Dorothy Barry opened Montessori Children’s House on Lakeview Street in Pineville, LA. She received her Montessori certification from American Montessori Society while living in St. Louis, Missouri. The school began with a morning program of six children, ages three to six. Mrs. Barry was assisted by her niece, Marilyn Miller.

The Montessori method has always emphasized family involvement, and Mrs. Barry began a tradition of encouraging interested parents to consider Montessori training to become certified Montessori teachers. Mrs. Doris Armand, a parent of one of the early students, completed her training and became the first parent who was recruited to become a staff member. Mrs. Armand taught for more than 20 years as a Montessori teacher.

As enrollment grew, a new location was needed, and through contributions by parents, a small house on Beech Street in Alexandria was purchased in 1981. The name was changed to Montessori Learning Center, and Donald Barry, husband of Dorothy and an educator himself, joined the staff.

More growth in numbers of students and staff meant another move, and the school reopened on the first floor of the Pan American engineering firm office at the corner of Bolton and Jackson streets in Alexandria. The school incorporated and became Montessori Educational Center, Inc. With more space to grow, the school expanded to two primary environments and the elementary program was extended through sixth grade.

Donald and Dorothy Barry retired and returned to Missouri. The Barrys remain honored and beloved members of the MEC community. Donald passed away in 2016 at the age of 94; Dorothy lives in Missouri and visited MEC to celebrate the school’s 40th anniversary.

After seven years in the PanAm building, MEC moved to its permanent facility on North Bolton Avenue. The new campus housed an upper elementary, two lower elementary, and two primary environments. At that point, the school had 117 students enrolled with a staff of 16. During the 1997-1998 school year, a third primary environment was added, resulting in an enrollment increase to 129 students and 21 staff members.

To meet a growing interest in a program for younger students, MEC added a toddler building to the campus on North Bolton Avenue. The toddler program serves children ages 18 months through three years of age.

To accommodate continued growth and interest in enrolling middle school students, a new building that included a middle school classroom was added to the campus. The junior high program and curriculum design are based on the model created by Dr. Betsy Coe, an internationally renowned Montessori teacher and principal of the middle and high school at School of the Woods in Houston, TX.

Dorothy Barry joined current students, alumni, teachers, retired teachers, and parents of the MEC community to celebrate 40 years. The school that she opened in 1978 with six primary students has grown to an enrollment of almost 200 students who range in age from 18 months to 14 years.