Our Facility

Pacific First Montessori is located on the third floor of the City Centre building in downtown Seattle.  The school has a lovely outdoor playground overlooking 6th Avenue, where the children play each day away from the foot and car traffic of downtown. 

Our school is comprised of our infant room with space for up to nine babies (ratio of 1:3 or better for a majority of the day). Our toddler room has twelve toddlers (ratio of  1:3 for majority of day). And our two preschool rooms have twenty children in each room (ratio of 1:7 or better for majority of day).  We are licensed for a total of 61 children.

CURRENTLY OUR HOURS ARE M-F 7:45-6:00

We follow all Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 guidelines to ensure proper care and cleaning

and for the health and safety of all children and families.

Our Approach

Our infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms are influenced by the Montessori philosophy.  A Montessori classroom is a unique environment in which children have the freedom to choose their work and set their own pace within an engaging, well organized, sequenced curriculum.  Our classrooms have all the materials necessary for ongoing learning at every stage. Pacific First Montessori is accredited by Pacific Northwest Montessori Association (PNMA).

Our toddler and preschool classrooms are led by trained Montessori teachers. The Montessori classroom includes activities for the areas of language development, math, science, geography, art, sensorial materials and practical life or daily living skills. Each area of curriculum is organized from the concrete and simple to more complex attributes. Materials and activities are aesthetically pleasing, generally made with natural materials and very hands on -- providing children with the opportunity to learn sensorially as well as cognitively. Within this organized and creative environment, children are guided to become independent and self-disciplined and to experience the joy of learning and discovery.

In our infant program the staff follows the philosophy of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), as developed by Magda Gerber. The core of RIE is the belief that parents and caregivers respect an infant’s ability to initiate their own learning and be given the freedom to safely explore their world with as few limitations or confinements as possible.

The RIE philosophy is based on a few simple principles:

1. Infants have time for uninterrupted play, freedom to explore their environment and to interact with other infants. 
2. They are active participants in all of aspects of their own care.
3. Caregivers use observation to set appropriate limits and expectations to support their understanding of each individual infant.
4. The infant environment is physically safe, emotionally nurturing and cognitively challenging.