Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any famous or successful people who were Montessori educated?
Below is a list of many familiar people who were Montessori educated:
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google.com
- Jeff Bezos, financial analyst and founder of AMAZON.COM
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature
- Katherine Graham (deceased), owner/editor of the Washington Post
- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (deceased), editor, former first lady (John F. Kennedy)
- Sean "P.Diddy" (formerly known as Puffy) Combs, RAP mega-star
- Anne Frank, famous diarist from World War II
- Prince William and Prince Harry, English royal family
- T. Berry Brazelton, noted pediatrician and author
- Julia Child, famous chef, star of many TV cooking shows and author of numerous cookbooks
- Elizabeth Berridge, actress (Constanze in Amadeus)
- Kami Cotler, actress (youngest child on long running series The Waltons)
- Melissa and Sarah Gilbert, actresses
- David Blaine, magician, endurance artist and advocate of "street magic"
Famous people who chose Montessori schools for their own children:
- Stephen J. Cannell, TV writer-producer-director (including The Rockford Files)
- Patty Duke Austin, actress
- Cher, singer-actress
- John Bradshaw, psychologist and author
- Yul Brynner (deceased), actor
- Marcy Carcy, TV producer
- Bill and Hillary Clinton, former president and senator, NY
- Michael Douglas, actor
- Shari Lewis (deceased), puppeteer
- Yo Yo Ma, cellist
Others with a Montessori connection:
- Alexander Graham Bell (deceased), noted inventor, and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Education Association in 1913. They also provided financial support directly to Dr Montessori and helped establish the first Montessori class in Canada and one of the first in the United States
- Mister Rogers (deceased), children’s TV personality, was a strong supporter of Montessori education
- Thomas Edison (deceased), noted scientist and inventor, helped found a Montessori school
- President Wilson’s daughter trained as a Montessori teacher. There was a Montessori classroom in the basement of the White House during Wilson’s presidency
- Alice Waters, restaurateur and writer, is a former Montessori teacher
- Bruno Bettelheim (deceased), noted psychologist and author was married to a Montessori teacher
- Erik Erikson (deceased), noted anthropologist/author, had a Montessori teaching certificate
- Jean Piaget (deceased), noted Swiss psychologist, made his first observations of children in a Montessori school. He was also head of the Swiss Montessori Society for many years
Can you be flexible about the age for starting Kindergarten? Can children skip grades?
Montessori offers a huge breadth of academic instruction in each classroom. We prefer that children stay close to their peer group for social and emotional development. They can be easily accelerated academically.
We are interested in the teaching of values, which we feel is missing in traditional schools. What values are parts of your program?
The love of learning is the core of Montessori values. Speaking and acting with kindness, integrity and respect is our top priority. Children and teachers develop a "Code of Living"’ or social contract to create an environment conducive to work and growth.
Children are engaged in the process of developing internal discipline. Universal spiritual insight and growth are addressed but we are a non-sectarian school and do not teach any particular religion. We do not discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation; rather, we value our diversity.
Why does the school maintain a non-competitive atmosphere?
There is a lot of joy and personal social and emotional development in cooperative learning. The cooperative, loving atmosphere in a Montessori school pays off in the long term, as compared to the painful, competitive, constantly comparing kids, someone-has-to-lose-in-order-for-me-to-win situation in traditional schooling.
In a Montessori environment, each child is on his or her own educational journey and is not being asked to compete with others, only to continue on his or her own journey with due diligence while amongst others.
People and children learn a lot from each other. The students take pride in giving lessons and assistance and understanding to those who are younger than they are and look to older students with an expectation of being treated well by them and learning from them. They learn leadership skills as well as support skills. Leadership requires skills in teamwork and cooperation. We are training the future leaders of our world.