A new public charter school providing free Montessori education to needy children in western Sussex County is the beneficiary of a $10,000 grant from Captrust.

Cathy Seeber, vice president of Captrust in Lewes, presented the grant check to Jessica Crampton-Bradley, a Lewes resident and board member of Sussex Montessori School.

“This is a wonderful start to our efforts to introduce Sussex Montessori to coastal Delaware donors who care about education,” said Bradley. “The same high-quality public education that coastal families enjoy is not, unfortunately, uniform across Sussex County. This results in a large number of children in poverty who start out behind in school and never catch up.”

Along with a wide range of wrap-around services for its students and their families, the Sussex Montessori curriculum provides more intensive, one-to-one learning than traditional public schools can provide.

Based in Seaford, Sussex Montessori will serve 324 students in grades K-4 during the upcoming school year. By the 2023-24 school, year, more than 600 students will be in the school’s grades K-6. More than 56 percent of its students live in poverty and the majority are from lower-middle-income families.

Captrust provides personalized investment management, financial and estate planning, and tax advice for individuals and families through 50 locations nationwide. Seeber oversees Captrust operations in Delaware from her office in Lewes.

“There are many wonderful children’s causes in Delaware. This year we were especially impressed by the depth of need Sussex Montessori is addressing and the significant number of children it is reaching,” said Seeber.

To learn more, go to sussexmontessoricharter.com.