KIHEI — Montessori Hale O Keiki will add 7th- and 8th-grade classes, plus more preschool space in its upcoming school year, The Maui News reported.

The expansion for 2008-09 means moving office staff members out of their current "upper" school location on Kanakanui Road in Kihei and making way for students in the 7th and 8th grades.

Montessori will keep 4th- through 6th-graders at the same Kanakanui location. Currently, there are 18 students enrolled in those grades, and many of those have indicated an interest in continuing with the school into the 7th and 8th grades.

Montessori Executive Director Elaine Blasi said there will be room for another 10 students in what will be the 4th through 8th grades next school year.

In the meantime, Montessori has applied for a county permit to erect a new preschool building north of Kanakanui on the grounds of Trinity Episcopal Church-by-the-Sea on Kulanihakoi Street. The church already provides space for Montessori preschoolers in one of its buildings and has allowed Montessori to build two other classrooms for its "primary" school — 1st through 3rd grades — on church property.

The ideal for Blasi, Montessori Hale O Keiki's founder, would be to develop an entirely new campus that houses all her students from preschool through 8th grade, ages 3 to 14.

"We have all these families depending on us to do it," Blasi said.

The dream of one campus cannot become a reality for at least three years. Blasi and her staff and supporters are making contact with landowners of property mauka of Piilani Highway.

Blasi said she needs at least 8 acres to construct a new campus that would house up to 200 students. There are no plans to develop a high school.

The expansion plans are Montessori's response to appeals from families who want a private education for their children, Blasi said. When Blasi opened her school in 1991, she found families who wanted an alternative to a public education.

These days, Blasi said, there's more interest in her school's Montessori education and curriculum, which are based on the child development theories of Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"I think we're getting to the point where they want to get a Montessori education," Blasi said.

The Montessori method emphasizes self-directed activities by students and clinical observation by teachers. It stresses the importance of adapting a child's learning environment to his or her developmental level, and of the role of physical activity in absorbing academic concepts and practical skills.

Montessori Hale O Keiki and Montessori School of Maui in Makawao both incorporate Maria Montessori's theories, but the campuses are owned and operated separately. The two schools come together once a year for a fundraiser.

Montessori Hale O Keiki prides itself as the winner of the prestigious 2007 Leading Edge Award for Demographic Sustainability from the National Association of Independent Schools.

The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools and the American Montessori Society.

Tuition is $8,400 per student in preschool through 6th grade. It will be $600 more per year per student for the 7th and 8th grades.

If approved, the new preschool building will allow Montessori Hale O Keiki to add as many as 24 preschool students to the 40 already on its roster. (It already has three newborns placed on a waiting list for the 2010 school year.)

Meanwhile, the primary school of 1st to 3rd grade has an enrollment of 31.

For more information, call the school at 874-7441 or visit its Web site at www.montessorihaleokeiki.com.

For more Maui news, visit The Maui News.