In the summer of 1996, a group of 6 families from the Lone Tree and Castle Rock Montessori school communities came together with a goal to develop a charter Montessori elementary school. Soon they were joined by dozens of other families with a similar interest and, after months of tireless efforts, they received a charter from the Douglas County School District in March of 1997. In this same year, the MEF obtained non-profit status and the school began educating our children in a temporary modular building.
A few years later, MEF parent volunteers secured a 7,000,000 bond to finance the permanent elementary school facility. The current facility opened in the fall of 2000.
Contributions to our non-profit entity are tax deductible and are used solely for the benefit of DCS Montessori School at the direction of the DCS Administration and the DCS Board of Directors.
To view our IRS Form 990 for the last several years, please CLICK HERE to visit the Foundation Center and enter 841418418 (no dashes) in the EIN search field.
20 Years of DCS Montessori
We are celebrating our 20th year as a school this year! Here are some of the highlights from the past 20 years.
1996
- Jean Pilon’s dream began to combine the virtues of Montessori education with the innovative role of the Charter school.
- A community of over 100 active volunteers contributed their time, talent, energy, and money to move the process forward.
- A group of parents formed the Steering Committee which became the School Board
1997
- Charter Approved for K-8, one of the first 25 charter schools in Colorado
School of approximately 130 students originally housed in two trailers on Carter Court, off Santa Fe and Highlands Ranch Blvd - The Montessori Education Foundation (MEF) was created to fund and build the school
2000
- Our current building opened for students on August 27, 2000
2003-04
- Awarded for Excellence in the Colorado Assessment Program (CSAP) in 2003 and 2004
2009
- The Cougar chosen as the school mascot, representing the positive
character attributes of Compassion, Ownership, Unity, Generosity, Achievement, Respect, and Success
2010
- Turf field was added
2011
- Walking access to the school was added
- The Board of Directors approved a Middle School implementation plan
2012-14
- Awarded the John Irwin Award for Excellence on TCAP State Assessment for three consecutive years. 2014 being the final year of the TCAP assessment.
2013
- In May, construction begins on middle school building
2014
- In February, the middle school was completed, it opened to the students in March
2014-15
- 5280 Magazine placed DCSM in the top 50 Front Range Schools
2016
- Middle school tech lab completed
2017
- Middle school greenhouse began construction in February