HISTORY - 85 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
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Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who started her first school for children in the slums of Rome in 1905. News of the successful methods employed in her "Casa de Bambini" spread through Europe and to North America. The first Montessori school in Canada was established when Alexander Graham Bell brought a teacher personally recommended to him by Dr. Montessori back to Canada to teach his deaf grandchild and other children in his home. |
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Margaret Potts, who brought Montessori education to Calgary, was introduced to the philosophy and teachings of Maria Montessori by a professor at the University of Durham in England. In 1915 Margaret met both Dr. Montessori and Dr. Graham Bell at the Pacific International World Fair in San Francisco and was encouraged to promote the teachings of Maria Montessori in Calgary. |
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In 1919 Margaret established her Montessori School in Elbow Park as a day and boarding school for children in Grades one to twelve. Shortly after, she went back to England where she trained directly under Maria Montessori. Returning to Calgary, Margaret became a pioneer of Montessori education in Canada. She trained teachers, founded the Canadian Montessori Association in 1919 and helped establish Montessori schools throughout North America. Members of the Potts family operated the Calgary Montessori preschool and River Valley School until 2003. |
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Today, RVS is a non-profit school operated by a parent board of directors with a strong community of educators, students and parents. Margaret Potts' granddaughter, Alison O'Dwyer, continues to run our sister preschool the Calgary Montessori School for 3-6 year-olds in Calgary. We are thankful to Margaret Potts and her family for laying strong foundations for our school. |
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