“The task of educators is immense because human progress and world peace are in their hands”
- Maria Montessori
“The task of educators is immense because human progress and world peace are in their hands”
- Maria Montessori
Our History
In 1982, a group of six Columbia families faced a dilemma. Each family had a kindergartner attending one of the two Montessori Primary programs in downtown Columbia, and these children were reading and doing math that put them far ahead of peers in traditional kindergarten. Where would these children go after their Primary Montessori class?
The local elementary schools were not equipped to deal with first-graders who knew how to read, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Local school administrators told the parents that their children could sit in the back of the classroom and read while the other students had their first-grade lessons. After such an engaging Primary Montessori experience, sitting at the back of the room did not seem like a fitting progression for their children’s education.
In 1983, six families, consisting of the Richstads, Dicksons, Scarboroughs, Katzes, Crytals, and Rothmans, decided to start a Montessori Elementary school. Barb Richstad, one of the parents and a teacher who had worked in traditional schools, volunteered to attend Montessori training in New York during the summer of 1983. That fall, the school opened with a class of six first graders at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Five Points.
The school remained in Five Points for a year and a half until an MSC parent found a building for sale on Oceola Street in the Rosewood neighborhood. The roots that were established that year make up the foundation of our campus today.
In 1999, MSC expanded to offer a Primary (3K-5K) program, located at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Greenlawn Drive. It became clear that the school needed a consolidated campus and a bigger space. The Board and staff looked at undeveloped property and existing buildings for many years.
In 2006, the school began purchasing residences directly beside the Elementary school. The Board decided that the school should remain in its existing neighborhood.
Today, MSC has approximately 140 students, ages 3-12, in six classes on a quaint, 3-acre campus in the heart of the Rosewood neighborhood.
