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.

Our Vision - NCMPS
Guiding Principles - NCMPS

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.

We’ve collected some recommendations from NCMPS staff for television shows, books, movies, podcasts, and events that honor  efforts to elevate the achievements of Black people in America and empower them in the process: Black History Month at NCMPS.

In this groundbreaking work, Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology.

A powerful and practical guide to help you navigate racism, challenge privilege, manage stress and trauma, and begin to heal.

“An important addition to any conversation about the future of public schools and those they were designed to serve.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates

James Anderson critically reinterprets the history of southern black education from Reconstruction to the Great Depression.

A timely and groundbreaking argument that all Americans must grapple with Latinos’ dynamic racial identity.

Our Board

Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell

Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell

Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University, school organizations expert, and former Montessori student
Andy Calkins, Co-Director, Next Generation Learning Challenges 

Andy Calkins

Co-Director, Next Generation Learning Challenges 
Jared Joiner, Board NCMPS

Jared Joiner

Director, Educational Practice, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and former Montessori student
Marianna McCall

Marianna McCall

Founding Partner, Trust for Learning, Montessori parent and expert, philanthropist
Monique O'Grady

Monique O'Grady

Senior Manager at The Pew Charitable Trusts, Co-founder of the Arlington Montessori Action Committee, Former Arlington Public School Board Chair, and parent of three former Virginia public Montessori students

Joyce Pickering, Executive Director Emerita of Shelton School & Evaluation Center

Joyce Pickering

Executive Director Emerita of Shelton School & Evaluation Center
Margarita Ruiz

Margarita Ruiz

Residency Director, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Sara Suchman

Executive Director, NCMPS

Richard Ungerer

Richard Ungerer

Executive Director Emeritus of the American Montessori Society, independent Montessori consultant

Our Team

Montessori Teacher Residency Specialist • Instructor

Dave Ayer

Director of Communications

Untitled design (5)

Director of Research and Professional Learning • Instructor

Candace Fletcher

MTR Practicum Coordinator • Instructor • Coach

Laure Fleming

Director of Montessori Teacher Residencies • Instructor • Coach

Katie Grabowski

DERS & Professional Learning Coordinator

Katy-Mattis

Director of Tools and Assets • Curriculum Standards Specialist • Instructor

Katie Mosquera

MTR Elementary Coordinator • Montessori Instructor • Coach

Karen Simon, Bilingual Montessori Specialist

MTR Early Childhood Coordinator • Instructor

Seth-Webb-NCMPS

Director of School Services • Instructor • Coach

Jasmine Williams

Race and Equity Specialist • Instructor • Coach

Advisors

David C. Bagnoli, AIA

David C. Bagnoli, AIA

Consulting Architect

Phil Dosmann

Phil Dosmann

Senior Associate

John Freeman

John Freeman

Senior Associate

Iheoma U. Iruka

Iheoma U. Iruka

Senior Research Associate

Our Funders & Supporters

We are grateful to key funders who have supported NCMPS’s growth and impact over the years.

Cheyenne Eete Kippenberger

Cheyenne Eete KippenbergerCheyenne is a Seminole and Chilean woman, advocate for Indigenous people and a former Miss Indian World. She has utilized her platform as an ambassador to advocate for environmental protections of the Florida Everglades, overturn adverse stereotypes and stigmatizations of mental health in tribal communities, encourage healing through identity and self love, and combat the negative, stereotypical narrative of Native and Indigenous people through education. Cheyenne also provides motivational speaking presentations, empowerment workshops, pageantry coaching, cultural and historical consulting, hosts and emcees, and presents on topics such as culture as prevention, identity, human trafficking, domestic violence, and much more. She strives for authenticity and to live a healthy life physically, mentally and spiritually through her culture and teachings.

Desmond Blackburn

Desmond BlackburnFacing History and Ourselves is a non-profit organization founded in 1976 to “use lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.” Today, Facing History and Ourselves is a global organization with a network of hundreds of thousands of educators reaching millions of students worldwide, providing extensive curriculum, professional development, and resources. CEO Desmond Blackburn began his public education career as a high school math teacher in Florida and rose through the state’s school system, including serving as principal at a public Montessori school, to become Superintendent of Brevard Public Schools. Blackburn has served as CEO of the New Teacher Center, a national nonprofit that works to disrupt the predictability of educational inequities for systemically underserved students. He was previously Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership for the New York City Department of Education, the largest school system in the nation, before joining Facing History and Ourselves this year.