Our Mission & Vision

MPPI envisions a world enriched and made equitable through widely accessible and fully-implemented Montessori education.

To make this vision a reality, MPPI champions a policy landscape that expands equitable access to high-fidelity Montessori education. This goal is advanced through building the capacity of state associations, bridging the work of advocates and policymakers, and promoting public awareness of the Montessori approach.

What We Do

Convene and Connect

Since the majority of education policy is at the state level, we support the formation and development of state advocacy groups so Montessori supporters can coordinate advocacy efforts in their states and speak with one voice. In addition, MPPI connects the policy work across states to ensure that a consistent body of policy around Montessori education is being developed throughout the country.

Train and Advise

MPPI offers workshops, develops resources, and provides technical support to state groups and Montessori advocates to empower their advocacy efforts. Our annual conference provides a deep dive into effective advocacy strategies and newly developed resources.

Unify and Define

The Montessori community recognizes that speaking with one voice and articulating what unites us is critical to policy work and the advancement of Montessori education in the United States. As the policy arm of the Association Montessori International/USA (AMI/USA) and the American Montessori Society (AMS), MPPI serves as the national unified voice for Montessori policy and equips the Montessori community with advocacy skills and tools to effectively change the policy landscape. MPPI’s Montessori Essentials align with both AMS and AMI/USA standards and define Montessori for policy makers and form the foundation for state advocacy strategy

Collaborate and Coordinate

On a national level, MPPI collaborates both with Montessori organizations to advance policy on behalf of the broader Montessori community, and with other national education groups working to increase quality in early learning and promote child-centered education.

Why We Do It

Montessori education is one of the best models to foster children’s intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Combining an excellent academic foundation with the cultivation of each child’s independence and curiosity, Montessori education empowers students to become lifelong learners. It’s an educational experience that all children deserve and one that prepares them to become confident global citizens capable of collaboration and problem-solving.

Education is a social justice issue and MPPI seeks to remove policy barriers to fully implemented Montessori education so that more children will have access to and benefit from this time-tested, evidence based, holistic approach to education. Our policy and advocacy work is not ultimately about any one school; it is about children and advancing an educational model that not only meets each individual child’s needs but also unleashes their potential. We want as many children as possible to have access to the rich array of benefits an authentic Montessori education provides and work to ensure that high-fidelity Montessori schools are available and accessible to all students.

Our Commitment

Our work centers around policy change related to Montessori education. As we go about that work, we are mindful that policies, regulations, laws, systems, and structures are some of the many places that systemic racism lives, oppresses, and maintains power. MPPI is working to ensure that we bring a racial equity lens to our work both internally and externally. As such, we have adopted the following racial equity statement:

MPPI is committed to identifying and eliminating systemic racism, bias, and oppression in Montessori education, in education policy, and in our organization and work. Recognizing that racism creates systemic power imbalances, MPPI will seek to dismantle traditional hierarchies and fully incorporate racial equity within our decision making internally and our advocacy externally.

In order to redefine the status quo and advance racial equity within the Montessori community and in Montessori classrooms, MPPI as an organization, and its staff and board as individuals, are committed to:

  • Acknowledging and disrupting implicit and explicit bias in ourselves, our organization, and the Montessori community
  • Exemplifying racially equitable practices, policies, and procedures
  • Examining who has power and redistributing it as we strategize and make decisions
  • Working for policy change that clears obstacles to culturally responsive Montessori education and creates access to Montessori education for all children

Find MPPI and the broader Montessori community’s joint statement regarding anti-Critical Race Theory efforts here.

Watch this webinar for more information on what Critical Race Theory is and is not and how opponents are enacting harmful policies for students, teachers, and school