Have questions? We hope you’ll find answers here! This Q & A is divided into four sections: The Basics, Student Learning, College Admissions, and More Details.
First, the basics!
Where does Prairie Song Academy meet?
For our first two years, we met at First Presbyterian Church in Kirksville, and were thankful for their hospitality. Beginning in Fall 2023, we were able to rent a building exclusively for our use, with most of the costs associated with the building being donated each year. We continue to meet in this new location, previously Jacob’s Winery, at 26178 Eagle Lane. Here we’re able to give students plenty of room to run and explore outdoors, as well as take on big outdoor learning projects! We’re also able to have a dedicated lab space in addition to our middle school and high school classrooms.
When do middle school and high school students attend on site?
Middle school and high school students attend Tuesday-Friday each week. Middle school meets from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and high school meets from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to accommodate students who wish to take two hours at Kirksville High School in order to be eligible for all KHS activities.
When do middle and high school students work off site?
Middle school and high school students have off-site work each week that is the equivalent of a school day on Monday. They can complete this work anytime between the time it is posted and the following Tuesday morning. Many students will want to do some work after school on some of the Tuesday-Thursdays, but no students should need to complete hours of nightly homework, even for our highest-level honors courses, as we are able to utilize our on-site time extremely well.
Is Prairie Song Academy a religious school?
No. We are a secular school, and no religious instruction of any kind is included. We respect those of all faith traditions and those of no faith tradition. We teach our students that all people deserve our kindness and love, but we do not do so as part of any particular religious framework. We explore many religions as part of our literature and history curriculum, where we find that this type of respect for all is a common theme!
What dates will school be in session?
You can always find our most recent calendar under the “Resources” tab on our website!
Why do you have so many weeks of breaks during the school year?
We’ve discovered that both students and guides do much better work when we have predictable rhythms of work and rest for them. When we are in session, we work very, very hard! Knowing that we have a true rest break coming up within six-eight weeks allows us to maintain our stamina. We don’t have to use filler activities with students to allow our teachers to get a mental break, and students are more willing to engage in their work with energy and effort. Guiding students as they develop is a true privilege, but the mental load and strain of that work is also very heavy. Regular rest breaks help our guides rest, reset, and refocus, making them more effective as they work with your students! It also helps our students reset and have a break from one another, so that they’re able to maintain positive relationships in the classroom!
Do you require vaccinations?
Yes. It is important to us that we protect the most vulnerable among us, which includes immunocompromised Prairie Song members. We also care about the health of our broader community, and want to do all we can to prevent an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. We STRONGLY encourage our families to vaccinate their student according to the 2025 CDC schedule and recommendations, unless that child cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The State of Missouri’s requirements for immunizations in order for a child to attend school can be found here. These requirements apply to private schools in the same way they apply to public schools.
Will there be snow days?
There are sometimes snow days. We do NOT follow the Kirksville district’s determination of snow days any longer as our considerations are different. We generally do not cancel for cold as we do not run buses. We announce our cancellations via email and via Remind, which families can sign up for to get text alerts.
Now, on to questions about student learning at Prairie Song:
You have multi-grade classrooms; which grades are in each classroom?
We have two classrooms.
Our middle school/junior high classroom houses students in 6th-9th grades. Our ninth grade students are considered high school students and earn high school credits (and pay high school tuition), completing work beyond the level of middle school. Our ninth graders are often in the high school classroom part of the day as well.
Our high school classroom is for students in 10th-12th grades.
Each of our classrooms currently has a cap of 15 students.
You say your school is Montessori based. What does that mean?
At its most basic, it means that we follow the cardinal Montessori principle: Follow the child. We observe and interact with our students to find out what they need, and then we meet that need. We introduce new academic material when their interest is high whenever possible, because students learn best when they are interested in the topic. We still require work in areas students are less interested in as well, as it is important for them to become capable, well-rounded students in all areas.
We watch to see what socio-emotional skills are needed based on individual and classroom dynamics, and then we teach those specific skills. We individualize students’ curriculum so that they are working at a level that challenges yet does not frustrate them the majority of the time. We do not expect them to follow a single prescribed path as they learn their academics. We allow consistent space for students to follow and explore their own interests with support in a weekly Project Seminar block.
