Barrie School is a progressive independent school for students age 12 months through Grade 12 located in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

, outside of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The school is within the Glenmont

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

,2010 CENSUS – CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Glenmont CDP, MD

Archive
.

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

. Retrieved on June 22, 2015. has a Silver Spring postal address, and is in close proximity to Layhill. Barrie School is a nonprofit school with

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

status. Barrie School has three divisions located on the same campus. The Lower School, which serves children from age 12 months through fifth grade, is

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

-based. The Middle and Upper School uses a project-based curriculum. The campus has several buildings, a pool, and two ponds. Barrie School's equestrian program closed in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and the horses and ponies were re-homed.

History

Founding in Mount Pleasant

The school was founded in 1932 by Frances Littman Seldin as a

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

called the Peter Pan School, located at 1604 Park Road NW in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. A native of New York, Seldin was a graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and a member of the Naturalist Hiking Club.

Move to Takoma

The school moved to 801 Fern Street NW in the Takoma neighborhood in 1939. A zoning variance to establish a school in the residential neighborhood, which was opposed by the Takoma Park Citizens Association, was granted by the District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment. The new location was a urban campus. The name was changed to Barrie School when upper grade classes were added, memorializing author

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, creator of the ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'' story. Barrie was described by Mrs. Seldin as a progressive country day school, directly influenced by the work of John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Alfred Adler, and Anna Freud. It was an anomaly among private schools in Washington, D.C., for much of its history because of Mrs. Seldin's then-controversial beliefs about integration, creating a socioeconomically diverse population, and her decision to offer a year-round program and extended hours to serve working parents. Although the name Montessori was rarely used in describing Barrie School during those years, the program was heavily influenced by Maria Montessori's philosophy and program, including practical life, integrated learning and project-based collaborative learning, multiple age class groups, and a culture of partnership between students, parents, and staff.

Move to Montgomery County

In the 1950s, Mrs. Seldin purchased a country estate on Layhill Road in rural

. The school began operating there in 1958. The new site was added to continue the school's mission of teaching in a natural setting. Barrie Camp moved to the property. In 1976, the Fern Place campus was closed and the remaining Middle and Lower School classes were moved to the Layhill Road property, with room for 265 students.''The Barrie School Student/Parent Handbook, 2005–2006 Academic Year'', 2005, retrieved January 4, 2006 from http://www.barrie.org/news/Handbook%2005-06.pdf . The Upper School (Grades 9–12) was closed from 1974 through 1982 as a result of Ms. Seldin's death and the need to sell the Fern Place campus to cover estate taxes, and a building moratorium imposed on new construction in Montgomery County during that period that created a cap on enrollment at the Layhill Road campus. The high school was reopened in 1982 in time for the 50th anniversary of Barrie School's founding, which was celebrated with the reopening of the Upper School in the former Argyle Junior High School building on Bel Pre Road. That year, Barrie's Upper School was formally recognized by the

American Montessori Society The American Montessori Society (AMS) is a New York City-based, member-supported nonprofit organization which promotes the use of the Montessori teaching approach in private and public schools. AMS advocates for the Montessori method (popularized ...

as the first Montessori High School in the United States. In that year the Barrie Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies was authorized by the American Montessori Society and Maryland State Commission of Higher Education to offer the first formal teacher preparation for secondary Montessori educators (ages 12–18). Classes were held until new buildings on the Layhill Road campus were completed in the summer of 1991, bringing the Primary, Lower and Upper Elementary, Middle, and Upper School students together on one campus again.

Barrie Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies

In 1980, the Barrie Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies, offering graduate-level teacher education programs, was founded on Barrie School's Layhill Road campus to provide bridge between the

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

schools of education. The training programs have been completed by individuals from the United States, Canada,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, China, and South Korea.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie School Educational institutions established in 1932 Glenmont, Maryland J. M. Barrie Montessori schools in the United States Private K-12 schools in Montgomery County, Maryland 1932 establishments in Washington, D.C.