Arcadia Montessori School

About Arcadia Montessori School The Arcadia Montessori School was founded in 1963. It is the oldest Montessori School in the San Gabriel Valley. We have no religious affiliation of any kind. Linda Pilmer (who is a credentialed school psychologist ) has been the owner of the school since 1980. The director is Cheryl Roberts who has been affiliated with the school for more than thirty years. Dr. Maria Montessori believed that education begins at birth and that the first years, being the most formative, are the most important. This system of education is both a philosophy of child growth and a rationale for guiding such growth. It is based on the child's developmental needs for freedom within limits, and a carefully prepared environment. The child develops by means of experiences in his environment. These experiences are called "work". The child has a deep love and need for purposeful work. He works, however, not as an adult for profit and completion of a job, but for sake of the activity itself. Many activities are offered which differ from those in traditional nursery schools. Exploration of ideas is encouraged from a concrete level to abstraction in an orderly way. A rich curriculum is provided with experiences in art, music, mathematics, science, language and practical life. Learning is individualized and the impulse for learning is the self-motivation that exists within each child.