AMS School Membership
AMS school membership supports you, your community, and the Montessori Movement.
Membership in the American Montessori Society—the world’s leading Montessori advocate—is a powerful way to become a part of the collective Montessori Movement.
AMS membership will increase your school’s visibility, unlock access to resources especially for Heads of School like the AMS Job Board and Connect Live monthly meetings, and add significant momentum to the ever-growing Montessori Movement.
The AMS membership year begins on July 1 and runs through June 30.
Benefits of Membership
AMS is committed to increasing public awareness of Montessori education and promoting its growth. When your school becomes a member, you gain a vital ally, dedicated to helping your school succeed, improving the quality of your Montessori programs, supporting your communications, advancing the professional growth of your staff, and achieving your strategic goals.
Over 18,000 members take advantage of these benefits each year:
Exposure to a Broad Audience
- Ability to post open employment opportunities on the AMS Jobs Board viewed by Montessori professionals worldwide. Add screening questions, review résumés, and more.
- A unique School Profile page on the AMS website, with detailed information about your school and programs, along with photos, social media links, and more. A custom URL makes the page easy to share and can serve as a basic webpage if your school has a limited website budget. The page is part of our Find-a-School directory, one of the most accessed pages on our website by parents.
- Opportunities to promote your school’s achievements in Montessori Life magazine, AMS social media platforms, and other select venues.
School Improvement & Recognition
- The option to enroll in the AMS Pathway of Continuous School Improvement, providing the framework to help you achieve your goals for improving, refining, and sustaining your school’s Montessori programs.
- Member Schools have the option to purchase membership bundles for their teaching staff, including assistants and specialist teachers (e.g., art, music, foreign languages), giving them access to our AMS Learning on-demand library of webinars.
- For schools on Step 4 and above on the AMS Pathway of Continuous School Improvement, a certificate, suitable for framing, attesting to their participation.
- Eligibility to pursue AMS school accreditation, the highest mark of Montessori recognition achievable.
- Receive a Preparedness Self-Assessment through Adennill, a diagnostic tool for providing an in-depth valuation of your organization’s preparedness for any crisis
- Complimentary survey report including Compensation & Benefits, which provide invaluable information for benchmarking.
- Verification of teaching credentials from AMS and the National Center for Montessori Education (NCME).
Benefits for the Head of School
- Head of school membership included in school membership, with all individual member benefits, including unlimited access to the AMS Learn On Demand library with more than 100 CPD hours available
- NEW - Digital monthly parent newsletter emailed to you for distributing to your parent community
- Access to a community networking platform specifically for heads of member schools on AMS Connect
- Access to monthly Heads of Schools Connect Live meetings
- Monthly School Leader Newsletter
- Access to Connect with the Commissioners meetings and webinars
- Access to preferred pricing with TriNet. TriNet is a PEO custom-build for schools with an all-in-one HR and employee benefits solution. Learn more here.
- Access to the AMS exclusive 24-7 hotline for up to 1-hour of first response consultation with Adennill’s Crisis STOP®, should an emergency arise at your school
Publications & Management Tools
- A subscription to Montessori Life magazine for all heads of schools: includes both print and access to the ten-year digital archive.
- Complimentary survey reports, including Compensation & Benefits, which provide invaluable information for benchmarking.
- Access to unique, members-only resources that support your school and staff.
- Access to a community networking platform specifically for heads of member schools on AMS Connect.
Savings & Discounts
- Discounted rates for participation in Moneris, an online payment processing program designed specifically for schools.
Get Help Joining the AMS School Membership Community
Whether you are looking for more information about school membership or have made your decision, start here.
Lending Support
In addition to the benefits above that directly impact your school, your AMS school membership supports the larger efforts of our community, work that indirectly supports you, including:
- Montessori research and research platforms, including the Journal of Montessori Research a Montessori Research e-Digest, research grants, and the dissemination of research results
- The production of videos you can embed on your own website (no permission is needed).
- Benchmarking of critical school data
- The development of high-quality professional development experiences and events
- The training of Montessori teachers and administrators via our affiliated teacher education programs
- The public policy force of a strong international advocacy organization
- AMS governance, through your participation in annual elections of the Board of Directors.
- Our Montessori public awareness campaigns.
- Representation at the United Nations, National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA), Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), and other coalitions that advocate for children and education.
- Our humanitarian aid and peace and social justice initiatives, which benefit communities in-need, worldwide.
Membership Dues + New Teacher Membership Bundles
The AMS membership year begins on July 1 and runs through June 30. School memberships cannot be prorated unless purchasing for more than one membership year at a time.
Don't wait until the new school membership begins. Lock in the best rates now and access your benefits immediately.
Teacher Membership Bundles
Member schools have the benefit of special bundle pricing to add individual memberships for all of their teaching staff (teachers, assistants, and specials teachers). With individual memberships including professional development webinars, the cost savings is fantastic! Purchasing a teacher bundle is done through the school membership application and pricing is below. The deadline for any changes, additions, or transfer of individual memberships to another individual within a bundle is October 31.
School Membership Costs are based on the enrollment of the school, as followed:
Discounts
We also offer the following discounts and subsidies on the cost of school membership:
- Accredited School - 20%
- International School - 20%
- Public School (district, charter, magnet) - 50%
- Satellite Campus - 10%
Schools with multiple sites: The campus with the largest enrollment is considered the main site. A satellite is an additional site within the same state as the main site but not immediately adjacent to the main school building. A separate application must be submitted for each satellite.
All school memberships include an individual membership for the head of school. Individual memberships for other teaching staff can be added during the school membership application.
Dues are nonrefundable.
From Our Team
From Our Team
Joining AMS as a member school is just the beginning of your membership journey. We lend support through explanation of benefits for individuals as well as school members, professional development resources, and guidance on the five core components of a high-quality Montessori program.
Contact Kimberlee