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Fast Facts

Interested in Montessori?
Here are some fun facts about Montessori!

A conservative estimate is that there are upwards of 25,000 Montessori schools in 110 countries serving more than a million children.

Montessori schools are both public and private; over 200 public schools in the United States and Canada offer Montessori programs.

The latest edition of Guinness World Records awards the title to the City Montessori School in the Indian city of Lucknow with 39,437 registered pupils in the 2010-2011 academic year.

Alexander Graham Bell, noted inventor, provided financial support directly to Dr. Montessori. Helped establish the first Montessori school in Canada in 1912 at Beinn Bhreagh, his Nova Scotia home.

Margaret Potts opened the second Montessori school in Calgary, Canada in 1919. This school is the longest continuously operating Montessori School in North America.

Canada’s first Montessori Junior High program was started at Montessori House of Children, London, Ontario. The school is now known as Montessori Academy of London. (That’s us!)

The first Montessori school in the USA was set up in 1912. The school was located in Tarrytown, New York by Anne E. George.

Woodrow Wilson, President of The United States of America had a Montessori classroom installed in the basement of the Whitehouse during his term of office for staff to send their children to and his daughter trained as a Montessori teacher. Margaret Wilson was on the committee that brought Dr Montessori to the USA in 1915.

There are many famous graduates of Montessori programs, some of whom are:

  • Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
  • Jeff Bezos, financial analyst, founder, AMAZON.COM
  • Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders, GOOGLE.COM
  • T. Berry Brazelton, noted pediatrician and author
  • Julia Child, chef
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber, world-famous composer
  • Katherine Graham, former owner/editor of the Washington Post
  • Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, editor, former first lady (John F. Kennedy)
  • Taylor Swift, Musician
  • Beyonce Knowles, Musician
  • Prince William and Prince Harry, British royal family
  • Anne Frank, famous diarist from World War II
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize winner for Literature

These famous people chose Montessori schools for their own children:

  • Brene Brown, Author
  • Stephen J. Cannell, TV writer-producer-director (The Rockford Files and many others)
  • Patty Duke, actress
  • Cher Bono, singer-actress
  • John Bradshaw, psychologist and author
  • Yul Brynner, actor
  • Marcy Carcy, TV producer
  • William Jefferson, former President of USA
  • Woodrow Wilson, former President of USA
  • Hillary Clinton, USA Senator, NY,
  • Michael Douglas, actor
  • Shari Lewis, puppeteer
  • Yo Yo Ma, cellist
  • Trevor Eissler, Author and pilot

And… these people also have a strong Montessori Connection:

  • Erik Erikson, anthropologist/author, had a Montessori teaching certificate
  • Jean Piaget, noted Swiss psychologist, made his first observations of children in a Montessori school
  • Alice Waters, restaurateur and writer, is a former Montessori teacher
  • Thomas Edison, noted scientist and inventor, helped to found a Montessori school
  • Mister Rogers, children’s TV personality, strong supporter of the Montessori method

But most importantly YOU and YOUR FAMILY are part of, or could be part of, this unique experience!