OUR MISSION
NCMPS transforms lives by cultivating equitable, accessible, sustainable, and humanizing public education through Montessori.
Our Vision
NCMPS envisions a world where every community has equitable access to sustainable, just, and humanizing public education that empowers families, students, and teachers to flourish.
We join others working towards this vision by leveraging our particular expertise in building, promoting, and supporting public Montessori.
Guiding Principles
We believe equitable, accessible, sustainable public Montessori programs have the power to disrupt racism, poverty, and structural inequality and transform lives and societies for peace and justice.
- Center equity, access, and sustainability in building strong schools
- Honor agency and empowerment in children and adults
- Work for Montessori to be a lever of change for a just
society - Ground our work in academic, community, and field-based
research - Meet partners where they are and work side-by-side with
them to build capacity - Approach our work with optimism and hope for the future
- Honor and celebrate the strength and joy in each individual’s full humanity
Strategy
We achieve our mission and bring our vision to life using three principal strategic levers:
- Build, promote, and support a robust national ecosystem of public Montessori
- Promote and support the development of new public Montessori schools and programs.
- Deliver tools, training, and technical assistance to support strong, equitable, and sustainable public Montessori schools and programs
Equity
The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector recognizes structural racism, inequality, and violence inherent in American social and political life, and stands in solidarity with all those who are working for change.
We hold the vision of an education system committed to human flourishing for all children. We focus on equitable access to just and sustainable Montessori education because schools are powerful levers of change, and Montessori schools can be powerful levers of change for a just society.
How We Do It
We put equity commitments into action in each of our three strategic levers:
Build, promote, and support a robust national ecosystem of public Montessori
The Montessori Census is a free resource increasing access to public Montessori schools.
Teach Montessori highlights and promotes public Montessori jobs, bringing more teachers into more equitable schools.
MontessoriPublic convenes community and raises and amplifies unheard voices.
Promote and support the development of new public Montessori schools and programs.
Montessori education, with its emphasis on agency and interdependency, can be a powerful tool for dismantling inequity. Every new public Montessori school has the potential to extend this approach beyond families able to pay tuition.
Deliver tools, training, and technical assistance to support strong, equitable, and sustainable public Montessori schools and programs
Tools: We continuously review and revise our tools for implicit bias and cultural responsiveness, based on feedback from the field.
Training: The Montessori Teacher Residency supports equity and access by design, in terms of cost, location, content, and academic approach.
Professional learning: We offer professional development designed specifically to support equitable classroom practice.
School support: We include equity, access, and sustainability in every school review and support plan.
Equity Resources
Below, we have collected links to articles, books, websites, and other resources we are finding helpful in our continuous learning and growth.
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts (Resmaa Menakem, 2017)
In this groundbreaking work, Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology.
- The Racial Healing Handbook (Anneliese A. Singh, 2019)
A powerful and practical guide to help you navigate racism, challenge privilege, manage stress and trauma, and begin to heal.
- Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side (Eve L. Ewing, 2018)
“An important addition to any conversation about the future of public schools and those they were designed to serve.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (James D. Anderson, 2010)
James Anderson critically reinterprets the history of southern black education from Reconstruction to the Great Depression.
- Inventing Latinos (Laura E. Gómez, 2020)
A timely and groundbreaking argument that all Americans must grapple with Latinos’ dynamic racial identity.
- Anti-Racism Resources—Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein
- How to Talk to Kids about Race and Racism—Parent Toolkit
- Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families—National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- Talking to children after racial incidents—University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
- 100 Race-Conscious Things You Can Say to Your Child to Advance Racial— Raising Race Conscious Children
- Talking Race & Kids Webinars—embrace race
Books
Video
Podcasts
Montessori Teacher Residency Specialist • Instructor
Communications Director
Director of Research and Professional Learning • Instructor
Student Support Specialist • Instructor • Coach
Candace Fletcher
MTR Practicum Coordinator • Instructor • Coach
Director of Montessori Teacher Residencies • Instructor • Coach
Director of Tools and Assets • Curriculum Standards Specialist • Instructor
MTR Elementary Coordinator • Montessori Instructor • Coach
Bilingual Montessori Specialist • Instructor
Executive Director
Director of School Services • Instructor • Coach
Director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives
Race and Equity Specialist • Instructor • Coach
Partners and Associates
Our Board
Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell
Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University, school organizations expert, and former Montessori student
Jennifer Davidson
Trustee for AMI Global, former Executive Director of Montessori Northwest, Head of School of Montessori in the Redlands
Jared Joiner
Director, Educational Practice, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and former Montessori student
Jeff Kutash
Founder and Managing Partner of Boldly Go Philanthropy. Former Executive Director of Peter Kiewit Foundation, former head of FSG’s National Education and Youth Practice, Montessori parent.
Marianna McCall
Founding Partner, Trust for Learning, Montessori parent and expert, philanthropist
Richard Ungerer
Executive Director Emeritus of the American Montessori Society, independent Montessori consultant
Our Funders & Supporters
We are grateful to key funders who have supported NCMPS’s growth and impact over the years.
