Montessori school

What It Means

A Montessori school is a school, public or private, that teaches by the method Maria Montessori developed. The American Montessori Society (AMS) names five core components it treats as essential: teachers trained in Montessori, classrooms that mix ages, Montessori learning materials, work the child chooses, and long periods of uninterrupted work. Schools differ in how fully they follow these, so a visit tells you more than the name.

How Parents Say It

• "We toured the Montessori school for preschool."
• "Her class has three ages in one room."
• "Is the public Montessori a magnet school?"

The Breakdown

What to look for, per AMS's five core components

By stage. Ages vary by school. AMS keeps separate guidance for Montessori early childhood programs, and public Montessori schools test their students the way other public schoolsPublic schoolA school run by publicly elected or appointed officials and paid for mainly with public money, including district, charter and magnet schools. See more do. Ask each school which ages share a classroom and which grades it covers, so you know whether your child can stay as they grow.

Public or private. AMS says more than 500 public schools in the U.S. offer Montessori programs. In a public one, teachers also hold a state license for the level they teach, and students take the same state standardized testsStandardized testingTests given and scored the same way for every student; in U.S. public schools, mainly the yearly state tests in reading, math and science that ESSA requires. See more as other public school students.

When to talk to a specialist. If your child has an IEPIEPAn IEP (Individualized Education Program) is the written plan a public school makes for a child who qualifies for special education under IDEA. See more, a 504 plan504 planA school's plan of supports for a student whose disability substantially limits a major life activity, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. See more or a suspected delay, ask the school how it supports learners like yours before enrolling.

Where It Comes From

The method is named for Maria Montessori, the Italian physician and educator whose first Children's House opened in Rome in 1907; Buhata's Montessori at homeMontessori at homeUsing Maria Montessori's ideas at home: a child-sized, orderly space, real tasks shown step by step, and room for the child to do things independently. See more page has her storyUser storyA short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that." See more and the Montessori organizations' sources.

Good to Know

AMS's online school directory is one place to find Montessori schools near you. Ask any school for its teachers' Montessori credentials and the age groups in each class. Some public districts run Montessori as a magnet programMagnet schoolA public school with a special theme or teaching approach, such as science or the arts, built to draw students from across a district and from different backgrounds. See more, as Buhata's magnet school page explains, so check your district's list as well as private schoolsPrivate schoolA school that isn't supported mainly by public funds and gives classroom teaching in one or more of grades K to 12, whether religious or nonsectarian. See more.

Related Terms and Categories

• Montessori at home

  Using Maria Montessori's ideas at home: a child-sized, orderly space, real tasks shown step by step, and room for the child to do things independently.

• Private school

  A school that isn't supported mainly by public funds and gives classroom teaching in one or more of grades K to 12, whether religious or nonsectarian.

• Magnet school

  A public school with a special theme or teaching approach, such as science or the arts, built to draw students from across a district and from different backgrounds.

• Waldorf approach

  An approach to education founded by Rudolf Steiner in 1919 that follows stages of childhood, with play and imitation early and formal academics starting later.

• Reggio Emilia approach

  An approach to early childhood education from the city of Reggio Emilia, Italy, shaped by Loris Malaguzzi, that sees children as capable researchers with a hundred languages.

• Pre-K

  Prekindergarten: school-readiness classes for children, typically 3 and 4 years old, in the year or two before they start kindergarten.

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