the Bala House
It is quite an interesting collection of people throughout history who have gone to Montessori schools, sent their children to Montessori schools, or supported this method of education in one way or another.
Famous Montessori Graduates:
• Peter Drucker, Management guru
• Larry Page, Co-Founder of Google
• Sergey Brin, Co-Founder of Google
• Jeffrey Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com
• Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
• Will Wright, Designer of The Sims
• Helen Hunt, Academy Award-winning actress
• George Clooney, Academy Award-winning actor, Philanthropist
• Joshua Bell, American violinist, Owner of Stradivarius violin
• Katharine Graham, Owner/Editor of the Washington Post
• Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Editor, Former First Lady
• Sean Coombs, Music mogul, Clothing super star
• Anne Frank, Author of “The Diary of Anne Frank”
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize winner for literature
• Prince William and Prince Harry, English royal family
• T. Berry Brazelton, Pediatrician, Author
• Julia Child, Chef, Cookbook author, TV star
• Friendensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian painter, Architect
• Kami Cotler, Actress (youngest child on long-running series The Waltons)
• Dakota Fanning, Actress
• Melissa and Sarah Gilbert, Actors
• Lea Salonga, Filipino-American singer, Broadway actress
• Taylor Swift, Singer, Song writer
Famous people who chose Montessori Schools for their own children:
• Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge , English royal family
• Steven J. Cannell, TV writer, producer, director
• Bill and Hillary Clinton, Former President, Senator, Secretary of State
• Michael Douglas, Actor
• Yo Yo Ma, Cellist
• Patty Duke Austin, Actress
• John Bradshaw, Psychologist, Author
• Elizabeth Berridge, Actress
• David Blaine, Street magician
• Cher Bono, Singer, Actress
• John Bradshaw, Psychologist, Author
• Yul Brynner, Actor
• Marcy Carcy, TV producer
• Shari Lewis, Puppeteer
• Willie Nelson, Musician, Has a Montessori school on his ranch.
Other influential people connected to Montessori:
• Alexander Graham Bell (inventor) and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Education Association in 1913. They also provided financial support directly to Dr. Maria Montessori and helped establish the first Montessori class in Canada and one of the first in the United States.
• Mister Rogers, children’s TV personality, was a strong supporter of Montessori education.
• Thomas Edison, scientist and inventor, helped found a Montessori school.
• Alice Waters, writer, is a former Montessori teacher.
• Erik Erikson, anthropologist/author, had a Montessori teaching certificate.
• Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist, made his first observations of children in a Montessori school. He was also head of the Swiss Montessori Society for many years.
• President Wilson’s daughter, trained as a Montessori teacher. There was a Montessori classroom in the basement of the White House during Wilson’s presidency.