MONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC
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Mission Statement
The Montessori Center of Minnesota's mission is to provide and facilitate greater access to time-tested, quality programs developed by Dr. Maria Montessori to a population that is most vulnerable and often excluded; train highly qualified professionals; and disseminate the best practices of Montessori through outreach programming to a wide range of schools, childcare providers and parents. Since its founding, the Montessori Center has been profoundly changing children’s lives by preparing teachers in the Montessori method and by sharing Montessori principles within the larger community. In addition to teacher training in the Montessori method, the Montessori Center sponsors a model early education program for children at Cornerstone Montessori School, which serves children ages 15 months to age 6, and as a leader in the Montessori community, the Montessori Center partners with organizations to start high-quality, Montessori programs in diverse communities, or within areas of need without prior access.
About This Cause
Established in 1973 as a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status and licensed by the State of Minnesota Department of Higher Education, the Montessori Center provides teacher training at three levels, Assistants to Infancy (birth to age 3, known as A to I), Primary (ages 3 to 6), and Elementary (ages 6 to 12), and we also provide a training course for classroom assistants. We are accredited by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the organization founded by Dr. Montessori, and are one of just 17 AMI teacher-training institutions in the United States and 65 worldwide. We are also accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), an independent organization reviewing teacher programs against internationally established standards. In 2008, we expanded beyond our initial offering of teacher training to successfully launch several outreach programs designed to increase access to high-quality education for children and families marginalized by poverty. Our outreach programs currently include (1) Montessori Partners Serving all Children (Montessori Partners), aimed at developing 10 community-led schools serving economically and culturally rooted communities; (2) Parent Education Initiative, which provides education and support to families by accessing essential resources; (3) Mentorship Programs, which provide ongoing support and professional development for teachers. Our outreach also included opening Cornerstone Montessori School (Cornerstone) on site as a model school, serving children 15 months to six years, in 2008 as a pilot of Montessori Partners. In 2011, we supported the launch of Cornerstone Montessori Elementary, a public K–6 charter on our campus. To date, five additional community-led schools have opened due to the efforts of Montessori Partners. The Montessori Center directly serves nearly 500 adults annually through our training, mentoring and professional development program efforts and our recognition and reputation in the United States and in the international community continues to climb. This past year we had students from over 11 different countries attend our teacher training programs. At Cornerstone Montessori School our goal is to serve 60% or more low-income children. Our funding model is one where a third of families pay full tuition, a third receive assistance from the county, and a third receive tuition assistance privately raised by MCM (over $120,000 raised and awarded annually). Through a scholarship program and connections to county assistance, Cornerstone maintains its commitment to serving an economically diverse student population serving families where approximately 60% have been identified as low-income and receive some form of tuition assistance. This past year Cornerstone served 72 children in its early childhood program. In addition we serve hundreds more children and families though community outreach programs such as our Parent Education Initiative and through affiliate schools participating in our Montessori Partners program. In addition to our pilot program at Cornerstone, our Montessori Partners affiliates include Centro Siembra (Minneapolis), Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (Prior Lake), Bright Water Montessori (North Minneapolis), Montessori American Indian Center (St. Paul), Hmong American Partnership (East St. Paul), the Family Place (day shelter for homeless families, St. Paul), and Opportunity Neighborhood at the Ames Lake Community Center, where we partner to offer a free weekly Birth to Five Program for families. This program site alone saw attendance increase by 400% during the 2013–14 academic year, with parents and families requesting additional sessions during the summer when schools are closed. All of our affiliates are located in and serve some of Minnesota’s most marginalized communities and despite the economic challenges many face, they are all making progress and achieving high standards of excellence, resulting in recognition from AMI and a four-star rating from Minnesota’s own 4-Star Parent Aware program. Additionally, through our Parent Education Initiative, our outreach team works together with each partner school to provide resources beyond the classroom to children and families marginalized and at risk. During the 2013–14 academic year this program hosted over 25 events for