Mission

Expand access to quality, child-centered education through a network of public and community-based Montessori schools.

How will we accomplish this?

  1. Engage parents and community leaders to drive demand

  2. Ensure that state and local policies support Montessori

  3. Assist in implementing high-quality Montessori education

  4. Support continuous improvement for teachers and administrators

  5. Provide low-cost Montessori materials and furniture through our Salvavidas Prácticas program

55collaboration

Engage parents and community leaders to drive demand

Accomplishments

  • Designed and presented parenting workshop to “I Am a Leader” refugee women’s group in Clarkston
  • Presented parenting workshop and “Mommy and Me” class to Healthy Start Initiative participants with Center for Black Women’s Wellness
  • Designed and presented "Solutions for Peaceful Parenting" workshops in three Southwest Atlanta locations

Future Goals

  • Strategically offer parent workshops where public or sliding-scale Montessori programs are available or in the start-up phase
  • Collaborate with parent groups supporting high-fidelity public  Montessori
  • Continue to introduce community leaders to Montessori education through our Montessori Tour and Conversation series

 

Ensure that state and local policies support Montessori

Accomplishments

  • Developed a Montessori teaching certificate for Georgia, so trained Montessori teachers can teach in public Montessori schools
  • Successfully advocated for changes to make the Georgia Pre-K guidelines more Montessori-friendly
  • Trained 25 staff from the Georgia Quality Rated program to understand Montessori environments
  • Introduced numerous policy leaders to Montessori through our Tour and Conversation series

Future Goals

  • Ensure that state licensing regulations support fully-implemented Montessori
  • Identify and support braided funding streams for Montessori Children’s House programs (age 3-6)
  • Provide training for Licensing and Georgia Pre-K staff to understand Montessori environments

 

Assist in implementing high-quality Montessori education

Accomplishments

  • Supported Montessori programs in DeKalb, Chatham and Baldwin Counties in their progress toward high-fidelity Montessori implementation
  • Negotiated 15% discount on AMI elementary teacher training for network schools
  • Provided DeKalb County Schools with support and guidance, including curriculum alignment to Georgia Standards of Excellence for core subjects

Future Goals

  • Help Georgia’s existing public Montessori schools strengthen and expand their Montessori offerings
  • Work with additional school districts and community groups to start Montessori programs
  • Connect network schools with sources of sustainable funding
  • Extend our network into every county in Georgia

 

Support continuous improvement for teachers and administrators

Accomplishments

  • 2016: Montessori Principles and Practices 2-day course: 40 attendees
  • 2017: 2 educator workshops at GAYC Conference: 50+ attendees
  • 2017: Introduction to Structural Racism workshop: 49 attendees
  • 2018: Three publicly available workshops attended by over 100 participants
  • 2018: Initiated in-service professional learning for DeKalb County Schools' Montessori programs

Future Goals

  • Establish peer mentorship program for Montessori teachers within our network
  • Convene existing public and sliding-scale programs to share knowledge and resources
  • Provide 40-hour Fundamentals of Montessori course for public school administrators