Alberta Lydia (Lewis) Weiss

Bretta Weiss, Leading Figure in American Montessori Movement, Dies at 96

Alberta “Bretta” Weiss, nee Lewis, educational reformer and national director of the American Montessori Society for 14 years, died on April 26, 2022 at Kaseman Hospital Hospice in Albuquerque, N.M.  She was 96.

Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio in 1926, Bretta met Melvin Weiss at Ohio University.  They married and moved back and forth from Ohio to New York for a number of years to allow Melvin to pursue his career.

In 1963, the family moved to Larchmont, N.Y., where Bretta found herself researching alternative learning opportunities for her youngest. She was determined her youngest daughter’s education would be different from that experienced by her older sisters. Bretta believed traditional schools exemplified Buckminster Fuller’s observation that “all children are born geniuses, and school systematically de-geniuses them”.

When she learned there was no Montessori school in the area. Bretta collaborated with other parents to found the Montessori School of Westchester.  In 1972, she started a second school, Hudson Country Montessori, in New Rochelle where she worked as a teacher, school administrator, and board member.

Bretta worked with its national director of the American Montessori Society, Cleo Monson and later became its next national director until 1992.

In 2004, she was recognized as the American Montessori Society Living Legacy, for her lasting impact on the AMS community.

Bretta served as president of the Council for American Private Education; co-coordinator of the Course for Montessori School Management of CMTE/NY, secretary of the Council of the Montessori of the Rio Grande Charter School in Albuquerque, N.M.; and board member of the Cottonwood School in Corrales, N.M. She was also a founding member and board vice president of the Montessori

Bretta met life with a new optimism every day. Said one colleague: “Bretta was a truth-teller who could always be trusted for her candor and once you accepted this gift, you were the better for it. She was also someone who helped you to believe in yourself.

Bretta Weiss was pre-deceased by Melvin Weiss and her second husband, Maurice Wolff. She is survived by her daughters Lee Weiss Maniolas, and her husband James Maniolas, Sara Weiss and Emily Weiss Smith and her husband Timothy Smith. Other family members include her granddaughter Nikki Maniolas Ferrara, and her husband Kevin Ferrara and their beautiful daughter Sophia Ferrara.  Bretta will be greatly missed by all.