Our Story
What began in our founder's downtown Laurel apartment grew to four family owned & operated locations.
Julia Brown & Charles Brown
Co-Founders
Ms. Brown received her degree from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1956 and taught in the North Carolina public school system for two years. She felt very dissatisfied with the teaching process and felt there must be a better educational system. It was then that Ms. Brown first began to study the Montessori method.
She was one of the first Montessorians in the State of Maryland, receiving her Montessori degree from the London St. Nicholas Montessori Training Centre in 1966. Ms. Brown’s teachers were two women who were trained by Maria Montessori herself.
In 1967, Ms. Brown and Mr. Brown opened their first Montessori School in Laurel. The Columbia location was built in 1972, the Silver Spring location was built in 1986, and the Olney location was built in 1997. Ms. Brown taught a morning and afternoon class every year at one of these locations for over twenty-five years. Ms. Brown was an innovator in the before-and-after care area. Together, they wrote the curriculum for a “Montessori” daycare program used at JBS in the early 1970’s, prior to the daycare explosion. Ms. Brown was very well-respected in the Montessori community and traveled the world presenting her thoughts on the Method she truly believed in.
Mr. Brown chose the name, designed the buildings, and came up with the logo. He chose Julia Brown Schools because he wanted parents to know there was a real person responsible. For the logo, he chose a hand holding the letters ‘jb’ to further emphasize the fact that a person was keeping their child safe. Previously an engineer, Mr. Brown designed and was the contractor for our schools. He wanted them to be built with the purpose of learning in mind.
In 2017, Ms. Brown celebrated Julia Brown Schools 50th Anniversary.
Since 1967, we have been educating our students with the finest Montessori method. Our programs are fully accredited by the Maryland State Department of Education.
So what's our secret? Our founder, Ms. Brown, was one of the first Montessorians in the State of Maryland, and was taught by two Montessorians trained by Dr. Maria Montessori.
Ellen Brown Komesarook
Owner & General Manager
Ms. Komesarook graduated from The University of Maryland in 1986 with a Finance degree and worked for an Australian bank in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, California. She returned to the Washington area in 1991 and has been the JBS General Manager since then. She is responsible for JBS operations and all Directors report to her. Ms. Komesarook also holds a Montessori certificate for the pre-primary (3 to 6 year olds).
Theresa Brown Leonhart
Owner
Ms. Leonhart graduated from The University of Maryland in 1982 and received her Montessori degree in 1984. Ms. Leonhart is uniquely qualified in that she holds Montessori certificates for infant/toddler (infants to 36 months), pre-primary (3 to 6 year olds), the junior (6 to 9 year olds) and the elementary (9 to 12 year olds).She has taught full-time at all JBS locations. Ms. Leonhart has been with JBS since 1989.