DALLAS/FORT WORTH --  Bachman Lake Community School is being hailed as a model institution for providing parent education and early literacy training to poverty level families using Montessori-style instruction. Early childhood educators from around the world will tour Bachman Lake Community School from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., on Friday, August, 5, 2011.

The school is located at 3108 Valley Meadow Dr. #E110, Dallas, Texas 75220. Teachers, therapists, community organizers and humanitarians using the Montessori teaching method are in North Texas for the Educateurs sans Frontières (Teachers without Borders) Third International Assembly, taking place at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas through August 11, 2011.

Bachman Lake Community School is one of three institutions operated by East Dallas Community Schools. The school has an  outstanding record of educating children from primarily low income families of diverse cultures for more than 30 years. 

“In the Bachman Lake neighborhood, the high school graduation rate is less than 50%,” says Bachman Lake Community School Executive Director Terry N. Ford. “Children who attend East Dallas Community School through the third grade have increased high school graduation rates of 94%, with 88% of those graduates attending college.“

Bachman Lake Community School programs are funded by the Zero to Five Funders’ Collaborative, the Rainwater Charitable Foundation and Early Head Start.

Founded in 1999, Educateurs sans Frontières (EsF) is a group of Montessori educators who apply child development knowledge and the internationally recognized principles of Montessori education to help refugees, homeless youth and children living in poverty in countries all over the world. More than 70 participants from as far away as Tanzania, Australia, Japan, and India are attending the EsF conference. They will spend two weeks attending workshops, discussing, reflecting, and exploring ways to bring the Montessori approach to children and families in need outside the traditional school framework.  Participants include teachers, infant mental health specialists, community organizers, child and family therapists, and humanitarians who are working with refugee children in Kenya and villagers in Uganda, Aboriginal children in Australia, impoverished children in Haiti, and homeless children and immigrant families in the US.

Speakers to be featured at the EsF Assembly include:

Terry N. Ford and John Fullinwider of East Dallas Community Schools

Willie Bennett and Socorro Perales of Dallas Area Interfaith

André Roberfroid, President of AMI and former UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Program and Strategic Planning

Laura Peterson of Hand to Hearts International

Pablo Stansbery of Save the Children/USA

Philip O’Brien of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

EsF is sponsored by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).  Founded in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori to protect and promote her work in education and human development, AMI is involved in the training of teachers and accreditation of Montessori schools that meet the highest standards of authentic Montessori education.  AMI is also a non-governmental organization (NGO) represented at the United Nations. 

The Educateurs sans Frontières Third International Assembly continues at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas through August 11, 2011. Additional information is available online at www.montessori-ami.org.