We do not have fully-trained Montessori guides, and we do not follow the pure Montessori curriculum. We adapt it as necessary to our circumstances, our students, and our teachers. We do use many of the Montessori manipulative materials for the elementary classroom, particularly in math. We follow Maria Montessori’s educational theory in that we encourage students to be as independent as they can be, and we support them in their development. We provide only the amount of structure students show us they need. We want students to be autonomous and intrinsically-motivated learners.
Would you call your classrooms self-directed learning environments?
To an extent, yes, but not entirely. Our middle school classroom is more self directed than the high school classroom is, and there is significant support for students in both classrooms; no student is expected to figure out what they need to learn on their own. Space is made, however, for students to learn on their own and progress as quickly as they wish and are able to do.
In the middle school classroom, we have shelves and works typical of a Montessori environment, so that during work cycle time periods students can choose their work from the shelves. This work changes regularly so that students have new themes to explore. They are guided in their choice of work by both their interests and by required work assigned by Guides.
In the high school classroom, self-directed learning occurs during our weekly Project Seminar blocks, in which students choose a topic or skill they want to learn, design a project based on that topic/skill, and then complete the project. Guides assist and support as needed throughout this process. During the rest of the time, learning is not self directed, but substantial opportunities are given for student choice in every area; we often change books we read as a class based on student interests, present various options for students to demonstrate their learning about a topic, or to choose various subtopics within a class-wide learning theme.
Guides have a variety of classroom management strategies we use to help students maintain their focus during work cycles and Project Seminar blocks, and to help students avoid interrupting others while they are working. None of these, however, involve rewards or punishment. We work with the student to develop their independence, executive functioning skills, and resilience.
What do “on-site” and “off-site” days mean?
We offer a unique hybrid of on-site an off-site instruction for our students. We are a full time, five-day-a-week school, but we meet on site only four days, Tuesdays-Fridays. On Mondays, students are expected to complete off-site work that is either in physical form and sent with them, or posted on our classroom websites. This off-site work often includes background reading in various subjects to prepare students well for our on-site learning activities. You can learn more about what that looks like on our Curriculum page.
Is there any virtual instruction on off-site days?
No. We do not offer any virtual instruction through Prairie Song Academy. We post off-site work on our classroom websites each week, and students complete that work independently, on their own schedule, by the following Tuesday morning. Junior High and High School students DO need to be able to access the internet in order to do their work on off-site days.
Can you educate students who have special needs?
Often, yes! It does depend on the type of needs the student has. Many students with ADHD thrive in our classrooms, because they have freedom of movement and significant choice in their work, enabling us to cater to their interests. Most students with dyslexia also thrive, because our language program includes explicit phonics instruction and morpheme work, and we do not hold dyslexic children back from challenging academic material, regardless of their reading level. Many autistic students also do very well with us. We will always seek to meet the demonstrated needs of our students, and work in partnership with their families to achieve the best outcomes for the child.
However, there are needs that we cannot meet in such a small school. We do not have paraprofessionals, and cannot offer one student constant attention or care. Some mild behavioral challenges can be accommodated, but we do not yet have the resources to address more significant behavioral challenges that disrupt the learning environment.
Please contact our Head of School to discuss any special needs your child has to see if our school would be a good fit for them. We do not wish to turn any interested students away, but we also take the education of our students very seriously, and will not commit to taking on a student we are not sure we can serve well, or who will cause other students to receive less attention than needed for solid academic progress.
Do you offer gifted education?
Yes, but not in the way you might expect if you’re coming from a traditional school. Pull-out programs are usually offered in traditional schools so that gifted students have the opportunity to work at their own academic level and engage in challenging projects. At Prairie Song, we offer this type of instruction to ALL students. There is no need for a separate pull-out program to accomplish this. This also has the benefit of eliminating competition for scarce access to the best instruction. Further, it promotes stronger relationships among students in the classroom. Students are able to accelerate their learning in any given subject as it is appropriate for them.
High school courses are taught at an honors level by default, so all students have access to an honors-level curriculum. Not all students will earn honors credit, but even when earning standard credit, they will have access to a higher-level curriculum and learning activities than they would if enrolled in an on-level course.
What is your student-to-teacher ratio?
Our maximum student-to-teacher ratio for the 2026-2027 school year is 1:15.
Do you require standardized testing?
No. As an independent school in Missouri, there is no requirement for standardized testing of any kind. We measure student progress in a variety of ways, and communicate that to caregivers frequently. We may offer standardized testing, but it will never be more than once per year, never before third grade, and always in consultation with caregivers.
We also do not require any type of testing as part of our admissions process.
