Garden Montessori School was founded in 1978 and was located in a church fellowship hall on Diablo Road in Danville until 1989 when the church was replaced by a senior citizen’s facility.
We purchased the house on Verona Avenue in Danville in 1989 and spent the next 9 months remodeling and creating a Children’s House. We moved to the Verona location in July 1990. Garden Montessori School looks like the other houses in the neighborhood from the outside, but not on the inside!
We basically gutted the existing house. We moved walls and created the spaces we needed to provide a fun and working environment for the children. We were finally able to have child size sinks with hot and cold running water and bathrooms designed for children. Over the years we have added a reading loft, a children’s lending library, and a full children’s kitchen where the children can prepare their own snacks, wash their own dishes, etc. We continue to have new ideas and make changes.
The move to a permanent facility meant we did not have to dismantle the classroom each weekend and we could put up wall hangings and artwork. We suddenly had a huge playground with grass and trees!! We planted gardens, built play structures and expanded the indoor classroom to the outdoors. We added fish, a box turtle named Sheldon and rabbits to our environment. In our backyard, we have a loquat tree, raspberries, blueberries, vegetables and a wonderful butterfly garden. We started our Monarch project and we have pollinators and host plants to attract and raise butterflies.
We expanded our curriculum on seeds and planting. We are truly a Garden School!
Garden Montessori School, Preschool, Danville, Ca.
