Casa Di Mir Montessori Elementary School

The vision of Casa di Mir began at the 1988 Kindergarten Thanksgiving celebration at Casa Maria Preschool. Casa Maria which closed in 1999 was a well loved Montessori preschool in Los Gatos that closed its doors after 29 years of operation. A committee of interested parents and friends formed to create an elementary program to continue the nurturing of their childrens love of learning in a multi-cultural Montessori environment with a strong sense of community.

The founders chose the name Casa di Mir for the newly created school. “Casa” meaning “house” is a traditional Montessori school name which is taken from Maria Montessori’s original “Casa dei Bambini” school meaning “House of Children.” “di” is the Italian word for “of.”. The name “Mir” was chosen because it is a Russian word for peace as well as the root for the word “miracle.”

Support and guidance were provided by the founding parents as well as the administration of Casa Maria and in 1989 a home school was established by Wanda Whitehead (now Head of School at Casa di Mir) to provide an educational setting for the first five students.

Casa di Mir Montessori School officially incorporated in 1991 as a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors made up of parents. As the school’s enrollment continued to grow the board embarked on a search for a long-term location. From 1991-99 the school leased space in various locations in Los Gatos and San Jose.

After a three-year site search in the summer of 1999 the school secured a long term lease of the old Campbell post office on Latimer Avenue a 9000 square foot building. After renovating the building and installing a new playground Casa di Mir expanded to include a Primary program. To answer the growing demand for quality authentic Montessori education the school added a second Primary classroom in 2004.

Child Ages:

3 years - 12 years

Licenses & Accreditations:

California Department of Social Services: Community Care Licensing Division

Preschool:

Yes

Hours of Operation:

7:30 am to 6:00 pm