with shade structures along Jonsson Boulevard on the east and west side of the building.
The site was developed in 2004 as a 10,250-square-foot single-story office building with a single point of access to Jonsson Boulevard, which it shares with Pavilion Bank.
Pavilion Bank ownership submitted written opposition to the school ordinance, forcing a supermajority vote by City Council due to Texas Local Government Code.
“While we're happy to have a new tenant next door, we are concerned about small children playing in the playground adjacent to our property,” Pavilion Bank President Bob Butler said at the meeting. “While we think it could be a great amenity for the community, we are concerned about traffic patterns.”
To accommodate concerns, a left-turn lane for westbound traffic on Jonsson Boulevard at an existing median opening will be constructed.
No expected date of opening has been announced.
For more information on the new planned Montessori school, visit here.
