Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment
Address
804 Dr. Robert Keith Wallace Drive Fairfield, Iowa United States
Information
Type	Independent school
Motto	Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness
Established	1974
Headmaster	Richard Beall
Faculty	31 full-time, 18 part-time
Enrollment	220+ K-12
Athletics conference	Southeast Iowa Superconference
Mascot	Pioneers
Website	www.msae.edu

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE or Maharishi School) is an independent, non-denominational,college preparatory school located in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.The school was founded in 1974, received state accreditation in 1986 and began single-gender classes in 1989. It is located on a 10-acre campus within the main campus of the Maharishi University of Management.

The school has an open admissions policy and its curriculum includes the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Its curriculum includes traditional academic subjects as well as the Science of Creative Intelligence. The school and its students have received numerous awards in state, national and international competitions for science, the arts, creativity and athletics.

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment is one of seven college preparatory schools in the state of Iowa and began in 1974 as an elementary school with 12 students. It provided education to the children of the faculty of Maharishi International University (renamed Maharishi University of Management). Enrollment was then opened to children from the community and in 1981 the Upper School was formed.

In 1986, the school received accreditation from the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. In 1987, grades K-6 also received accreditation from the Iowa Department of Education. Grades 7–12 then received accreditation in 1987 from the Iowa Department of Education as a college preparatory school due to the high percentage of graduates being accepted at four-year colleges and universities.

In 1989, the school began to offer single-gender classes whenever class enrollment was sufficient. In 2003, MSAE split into three schools with gender divisions that included the Boys‚ Middle and Upper School, the Girls‚ Middle and Upper School and the Lower School, grades K-6.

In 1996, after eight years of single-gender classes, MSAE and two Iowa school districts were advised to “discontinue gender-segregated classes”. MSAE school officials rejected the state Department of Education’s order. The issue came under the review of the Iowa Attorney General who sent a letter warning MSAE of a violation of Title IX and of state civil rights laws. Despite possible loss of public accreditation and state tax money for textbooks and local services, the school decided to continue single-gender classes the following school year. The school's website indicates that they are maintaining their single-gender classroom format and accreditation by the Iowa State Board of Education.

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