SENATE RESOLUTION

                             8700

By Senator Eide

     WHEREAS, Madeleine Justus in 2001 celebrates fifty years of educational service as the founder and Executive Director of the Spring Valley Montessori School located in Federal Way; and

     WHEREAS, She has touched many lives in King and Pierce Counties and founded a school that continues to this day to be not only a cornerstone of the community, but also a national leader in Montessori education; and

     WHEREAS, Madeleine's career began in Europe as a Montessori trained educator in the 1930s, and she arrived in the United States in 1948 after fleeing communist persecution in Transylvania; and

     WHEREAS, Madeleine Justus established a preschool with extended daycare in 1951 in Seattle's Grosvenor House.  She moved the school to the Federal Way Shopping Center in 1957 and two years later moved the Montessori School to its present day location, which includes two campuses and more than two-hundred students from preschool through eighth grade.  The school recently constructed a multipurpose building that provides gymnasium, assembly, and performing arts space; and

     WHEREAS, Finding that the state didn't regulate day care operations, Madeleine led efforts to write the first day care regulations passed in 1953 and helped amend them in 1958; and

     WHEREAS, Madeleine, through her unflagging dedication to children, her insistence on positive bearing and respect of self and others, and her tremendous well of quiet dignity, has helped thousands of children to become avid learners and good citizens and, most of all, to find ways to reach their own potential;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the members of the Washington State

Senate acknowledge and honor Madeleine Justus, whose dedication, professionalism, and leadership have enriched the lives of thousands of Puget Sound area children and their families and have helped contribute to the betterment and well-being of the community she serves.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8700,

adopted by the Senate May 22, 2001.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate