Community Montessori

History

The building which houses Community Montessori was originally built in 1921 as a parish hall for the Church of the Holy Communion.

Above: The original main entrance to the Memorial Parish House, built in 1921. This is the building still standing and housing Community Montessori today.

In 1968, the parish hall property was deeded to the new nonprofit, Community Daycare Center, formalizing the use of the building as a preschool and childcare center.

Left: The parish hall is officially deeded to Hilltop Day Care Center on January 9, 1968. Image courtesy of Tacoma Public Library, Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library, (Richards Studio D153256-8R).

Right: Children attending the newly established childcare center compete in a horserace, February 7, 1968. Image courtesy of Tacoma Public Library, Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library, (Richards Studio D153502-1R).

Unfortunately, the deterioration of unreinforced masonry construction within the historic church building (constructed in 1926) led to its demolition. The previous church site is now the North Field.

Above: The Church of the Holy Communion which previously sat on the site of the North Field. You can see the Parish hall on the left-hand side of this photograph, taken circa 1932. Image courtesy of Tacoma Public Library, Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library, (Richards Studio 621-12).

The childcare established has now been in continuous operation for over 55 years and is not affiliated with any religious entity or establishment.

In 2001 the church was demolished. Ms. Hyland read Montessori From The Start. Conversion to a Montessori curriculum prompted the name change in 2004. Ms. Hyland completed Infant Toddler and Primary (preschool) Montessori training. Robert Hyland manufactured many of our earliest Montessori wood materials or repaired used ones. Ms. Hyland completed a Master in Teaching in Elementary Education graduate program and we became an approved private school with the 2008-09 school year so Community Montessori’s smart, hard-working and math and engineering minded students had an alternative to public school. Democratic school ideals were adopted in 2015.

Ms. Hyland identified a need for a private schooling option to provide an extension of the Montessori curriculum used within the preschool and supportive of the asynchronous development of especially gifted students.