Our History

It all started when…

Over 50 years ago, a group of local parents wanted their children to have a Montessori education. The Pioneer Valley Montessori Society was established in 1964. Richard and Emma Wilder Anderson donated the land for the school. (They also owned the adjacent Camp Wilder).  A one-classroom building was constructed less than a year later. 

In 1971, an additional classroom and office were added to the original building to keep up with enrollment demands. A Montessori elementary program was started in 1979 with ten first graders.  In 1981, three classrooms, a multi-purpose room and a kitchen were added. Over the next five years, a new grade was added each year up to Grade 6.

In 1999, the toddler classroom was added onto the building. At the ground breaking, Emma Wilder Anderson, original donor of the land and (then) in her 90s, dug the first shovel of dirt!