About Amac

About AMAC

AMAC was formed in 2006 by several Arlington, Virginia Montessori parents from different schools as a way to build community and to formalize years of Montessori advocacy. AMAC is not affiliated with any one school, but serves as a way for all Montessori advocates, public and private, to support Montessori education.

We are working for continued support and expansion of Montessori in Arlington Public Schools (APS). APS’s Montessori program 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 APS’s Montessori classrooms exhibit this diversity. In short, the Montessori program meets several of the goals in APS’s Strategic Plan, including narrowing the achievement gap, rising achievement for all students, and responsive education.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

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.

amac LEADERSHIP

AMAC Executive Committee

KELLEY LITZNER, President

JONATHAN HUI, Executive Vice President

MATTHEW COX, Secretary

KATIE LIN, Treasurer

AMAC EXECUTIVE BOARD

Consists of the AMAC Executive Committee and the following members:

MICHAEL BRUNO, Vice President of Communications

BWEIKIA STEEN, Vice President of Education

VANESHREE MOODLEY, Vice President of Events

ANDY GREENWOOD, Vice President of Membership

PATRICK RASCHE, Vice President of Website & Listserv

TBD, Vice President of Fundraising

TBD, Parliamentarian

EVAN THOMAS, Immediate Past President