What is 'AMS Accredition' and Why Does it Matter?

Montessori education is what we do around here. We are doing our best to do authentic Montessori: to be worthy of the name, to support and guide the development of each child, to nurture and keep passionate teachers happy. We are on a journey of continuous improvement. We are always striving to improve and refine our approach to Montessori education.

The American Montessori Society (AMS) School Accreditation process is the main path for this somewhat arduous, discovery-filled journey. It is our commitment to our families that the children at MCH are having the best possible Montessori experience. We achieved our initial Accreditation almost seven years ago, and now we’re embarking on the Re-Accreditation path!

We have formed multiple committees of faculty and staff who are tasked with examining in fine detail every single aspect of Montessori Children’s House from what our Montessori teachers do to how our families feel to governance and finance and beyond. We are spending many in-service days this year defining our strengths, identifying our challenges, ensuring that AMS standards are being met, making plans for our future, and refining our vision.

This is an 18-month long process. Right now, we’re almost one-third of the way into it. Every committee has begun its work, every staff member has given their feedback, and now we’re excited to begin collecting data. We will be soliciting information from parents all year long, and we really appreciate your involvement in this vital process. We are learning so much about ourselves already. If everything goes as planned and we hit all of our deadlines, we’ll be welcoming a visiting Accreditation team from AMS next fall. This is an exciting time for us!
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We will be sharing periodic updates and sending out surveys. Let us know if you have any questions!