Chrysalis School and Chrysalis Center for Change

Situated on the edge of the Wekiva Trail near the junction of I-4 and 434 off Douglas Avenue in Altamonte Springs, Chrysalis School is a private academic track Montessori school with an ambitious curriculum and a family-centered approach. We serve students from kindergarten through eight grade. In addition to typically developing children, we also serve children with special educational needs. Today "special education" is a much broader and more inclusive term than it was historically. Special needs include specific learning disabilities, processing difficulties, and attention disorders that we didn't even know existed thirty years ago. We knew there were quirky kids, struggling kids, and kids who didn't pay attention, but we didn't have diagnoses for them. Today the Florida School Choice legislation allows parents of these children to opt out of a public system that has not provided for their unique needs. The schools that have emerged since the Choice legislation was written have been a reflection of the expertise and interests of the dedicated individuals who founded them. Chrysalis School is a very different sort of school because our expertise is broad and our interest is not in a particular type of child but in refining a process that solves instructional problems for all children and their teachers.