And questions about grading and college admissions:
How do you grade students?
We don’t in middle school! Once students reach high school, we do determine a grade for the semester for each subject at the end of said semester to go on the student’s transcript. Assignments during the semester are not graded. We provide consistent feedback on student work, and both students and guides track the work completed, but we do not give assignments numerical or letter grades. We expect students to take risks, working on new content and skills they cannot already do easily, and we also expect them to revise and correct their work as needed. Our policy of not grading assignments helps students do this more effectively.
Grades are supposed to be a measure of student progress, showing when a student has mastered a topic; in practice, however, they do not do this, and they cannot be made truly objective. Grades encourage a student to work for the grade itself rather than work to master a topic or skill. They encourage students to attempt only subjects in which they can excel, and discourage them from trying new things that involve failure at first. Because we want students to view failure as an integral and valuable part of the learning experience, we do not grade them in any subjects. We do, however, monitor their progress as they learn, and give them regular and useful feedback. We simply use informal assessments and observation to do this.
Student progress is communicated to caregivers through a narrative progress report for each semester; these reports do not include letter grades for middle school students. We do send an updated transcript home each semester for our high school students. Grades on this transcript are comparable to grades from a traditional school, and the transcript also includes course descriptions so that other schools understand what material is included in each course.
Can Prairie Song high schoolers get the A+ scholarship for Missouri when they graduate?
YES! We are an A+ school in Missouri as of 2026. Students must have a 95% attendance rate for grades 9-12, maintain a 2.5 unweighted GPA, get an 18 or better on the math section of the ACT, and complete 50 hours of mentoring (which they can easily do on site!) in order to be eligible for the scholarship.
Eligible students receive scholarships to participating community colleges and vocational schools, and many four-year colleges also offer scholarships based on this qualification!
See full details for requirements and benefits of the A+ program here!
Is Prairie Song Academy accredited?
In the 2026-2027 school year, Prairie Song is pursuing full accreditation through the Middle States Association! We are currently hoping to complete this process in April of 2027.
U.S. colleges and universities do not require graduation from an accredited high school for admissions or scholarships, and our graduates have gained admission to over 15 different universities in the past five years when we were not accredited, so this has not hindered them. We are pursuing the accreditation as it will open up some additional funding opportunities for us, but it will not change what we actually do at Prairie Song, as we have always met those standards in practice.
Can Prairie Song high schoolers get into college?
Yes! In five years, our graduates have gained admission to over 15 different universities, including Mizzou, Truman State, the University of Kansas, Indiana University, Louisiana State University, the University of Montana, Clemson University, Auburn University. the College of Lewis and Clark, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Our graduates have also been admitted to and taken advantage of the Honors College programs at Indiana University, the University of Kansas, Mizzou, and Louisiana State University.
We encourage our students to look at schools both within and well outside of the state of Missouri, and we work to stay up-to-date on admissions news (such as the increasing number of colleges offering free tuition to families whose annual income is below $200,000!). Students who wish to apply to competitive colleges or programs are well prepared to do so if they work hard throughout their years with us and succeed in our honors courses.
And finally, a few more details :
Are Prairie Song teachers certified?
Both of our lead Guides were certified teachers when teaching for Missouri public schools, and we could easily update our certifications if needed. The State of Missouri does not require state certification for teachers at private schools. Find out more about our teachers’ qualifications on our Meet the Team page.
Do you offer scholarships to help cover tuition at Prairie Song?
Because we value a truly diverse student body, we have chosen to implement a sliding scale for tuition for every student rather than offer scholarships. Drawing on the experience of other independent schools, we know that offering financial aid creates a dynamic in which there are students from families who can easily afford full tuition, and there are some students on scholarship, but there are no students in the middle, and few from lower socio-economic levels, and thus they miss out on many excellent students. We have designed our sliding scale to be as equitable as possible, in accordance with our mission (find out more about our mission and our values here). You can find our sliding scale on our Tuition page. If you find yourself in circumstances that make your tuition impossible to pay, please contact us.
Can caregivers volunteer in the classroom?
Absolutely! We always welcome volunteers. We do require a simple background check prior to volunteering; just let a guide know that you are interested to initiate that!
Do you have a dress code?
Yes. We ask that all students and staff wear clothes on our on-site learning days. We do not allow t-shirts or other clothing that have words or phrases that are demeaning or hateful toward others.
Prairie Song Academy 