Mr. and Mrs. Houser with Ms. Lena Wickramarante of Sri Lanka.

Our story begins in September, 1954, when Mozelle Houser gathered 18 neighborhood children, along with her own two young sons, to do activities such as coloring, cutting and pasting, finger painting, learning letters of the alphabet and numbers, arts and crafts, games, outdoor playtime and all the things children did in those days at “nursery school”. She and a friend worked with the children in the Houser home on Greystone Avenue for two hours a day, three mornings a week. This was the beginning of the The Village Playschool.

In 1957, the Housers built a building on Britton Road to house the growing school. Still continuing with the preschool concept, Mrs. Houser added care for infants and toddlers. Soon more room was needed; so two more additions were constructed. By this time The Village Playschool had grown from 20 children to 125 children.

In 1962, through the Character Research Project and her local church, Mrs. Houser learned of the Montessori Method. Members of the congregation who attended this seminar returned with reports of a new teaching method based on the research of Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor.

A Montessori instruction class soon became available in the Oklahoma City area led by Ms. Lena Wickramarante of Sri Lanka, who had studied and trained directly under the guidance of Dr. Montessori. Ms. Lena had been one of the presenters at the Character Research Project seminar.

Mrs. Houser enrolled in the program, completed the Montessori training and received her certification in The Montessori Method. With this knowledge and certification Mrs. Houser began training her own teachers using the Montessori materials and methods.

The solid reputation of The Village Playschool widened making it necessary to purchase other buildings to house the growing number of students. By this time, the total enrollment had reached almost six hundred. The ages ranged from infants to sixth grade.

The little band of children led by Mrs. Houser and her friend began in 1954 as a simple, fun neighborhood group and grew and grew to become The Village Montessori School.

Today The Village Montessori School is comprised of children 18 months old through Kindergarten age, with an enrollment of 125 – 145 students. Many of the older buildings have now been removed leaving room our beautiful, park like playground. Continuously family owned and operated since 1954, we are proud to provide quality education and childcare in the Oklahoma City community.