WHAT IS THE ARLINGTON MONTESSORI ACTION COMMITTEE?

Montessori has been a cornerstone of education in Arlington, Virginia, since at least 1971. Through numerous Montessori institutions, including Virginia’s first public Montessori school, the Montessori community has sought to continue and build upon the child-centered, child-led principals established by Dr. Maria Montessori. The nonprofit Arlington Montessori Action Committee (AMAC) advocates for these principals within the greater Arlington community and seeks to educate local leaders and stakeholders as we pursue an academy vision for Montessori in Arlington.

Arlington values Montessori for good reasons. The Montessori pedagogy promotes self-directed learning, healthy self-discipline, and good citizenship. Montessori children learn in an environment that is community-centered, where they have strong ties to adults at school, and receive differentiated instruction from a variety of resources both inside and outside the classroom – including other children. Montessori works for children of diverse backgrounds and abilities, and Montessori classrooms throughout Arlington exhibit this diversity. Through any number of devoted private schools, the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA) or satellite classrooms across Arlington Public Schools (APS), Montessori is available to welcoming of all interested families.

AMAC seeks to promote Montessori throughout Arlington in several ways. Families have a wonderful array of choices when it comes to where students go. AMAC seeks to help connect interested families with the numerous, devoted private Montessori schools in the county. AMAC also looks to support them through providing continuing education opportunities for teachers and for providing options for students to continue their Montessori education.

At the same time, the Montessori program meets several of the goals in APS’s Strategic Plan, including narrowing the achievement gap, providing responsive education, increasing diversity in the classroom, and helping to affordably absorb student growth as the APS population expands. In turn, AMAC works for continued support and expansion in APS as we seek an academy vision based on Virginia’s first public Montessori school, the MPSA located at the Career Center site on Columbia Pike.