AMS Membership

AMS does not require that your school purchase materials from any particular company although AMS members, but will receive a 5% discount through Nienhuis. Visit the AMS Marketplace for more companies.

To download our lists of suggested materials by classroom age, visit this page.

The Montessori curriculum is much more than lesson plans and materials, therefore hiring Montessori Teachers with credentials from an accredited training center, like those affiliated with AMS, is the best way to ensure that the curriculum is properly executed. Credentialed teachers learn the curriculum through their rigorous training and practice – building “albums,” or curriculum guides, during the training process.

If you or your school have an AMS membership, you can access examples in our member resources portal when you’re logged in.

Yes, whether it is your individual or school membership, AMS is an annual membership that begins on July 1 and expires on June 30th. AMS sends out communication via emails and newsletters to remind individuals and schools when it is time to renew.

You can visit our webpage for Starting a Montessori School.

Once you become a member, you will have access to our membership resources page which has some policies and procedure resources, as well as webinars on our learning platform AMS Learning.

Our memberships include access to our communication platform AMS Connect, where you can speak with other AMS members who have started their own schools.

Your AMS membership is driven the email address you chose to use when signing up. Each member will choose one email address on file, and should consistently use that address when logging into our website.

If for any reason you need to change your email address associated with your account, you can do so by logging in and uptating your profile information. Please note, your unique account may have credentials, professional development certificates, or other information tied to it, so it is important that a new account not be created when changing schools, or when having difficulty logging in. If you are having difficulty accessing your account, please reach out to membership@amshq.org, and we will be happy to assist you.

If there are specific benefits you’re looking for, or would like more information on what benefits are included with membership, please visit our Individual Membership or School Membership information page here.

Note that we no longer have a separate login account for schools. If you are a head of school or an administrator with access to perform school functions, such as complete applications, post to the job board, and pay open invoices, you will access these functions from your individual membership account. If you are a new head of school and need access to complete school functions, please contact us at membership@amshq.org and we can transfer access for the school from the previous head to you, with verification of your role. Please do not change the email or password for any accounts that are not yours.

Individual AMS Members can connect with other teachers within their credentialed area on our AMS Connect platform, here.

Additionally, a terrific guideline to ensure you are meeting best practices and understand the overall framework for a school is to download the AMS Accreditation standards which can be found here.

You will be part of an 18,000 international member network of teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, adult learners, and many others who are committed to high quality Montessori education and lifelong learning. We have several events and online platforms to further facilitate connections like AMS Connect and AMS Affinity Groups.

There are also several professional development opportunities that qualify for professional development hours, including our on-demand, online courses on our AMS Learning platform. You will receive community discounts on events like The Montessori Event and on certificate programs like the Anti-bias, Antiracist (ABAR) Certificate Program and the Elementary Reading Certificate Program.

You will have a subscription to and full access to the 10-year digital archive of our quarterly magazine, Montessori Life.

You will also have full acess to Member-only Resources, which has sample handbooks, policies, report forms, how-to sheets, and curriculum guides.

School Memberships provide eligibility to pursue AMS school accreditation, a unique school profile page in the Find-a-School directory, and access to post on the AMS Jobs Board.

AMS offers access to specifically designed insurance plans for our individual members. Learn more here.

An individual membership is $101, but a School Membership costs are based on the enrollment of the school. Member schools have the benefit of special bundle pricing to add individual memberships for all of their teaching staff (teachers, assistants, and specials teachers).

Please visit the School Membership or Individual Membership page for specific details.

There is no application to become an AMS Member, you just need to fill out our online form and pay the applicable membership fee. If you’re a member school and looking to pursue AMS school accreditation, please visit this page for more information on that process.

Please visit the School Membership or Individual Membership page for more information on each membership.

As part of the process of joining AMS, all members are required to attest that they will comply with the AMS Code of Ethics.

Yes, AMS provides parent education webinars, publications, and form templates on Member-only Resources.