Montessori school planned for stone church at 92nd and Wornall
By Jill Draper
Plans look promising for the old stone church at 9201 Wornall Road to become a private Montessori preschool and elementary school by next fall.
The former All Saints Episcopal Church has been vacant since 2015. Nearby residents protested two earlier proposals—one for a Coach’s Bar & Grill and another for a 98-unit apartment complex—on the 4.7-acre site, but no objections have been raised about its use as a school, said Katie Cochran, a spokesperson for The Filson Group.
“We’ve talked with leaders of the neighborhood groups and they seem very receptive,” she said. “They’re excited something is going to be in there and that the architecture will stay the same.”
The Filson Group is a partnership between the church property owner, Mike Crist of Stonebridge Outdoor, and Matt Myers, an accountant. The group has applied for a special use permit to operate a school in an area zoned residential.
If the permit is approved by the city, the owners would then need to obtain a building permit for modifications. Plans call for adding a small entry vestibule for drop-off and pickup and minor improvements such as new flooring, additional bathrooms and partitions. The sanctuary will be turned into a gymnasium/auditorium with possible use for community meetings in the evenings, Cochran said. Stained glass windows will be removed and donated to the diocese.
Ideas for a playground are still in the design stage, but the outdoor area will contain abundant green space and a working garden, “not just your normal plastic and metal jungle gyms,” she said.
The school expects to enroll newborns through third grade in the beginning. Additional grades will be added later, with a goal of educating more than 200 children in at least 10 classrooms. Employees of the nearby Burns & McDonnell headquarters are expected to be a good market, Cochran said. The school will operate year-round, Monday through Friday, from approximately 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Center Planning and Development is hosting a Zoom meeting with The Filson Group to discuss the special use permit request at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16.
https://us02web.zoom.us/s/3992851818
Call-in Number: 312-626-6799
Meeting ID: 819 6607 9102
Passcode: 791211