parents, including parent coffees and material-making opportunities to help bring “Montessori home,” family and community picnic or potluck events, parent orientation and conference events, and topic-oriented Parent Partnership events featuring expert speakers. The most recent Parent Partnership was open to parents at Centro Siembra, Bright Water, and Cornerstone schools and focused on the importance of sleep for children. We provided transportation, childcare, and food, and had 57 parents attend. We are also proud of the Mentorship program we provide. For our teachers in training and our newest alumni at the Primary level we have developed and structured a strong Mentorship program for our students currently in training as well as our alumni. As part of our alumni Mentorship program, mentors receive training on how to support our recent graduates and newest teachers by using the Guide (Teacher) Effectiveness Rubric. Used as a coaching mechanism, this rubric provides a starting point for conversation and goal setting for the guide and mentor. During the 2013–14 academic year our mentors provided over 200 hours of support and coaching to practicing Montessori teachers. In addition to providing mentors to our newest teachers and alumni, we also provide mentorship to our teachers currently in training. We offer one-on-one mentors to those trainees who have requested the support or who have been identified as needing the additional help. We also offer large-group community mentoring for trainees as well. We do this through providing advice panels, offered twice annually, and by providing an “on-call” mentorship team of people identified with specific skills to support trainees on an as-needed basis. During the 2013–14 Primary training course, we provided 47 contact hours of mentorship to our 22 Primary-level teachers in training. Strategically located next to Roosevelt Homes, a public housing community on the greater East Side of St. Paul and nearby the Ames Lake affordable housing community, we are uniquely situated within this racially and ethnically diverse community. The Montessori Center serves as an “educational hub” positioned to address the educational needs of individuals, children, and families within the adjacent community. As authentic, urban Montessori schools, Cornerstone schools target enrollment from the immediate community. The combined resident population of our two neighboring communities, total more than 700 low-income families including 920 children age 17 and younger living within a 10-block radius of Cornerstone. In addition, families residing in our East St. Paul neighborhood represent some of the most impoverished community members in the city, often making less than 100% of federal poverty guidelines ($14,000 annually for a family of two). We know that quality early childhood education programs in addition to quality teachers are essential to prepare children for success in school and in life—and are particularly important in disadvantaged communities which is why we remain committed to a financing model at Cornerstone where approximately 60% or more of the families served are low-income and receive some form of tuition assistance. The Montessori Center undergoes several periodic external evaluations. Our teacher training programs maintain accreditation through MACTE and AMI. Cornerstone’s early childhood program is a 4-Star rated program through Parent Aware and undergoes a rigorous three day review through AMI every three years. Additionally, Cornerstone and other affiliate schools in our Montessori Partners program are engaging in a three year evaluation project to assess the progress of students, staff and schools. The evaluation project focuses on three areas, 1) Children’s academic, cognitive, social and environmental health, 2) School structures and quality, and 3) Successful inclusion and support of parents and community. In our most recent report summarizing the results of the first and second year of evaluation, we learned a great deal and saw emerging patterns among all affiliates in the Montessori Partners program including: • Large percentages of the children attending the Montessori Partners schools are children of color and many of them are low income. • We are successfully serving our mission of showing the efficacy high-quality Montessori early childhood experiences for all children. • Across the collaborative, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or language spoken in the home, the vast majority of the children are performing in the normal or above range. According to data from these two tools, as we close the opportunity gap we can see the achievement gap closing as well. To view the Montessori Partners full evaluation summary for the current and past year visit: www.montessoricentermn.org. • Responses to the family and staff surveys continue to reveal synergies between the values of families and those embedded in the Montessori approach regarding the optimal, healthy development of the whole child. As more data is collected and as additional schools are included among Montessori Partners, we expect to gain greater understanding of these emerging patterns as well as new ones that will surface. We ask our funders to continue to invest a proven educational method and to invest in our partnership with the communities most impacted by poor performing schools to generate a true a solution to solve learning disparities in Minnesota. With your help we will change the shape of education.