AMAC: A history of successful advocacy and promotion

• Supports Virginia’s only public Montessori program with more than 800 students enrolled

  • The APS program is over 50 years old and began at Drew Model School in 1971. It is one of the oldest public Montessori programs in the country

  • Advocated to create an APS Montessori Middle School Program which was established in 2007

  • Supported decoupling the Montessori program from the neighbohood Drew Model School allowing each program and its students to thrive in single-focus schools

  • Developed an APS growth plan that created a single-focus APS Montessori school in 2019 - the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA) made history when it opened its doors in September 2019 as the first Montessori public school in Virginia

• Creates opportunities to bring teachers, families, and future families together– whether in outdoor program activities, educator appreciation parties, or graduation ceremonies, these events tie together multiple generations of Arlington Montessori participants and build community

• Produced a petition with 500 signatures to add additional APS Montessori elementary classrooms – this grassroots effort proved that public demand for Montessori existed beyond just advocates and allowed more families to continue with public Montessori education beyond preschool

• Pushed for additional APS Montessori primary classrooms – this effort showed how multiple public needs and desires could be met in a cost-efficient way, providing both Montessori and pre-K capacity

• Unlocked access to state SOL data test results for Montessori students – in a first, both school officials and the public were able to make data-driven comparisons that showed a standalone public Montessori school would benefit multiple communities, including neighborhood students

• Co-hosted Montessori celebrations with APS to mark the program’s 40th and 50th anniversaries in Arlington – highlighting APS Montessori as possibly the longest-running option program in Arlington Public Schools

• Helped create the APS Montessori Revealed video – this effort explained Montessori pedagogy to a school district organized around traditional education constructs

• Worked with APS to form a year-long Montessori Steering Committee formation and report – this project underpinned Montessori’s endurance as a pedagogy and the Montessori community’s own desire to be held accountable to the highest standards

Advocacy will always be at the core of AMAC’s mission. Advocacy can only be successful with the support of many people dedicated to the cause – parents, teachers, administrators, leaders, students, prospective families, former students and other believers. AMAC is dedicated to helping a Montessori advocates be heard.

Past Newsletters 

Important Public Documents

• AMAC Articles of Incorporation

• 501(c)(3) Status