A QUICK LOOK AT OUR LAST 50 YEARS
Gloria Dei Montessori began back when Ginny Varga, a UD graduate and teacher, was bitten by the Montessori "bug". In 1961 she and her husband Don moved to Greenwich, CT, where Ginny enrolled in the country's first Montessori training program. Returning to Dayton, OH in 1962 they incorporated Children's Laboratory Schools and began their first classes in a rented house on Kenwood Ave. Not only was this our first Gloria Dei class, but it was also the first Montessori class in Dayton, and only the second in Ohio. The class was made up of the children of some friends who were excited about this new venture and children of members of the year-old Dayton Montessori Society, a parents group interested in Montessori education. Ginny taught the class, assisted by her husband and Lois MacMillan.
In 1963, with the help of Mason Bagwell, Sr., Gloria Dei moved into rooms in Shoup Mill School. A class for six year olds was added there in 1965. Also in 1965 Gloria Dei began the first Montessori toddler class in the United States. All this growth began to demand more space, so in 1967 the school moved into rooms at Valerie Elementary. Later in 1967 the school left the spaces in the Dayton schools and started the "church-basement" years. In the lower level of the First Church of God on Salem Ginny conducted classes for children 18 months to 9 years old. A few years later they moved the whole operation into the Salem Lutheran Church at Catalpa and Norman. In 1975, after adding a middle school, Ginny and Don purchased the present building on Shiloh Dr. and turned it into a Montessori school. In 1991 the school was able to complete work on a second building on Shiloh Dr, that is now home to an Infant Toddler classroom and a Primary classroom.
Gloria Dei has a long list of "firsts" in our first 50 years; first Montessori class in Dayton, first toddler program in the U.S., and one of the first 6-9 year old and 9-12 year old programs in the U.S.
Joseph Keegan, who came to the school in 2007 as a Lower Elementary Head Teacher, is serving as the current Head of School.
In 1963, with the help of Mason Bagwell, Sr., Gloria Dei moved into rooms in Shoup Mill School. A class for six year olds was added there in 1965. Also in 1965 Gloria Dei began the first Montessori toddler class in the United States. All this growth began to demand more space, so in 1967 the school moved into rooms at Valerie Elementary. Later in 1967 the school left the spaces in the Dayton schools and started the "church-basement" years. In the lower level of the First Church of God on Salem Ginny conducted classes for children 18 months to 9 years old. A few years later they moved the whole operation into the Salem Lutheran Church at Catalpa and Norman. In 1975, after adding a middle school, Ginny and Don purchased the present building on Shiloh Dr. and turned it into a Montessori school. In 1991 the school was able to complete work on a second building on Shiloh Dr, that is now home to an Infant Toddler classroom and a Primary classroom.
Gloria Dei has a long list of "firsts" in our first 50 years; first Montessori class in Dayton, first toddler program in the U.S., and one of the first 6-9 year old and 9-12 year old programs in the U.S.
Joseph Keegan, who came to the school in 2007 as a Lower Elementary Head Teacher, is serving as the current Head of School.