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Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment is an independent, non-sectarian school located in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. The school bases its curriculum on the practice of Transcendental Meditation.
History
Maharishi School began in 1974 as an elementary school of 12 students to provide education to the children of the faculty of Maharishi International University (now Maharishi University of Management). When enrollment was opened to children from the local community, the resulting increase enabled the school to move from a small building on campus to its current location, and in 1981 the Upper School was formed. The school became accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) in 1986, and in 1987 grades K-6 became accredited by the Iowa Department of Education, which also accredited grades 7-12 as a College Preparatory School due to the high percentage of graduates accepted at four-year colleges and universities. In 1989 the school began to offer single-gender classes whenever class enrollment was sufficient. As a result of its belief in single gender education, in 2004 the school split into three divisions: 1) Boys‚ Middle and Upper School; 2) Girls‚ Middle and Upper School; and 3) Lower School, grades K-6, which has separate classes for girls and boys.
Academics
The Upper School curriculum includes the traditional core subjects that are taught at most college preparatory schools: math, science, English, and social studies. Sanskrit is offered as a foreign language. A variety of other courses—including speech, art, music, writing, senior thesis, photography, Destination Imagination, Science Fair, and History Fair—round out the curriculum.
Students in all grades practice the Transcendental Meditation technique twice daily during school hours. Students also study the curriculum known as the “Science of Creative Intelligence,” which is explained to be the study of universal principles of natural law. In addition, SCI is integrated into academic course content, and guidelines to promote holistic teaching are followed by the school faculty. The school describes its curriculum and philosophy as “consciousness-based education.”
Fine Arts
The Arts Department consists of Visual Arts and Music. Vocal and instrumental music are offered during school hours and as extracurricular programs. The school is a member of the Photo Imaging Education Association (PIEA), and Middle and Upper School students have placed in the PIEA International Student-Teacher Photo Competition and Exhbition every year.
Athletics
Maharishi School competes in the south division of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference. School sponsored sports include cross-country, basketball, track, tennis, boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball. Any student can be a member of an interscholastic sports team. Since the tennis program began in 1988, the boys’ tennis team has won 16 singles, doubles and team championships, a state record. Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
The School and Community
Parents strongly support the mission of the school, and the idea of consciousness-based education. Many families have moved to Fairfield from elsewhere in the country expressly to allow their children to attend Maharishi School. Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
- "Maharishi School: Consciousness-based education". Retrieved 2007-03-15.
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