La Crescent Montessori Academy became a Minnesota public charter school in August of 1999. The school was founded by a group of interested parents who wanted an all day Montessori school option for their children. LMA began with two classrooms in a brand-new building and had one graduate in it's very first year.
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
Maria Montessori was born in Chiavalle, Italy, in 1870. In 1896 she graduated from the University of Rome as the first female doctor of medicine in Italy. She spent a considerable amount of time observing children in hospitals and clinics, and became interested in the study of education. In 1906, she was asked to organize schools in a slum area of San Lorenzo, Italy. She called this first school "The Children's House," and it was there that the Montessori Method began.
Montessori believed that all children learned through the use of their senses and the work of the hand. She noticed that children had sensitive periods of learning no matter what country or back ground the child had. Today Montessori schools exist on all continents, except Antartica, in all types of cultures and all levels of socio-economic classes. It is one of the only educational models to work in spite of culture, class and language.
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952)