Our History

The story of Nature’s Way Montessori began on January 1, 2013.

The property and site had operated as Silver Lining Preschool for many years. Because of its use as a traditional daycare,  the one-acre property was somewhat ready for use for another purpose: Montessori.

With a parking lot, two play yards and a 4000 sq. ft. building, the previous Silver Lining’s owner, Lance Meltzer and Monica MacDonald, decided to make a change. They laid new floors, painted the walls and created a garden.  NWM opened their doors with 14 children.

Within a month, the new Montessori classroom was full with 25 children, and they created a Toddler classroom that met the demand of the waitlist. By the Fall of 2013, NWM had 30 children.  In the summer of 2014, Monica stepped out of the classroom and hired an AMI (Association Montessori Internationale)  Montessori trained teacher.  That summer, the old owner and Monica tore down walls, built child-sized bathrooms  and created a second preschool classroom. For the fall of 2014, NWM opened with 52 children and still had a long waiting list.

January 2015 brought changes when the owner sold the LLC to Monica.  It was a busy year as she was learning to run a business and creating a 501-c-3 corporation to raise money for scholarships.  In the fall of 2015,  NWM had 66 children enrolled with 7 employees, and a continuing wait list.  Parents of Kindergarteners approached Monica to open an elementary program to continue the wonderful learning taking place.

Fall 2016, the school opened its first elementary program. It flourished for two years and closed in 2018.  We still love all our families from that time and they still visit us!

Spring of 2020 brought us the COVID Pandemic.  We opened our new primary school in the fall and once again re-arranged classrooms, creating outdoor classes.

NWM has strong parental support, a great reputation around town, and a wonderful program. Monica, along with her great staff and the NWM families are assured of a strong and healthy institution, dedicated to the education and development of the whole child. The school’s type of meaningful and life changing experiences through Montessori lessons, paves the way so that the students will grow and leave here, to shape the future of Napa, and the world around them.

We have now been around for 10 years and are looking forward to our Gala a the end of this year!