Best Montessori Schools in Los Angeles
Santa Monica Montessori School, Glendale Montessori School and Meher Montessori School in Monterey Park are the three places in this Los Angeles table where a child can stay until age 12 (Santa Monica from 23 months, the other two from 2½ years). For preschool held to the strictest Montessori standard, International Montessori Academy in Pasadena is AMI-recognized, as is Meher, a recognition that is rare in Los Angeles.
Geography and the clock do most of the remaining sorting. The campuses run from Woodland Hills to Pasadena and Monterey Park. Woodlake Montessori opens at 6:30 am, and Sunflower Montessori, Meher and Montessori Academy of West Adams open at 7:00 am, all running to 6:00 pm, while Little Paws Montessori in Hollywood ends at 3:00 pm and Glendale's primary full day at 2:30 pm.
Our picks
- Staying through the elementary years: Santa Monica Montessori School. Enrolls from 23 months to 12 years, with specialist teachers for science, languages, art and music and a concert band for older children.
- Preschool held to AMI standards: International Montessori Academy. Full AMI recognition, lead teachers who have stayed an average of seventeen years, and a 7:30 am to 6:00 pm day.
- Earliest drop-off, infants included: Woodlake Montessori Preschool & Infant Care. Opens at 6:30 am and closes at 6:00 pm, with infant care and a kindergarten class that prepares children for first grade.
- Tuition you can see before you tour: Glendale Montessori School. Publishes every tuition figure, its calendar and its hours on the admissions page, and keeps lower elementary groups to about ten children per teacher.
- Room to run outdoors: Montessori Academy of West Adams. A 9,000 square foot shaded yard, the most outdoor space in the table, with daily Mandarin and Spanish from age two included in the fee.
At a glance
| Option | Address | Neighborhood | Ages Served | Oldest Level Offered | School Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6047 Carlton Way, Los Angeles, CA 90028source | East Hollywoodsource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | 8:00 am to 4:00 pmsource | |
| 1341 North Mansfield Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90028source | Hollywoodsource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | 8:30 am to 3:00 pmsource | |
| 1439 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, CA 90041source | Eagle Rocksource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Kindergartensource | 8:00 am to 4:00 pmsource | |
| 2101 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90026source | Elysian Heightssource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | ||
| 15520 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, California, 91406source | Van Nuyssource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | 7:00 am to 6:00 pmsource | |
| 23363 Burbank Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367source | Woodland Hillssource | Kindergartensource | 6:30 am to 6:00 pmsource | ||
| 4449 W. Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016source | West Adamssource | 2 years to 1st gradesource | Elementarysource | 7:00 am to 6:00 pmsource | |
| 10551 Holman Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024source | Westwoodsource | 2½ to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | 8:00 am to 6:00 pmsource | |
| 1909 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90404source | Santa Monicasource | 23 months to 12 yearssource | Elementarysource | ||
| 413 W. Doran Street, Glendale, CA 91203source | Glendalesource | 2½ to 12 yearssource | Elementarysource | 8:00 am to 2:30 pm (Primary full day)source | |
| 355 West Green Street, Pasadena, California 91105source | Pasadenasource | 2 to 6 yearssource | Preschoolsource | 7:30 am to 6:00 pmsource | |
| 2009 S. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park, CA 91754source | Monterey Parksource | 2½ to 12 yearssource | Elementarysource | 7:00 am to 6:00 pmsource |
Montessori past age six: the four elementary programs
Six of the twelve are preschools only, and Eagle Rock Montessori School and Woodlake add a kindergarten year. The four with elementary grades are not alike. Santa Monica Montessori, open since 1960, runs to 12 years and measures its Montessori elementary against grade-level standards. Glendale Montessori covers preschool through sixth grade on a five-building campus, with about ten children per teacher in the lower grades and eight in the upper. At Meher, several teachers hold AMI elementary diplomas and a heavy mathematics strand runs alongside science, history and geography.
Montessori Academy of West Adams is the one to read closely. Its cell says Elementary because it enrolls 2 years to 1st grade, but first grade is as far as this campus goes; the group's fuller elementary program is at its Downey campus, which is not in this table. International Montessori Academy, by contrast, stops at six by design and refers families on.
