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ABOUT ARBOR
Arbor Montessori School 1970-2008
The Rest is History
In 1970, ten young women graduated from Montessori teacher training in Atlanta with a passion to share what they had learned. They quickly faced the daunting realization that there were virtually no Montessori schools in the city. The only thing left to do was to start their own school--and, as they say--the rest is "history."
With the zeal that they now attribute to youthful naiveté, the group set forth to find space and interview prospective families. "What would they have thought had they known there was no one else in the class?" founder Betty Litsey says. "Or that we had no furniture and no materials," co-founder Arabelle Luckhardt still wonders. Still, the teachers persevered; that September, after mortgaging their homes, deferring their salaries, and buying materials out of pocket, they opened the doors of Montessori Child Development Centers(MCDC) in four different rented locations throughout the city. Forty -five children, ages 3 and 4 showed up for the first day of school.
One of our original ten founders is still teaching at Arbor. Betty Litsey has taught children of all ages, but for the majority of her career has guided countless 9-12 year olds through their Upper Elementary experience. As the founder of our Outdoor Program, Betty has facilitated more wilderness camping, backpacking, and whitewater canoeing trips than anyone else at Arbor.
Arbor Montessori School (as MCDC was renamed in 1986) is currently celebrating its 38th year. In these three decades, Arbor has become known nationwide as a premier Montessori school, one of the largest AMI schools in the southeast, and is regarded and studied by many as a model learning environment.
