ABC-Stewart School

My experiences at ABC Stewart more than 25 years ago continue to positively impact my life today! Thank you Mrs. Carmichael!

My family lived in Columbus, IN for three years, when I was in 2^nd — 4^th grade. Because the local public schools had a poor reputation, my parents enrolled me in the elementary school at ABC Stewart and my brother in the pre-​school. Although I was pretty young at the time and only attended for a few years, I look back at ABC Stewart as being an amazing experience that has positively impacted me in adulthood.
ABC Stewart’s elementary school is a small, intimate environment. The years I attended the total population ranged from 60 to 90-​something students, and the younger grades usually had more people than the older grades. This allowed for a highly personalized learning environment. Although the default was to be grouped by grade, Stewart School allowed us to learn at our own pace. For example, I was ahead of my grade in spelling and English classes, so I was allowed to work with the higher grades for those periods. For math and science, where I was grade level, I returned back to my peers.
ABC Stewart is not a true Montessori school but uses many Montessori aspects. We had traditional classes part of the day, but the other part (the fun half!) was independent study. In independent study we could travel from classroom to classroom and learn the subject of our choice. (There was a system in place to make sure kids didn’t spend all the time in one subject.) I loved independent study and feel the system instills an enjoyment of learning I didn’t get when I was older and in public schools.
ABC Stewart Elementary is truly a nurturing and caring environment with great teachers who genuinely love their jobs. Mrs. Carmichael, the founder, is a visionary who is committed to the students, parents, and keeping the school great. If you’re stuck in the Columbus area and have kids, I would definitely send them here.