October 3, 2022—The American Montessori Society is excited to announce the creation of a board-approved commission designed to support local outreach throughout the United States. The newly-formed Regional Action Commission is the outcome of over a year of planning and conversation with a regional commission work group and other key stakeholders.
The Regional Action Commission Work Group
In 2021, a regional action commission work group was developed to localize AMS in an effort to bring more services and professional development to groups across the United States.
Members of this group conducted extensive and thorough interviews with stakeholders from each region (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, and Pacific West) to learn more about how AMS could best support them. This information was analyzed and compiled into a report by PhD student Yasmin C. (Laird) Radinsky, MSEd, and supported by Janet Bagby and the AMS Research Committee.
Why a Regional Action Commission
The Regional Action Commission is the third commission of the American Montessori Society (joining the Teacher Education Action Commission and School Accreditation Commission). This new commission is designed to support the localization of Montessori and bring brand awareness to the American Montessori Society.
Through these localization efforts, we look forward to boosting member engagement, establishing leadership within the regions we are working, and expanding content to a national and eventually international level. We know this is a critical next step to strengthening the Montessori Movement.
Meet the AMS Director of Regional Community Relations
To support this work, AMS is pleased to announce the creation of a new position, the director of regional community relations. To that end, we welcome Marie Conti to the staff at AMS headquarters.
For the last 40+ years, Marie Conti has dedicated her life to Montessori, as a teacher, program director, head of school, board member, and past senior director of school accreditation and member programs at AMS. Marie sat on the AMS board from 2016 – 2019 and in that time served on the development committee and was co-chair of both the member engagement work group and the research committee. She has co-chaired annual conferences and presented at The Montessori Event and other Montessori and general education conferences.
Join Us
Our sincere thanks go to the workgroup members.
Debbie Senoff-Langford
Principal, Jarrow Montessori School
Boulder, CO
Kaleigh Richards
Montessori Advisor
Reno, NV
Kimberly Sandridge
Director of Early Childhood Education, Evergreen School
Silver Spring, MD
Margaret Bischoff
Program Director at Brookview Montessori School
Benton Harbor, MI
Michelle Morrison
Head of School / Executive Director of Teacher Training
Princeton, NJ
Saloni Mathur
Montessori Consultant
Basking Ridge, NJ
Sharmeen Niazi
Elementary Community Liaison
Plano, TX
We also owe an immense gratitude to the AMS staff who supported these efforts: Gina Lofquist, Maria Pagani, Melanie Thiesse, and Munir Shivji. This group will continue to work closely with Marie as we move the Regional Action Commission forward.
We hope you will consider becoming involved with the Regional Action Commission and learning more about how you can support the Montessori Movement in your community. We look forward to connecting with you in person at The Montessori Event 2023 in Boston. Should you have any questions in the meantime, we invite you to be in touch with Marie at marie@amshq.org.