On January 6, 1907, the first "Casa de Bambini" (Italian for "Children's House") opened in a slum quarter of Rome. Fifty children, aged three to six, were part of an astounding revolution in education begun by Maria Montessori.
Sixty years later, in September 1967, Donna Pesoli (now Donna Bryant Goertz) and her family opened Austin Montessori School in an abandoned World War II army barracks on the campus of St. Edward's University. Seventeen children, aged two and a half to five, and one assistant formed the founding class.
Today Donna acts as a resource to schools around the world. She is well known as being the founder of a Montessori institution that develops the potential of children, and which offers the city of Austin and surrounding areas a quality in education that is unmatched.
More information on the history of Austin Montessori School can be found in our Annual Report.