From Maria Montessori’s brilliant education design, our school was founded in 1966. A project created and carried out by Kate Wells and her husband. The first Ottawa Montessori School was located in the New Edinburg/Rockliffe Park area and taught by Ms. Jeanne Van Dijk, who trained under Dr. Maria Montessori.
Over a number of years, the school grew to four locations, including both English and Francophone Casa classes. In 1973, Beth Mackay opened the first Elementary class and several years later, the Upper Elementary class was opened by Pat McLaughlin. Our Francophone Lower Elementary program saw the light of day in the late seventies under the tutelage of Erna Handa.
In 1985, our current Alta Vista campus was established. It has undergone several renovations to create a beautiful Montessori community.
In 1998, Monica Pecek opened the first Francophone Upper Elementary class while our Toddler community was established under the direction of Susan Jones.
The one of a kind, urban Montessori High School, The Element, was championed by Pat Gere and opened its doors in 2014. This second campus of OMS Montessori is located at Lansdowne Park, in the Glebe.
In September 2019, the first Bilingual Casa class opened under the leadership of Carrie Whalen, Head of School.
OMS Montessori is CCMA accredited and is recognized as a leading Montessori school in Canada.