Drop-off and pickup times for working parents
The long days are 6:30 am to 6:00 pm at Woodlake, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm at Sunflower, Meher and Montessori Academy of West Adams, 7:30 am to 6:00 pm at International Montessori Academy, and 8:00 am to 6:00 pm at Montessori Discovery Garden in Westwood. Sunflower, in Van Nuys, also stays open all year, which makes it workable for two parents on full-time schedules.
At the short end, Little Paws runs 8:30 am to 3:00 pm on a late-August to late-May calendar, and Glendale's primary full day ends at 2:30 pm. The column is not quite like for like: several of the long days include extended care, while Little Paws, Eagle Rock and Montessori Shir-Hashirim list their teaching day, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the last two. Baxter Montessori gives hours only on a tour, and Santa Monica Montessori names extended day care without saying when it starts or ends.
Which schools post tuition, and which make you ask
Few of these schools publish a price, and the ones that do use different bases. Glendale posts $15,000 a year for the primary full day and $16,000 for elementary. Montessori Academy lists rates from $1,745 a month, with its daily Mandarin and Spanish included. Montessori Shir-Hashirim lists $30,000 a year for a full day, at the top of the range for LA preschools.
Everyone else holds rates back. Santa Monica Montessori emails them after you fill in a form, Meher asks you to contact the director, and Baxter gives tuition on a tour, though parents in its own testimonials talk about the price. Getting in can take time too: Shir-Hashirim requires a tour and a Parent and Me session before you may apply, Little Paws requires a tour with your child, and Eagle Rock holds tours on set dates.
AMI and AMS: which schools state an affiliation
Only four of the twelve name a Montessori association. International Montessori Academy and Meher are AMI-recognized, Woodlake is a member of the American Montessori Society and NAEYC, and Montessori Academy says its teachers hold AMS and AMI certification. In the classroom, Montessori Discovery Garden's lead teacher has AMI training and both lead teachers at Little Paws hold AMS credentials. Woodlake openly blends Montessori materials with more conventional preschool academics, which a purist family will want to weigh.
The options in detail
Montessori Shir-Hashirim
One of the best known Montessori preschools in Los Angeles, run from a small Hollywood campus on Carlton Way with a second site near Beverly and Vermont. The program leans hard on the arts: the children stage elaborate original plays every year through a drama program that dates to 1995, and Spanish, French and Mandarin all appear in the week. Parents describe it as a hidden gem whose graduates are well known to elementary schools around the city. Admission is deliberately slow, with a tour and a required Parent and Me session before you may even apply, and the tuition sits at the top of the range for LA preschools.
Little Paws Montessori
A tiny farmhouse-style school a few blocks from Hollywood and Highland, built around a one-to-three teacher-to-child ratio and a rhythm that follows the seasons. It is a single classroom rather than a campus, so places are few and a tour with your child is required before you can apply. Both lead teachers hold AMS credentials, and the school runs a conventional late-August to late-May calendar rather than year-round care. Families who need long days should look closely at the schedule, which ends in mid-afternoon.
Eagle Rock Montessori School
A neighborhood institution on Colorado Boulevard, founded in 1975 by Ute de Lara, a German-born civil engineer who could not find a Montessori school for her own children; her daughter, a former student, now runs it. The geodesic dome her husband built still houses the youngest class and is a local landmark. Children start in a pre-primary toddler room and move up into a mixed-age primary classroom after a ten-month year, and the school has leaned into environmental stewardship and a broad enrichment program. Tours are offered on set dates and the school marked its fiftieth year in 2025.
Baxter Montessori
A small, deliberately affordable school tucked into Elysian Heights above Echo Park, licensed in 1970 and still run as a community program rather than a business. Parents in its own testimonials talk about the price and the tight parent community rather than the facilities. Potty training is not required, which matters if you are enrolling a young two-year-old. The website is thin on logistics: tuition and daily hours are only given once you take a tour.
Sunflower Montessori
A Van Nuys school that has taught two- to six-year-olds since 1980 and has just rebuilt its classrooms and outdoor play yard from the ground up. It is one of the few Montessori options in the central Valley that stays open from early morning to evening all year, which makes it workable for two parents on full-time schedules. Families come from Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Studio City and the surrounding Valley neighborhoods. It is a preschool only, so a child moves on at kindergarten age.
