Margo Rossano envisioned an exceptional preschool for her youngest child. Research led her to the Montessori Method, where students experience the excitement of learning with concrete materials that guide them to understand abstract ideas.

Mrs. Rossano’s vision became a reality in 1966, when Bellevue Montessori School opened as the first Montessori school on the eastside. The school began in a small two-room schoolhouse in downtown Bellevue. As more parents learned about this amazing method of education, the need for a larger school soon became apparent.

Mrs Rossano selected a site with special attributes for a new building. A natural, treed environment with a slope would provide nature studies and muscle development. She chose an architectural team to design a building oriented to the heavily wooded hillside while preserving the natural beauty on the 1½-acre site. Walkways link the outside and inside learning environments.

The entrance opens to a perceptual motor court surrounded by five classrooms. Interior classroom design provides large community space while also allowing smaller learning areas. Each room has high ceilings and large windows, as well as a children’s bathroom. An outside door leads to nature trails.

A program for elementary education was established in 1975 and now serves kindergarten through fifth grade students in three classrooms at the Park Campus.

A premier school, Bellevue Montessori School has served as a model school for the Montessori community.

Bellevue Montessori School opens its doors as a training school for future Montessori teachers. Students from four Montessori training programs in the greater Seattle area desire to intern here.  Working for a year under the guidance of experienced teachers furthers the training of these interns and provides them with a strong foundation from which to launch their new careers.