Woodlake Montessori Preschool & Infant Care
The far-west-Valley option, on Burbank Boulevard in Woodland Hills, and one of the few schools here that takes infants as well as preschoolers. It is a member of the American Montessori Society and of NAEYC, and it runs a separate kindergarten class aimed at getting children ready for first grade in either a private school or LAUSD. Doors open at 6:30am, the earliest on this list. The program openly blends Montessori materials with more conventional preschool academics, which is a plus or a minus depending on how purist you are.
Montessori Academy of West Adams
The West Adams campus of a three-school group that started in Culver City in 1986; this site opened in 2019 around a 9,000 square foot shaded yard, the most outdoor space of any school in this table. Mandarin and Spanish are taught every day from age two and are included in the fee rather than sold as an add-on, and there is no potty-training requirement. It is also one of very few schools here that publishes its rates online instead of saving them for the tour. Being part of a group, it runs more like a professionally managed school than a neighborhood cottage program.
Montessori Discovery Garden
A home-like school on a quiet Westwood street a mile from UCLA, run in a small single-classroom setting rather than on a campus. Its lead teacher holds Association Montessori Internationale training and a master's degree in education, and gardening and cooking are part of the daily work rather than treats. Art comes twice a week from a teacher with an MFA, and music, Spanish and yoga come in weekly from specialists. Parents in its reviews name the calm, domestic scale as the reason they chose it; there is nothing here past kindergarten age.
Santa Monica Montessori School
The oldest school in this table, established in 1960 and on Colorado Avenue since 1990, and one of the few Montessori programs in the LA area that carries a child from toddlerhood all the way through the elementary years. The elementary program is run on Montessori lines but measured against grade-level standards, with specialist teachers for science, social studies, languages, PE, technology, art and music, and a concert band for the older children. It runs year round and offers extended day care. Tuition is not published: the school emails rates only after you fill in a form.
Glendale Montessori School
Founded in 1971 by Arnolda Utrecht in a converted theatre building, this is a full preschool-through-sixth-grade Montessori school on a five-building campus in central Glendale. It is unusually transparent for a private school: age requirements, daily hours, the school calendar and every tuition figure are published on the admissions page, which almost nobody else in this table does. Elementary groups are small, running around ten children per teacher in the lower grades and eight in the upper. The current director attended the school as a child and taught there before taking over in 2017.
International Montessori Academy
One of only a handful of AMI-recognized preschools in Southern California, on a shaded two-building campus a few blocks from Old Pasadena. Full recognition by the Association Montessori Internationale means the teachers, the materials and the methods are all held to the association's standards, which is the strictest badge in Montessori and rare in Los Angeles. The founder took her AMI certification in the Netherlands in 1989 and has hired and trained every member of staff; lead teachers have stayed an average of seventeen years. It deliberately stops at age six and refers families on to elementary programs.
Meher Montessori School
An AMI-recognized school in Monterey Park, founded in Altadena in 1972 with the Monterey Park campus following in 1984, that takes children from two and a half right through to age twelve. Very few Montessori schools in Los Angeles County carry a child that far. The elementary program covers the full Montessori cultural curriculum, with science, language, history, geography, music and art alongside a heavy mathematics strand, and several teachers hold AMI elementary diplomas. Staff turnover is strikingly low, with a number of teachers there for two or three decades. Tuition is not posted; you have to ask the director for it.
How we researched this
The table holds twelve schools: eight inside the City of Los Angeles and four in the cities beside it (Santa Monica, Glendale, Pasadena and Monterey Park). Those four matter, since both AMI-recognized schools in the set sit just outside the city line. Each network gets one campus, so Montessori Academy appears only as West Adams and Meher only as Monterey Park. Licensed family child care homes, which top at least one local ranking, were left out as not what most parents mean by a school. Oneonta Montessori in Alhambra and New World Montessori in Palms publish no ages or hours, Westside Montessori School turned out to be in Houston, the Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes schools sit further out in the South Bay, and Sunset Montessori in Hollywood and Studio City was dropped only because none of its photos could be used on this page.
Tuition and accreditation get prose here rather than columns, since too few schools state them to fill one. Three cells are empty where the school says nothing: hours at Baxter and Santa Monica Montessori, and a single age range at Woodlake, which instead lists infants and toddlers 0 to 2, preschool 2 to 5 and kindergarten 5 to 6. A few cells for Shir-Hashirim and Eagle Rock come from the Mommy Poppins Los Angeles guide because the schools' own sites never state them; the rest cite the schools. Confirm hours and tuition on the tour for the year you plan to enroll.