Montessori Center of Minnesota

Increasing Access to Montessori Education 

We believe all children should have access to Montessori education's powerful benefits. Children in quality Montessori schools show greater gains on measures of executive function, reading, math, vocabulary, and critical life skills than their peers.*

Your gift to Montessori Center of Minnesota (MCM) increases access to Montessori education for children and adult learners through our early childhood programs and nationally-recognized teacher training program. 

Here’s how: 

• MCM’s teacher training program recruits and supports a diverse and passionate community of educators. We offer scholarships and tuition assistance aimed at breaking down access barriers and diversifying the field of Montessori educators. Last year, 48% of MCM's trainees identified as People of the Global Majority. 
• Our onsite early childhood program, Cornerstone Montessori School (CMS), increases access to Montessori education for children and families from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds. Last year, 64% of children attending CMS received financial assistance and 70% identified as People of the Global Majority.
• Through the Montessori Partners Serving All Children collaborative, we support community leaders as they open and operate culturally-rooted Montessori programs in their communities. Last year, MPSAC partner programs served 270 children in communities across the Twin Cities and beyond.

Lacey in trainingLacey's Story
Lacey Leith didn't expect to become a Montessori teacher. When her daughter's school, Montessori American Indian Childcare Center, needed a bus aide in 2019, she jumped at the chance. Eventually, Lacey became a bus driver and later began working in the environment with children. Lacey found she adores working with children. “I love being around children!" she adds with a laugh, "I just feel like a big kid myself, and I can be myself when I’m with them.”

Motivated by the joy she found in working with children and the encouragement of her supervisor at MAICC, Lacey applied and was accepted for MCM's 2023-2024 Primary (3-6) Diploma Course. Through the course, Lacey learned about child development, Montessori philosophy, and the role of the adult in the environment. 

Lacey feels a deep personal connection with her family's past and the Montessori approach to education, sharing, “This is closer to how we were back before boarding schools. We let the children lead us. Montessori is about the child leading at their own pace. It’s calming, beautiful, and inviting.”

With scholarship support, Lacey graduated from the course in May 2024. She is motivated to have a positive impact on her community in her role as an educator. “I just want to be somebody in my community," she shares. "For so long I wasn’t. That is really important to me. Being a part of the community is big to me.”

Video: Learn more about Lacey's Montessori journey

Celebrating 50 Years of Changing the Shape of Education

MISSION To transform lives and society by broadening access to the power of Dr. Maria Montessori’s proven method of education

VISION All humanity working for the common good in our shared world

VALUES

Transformation—Provoking powerful change on behalf of the child

Work—Engaging in meaningful and purposeful activity

Community—Building connections to foster human solidarity

Intentionality—Bringing clarity and thoughtfulness to all we do

Civility—Acting with respect, courtesy and compassion

*Montessori education’s impact on academic and nonacademic outcomes: A systematic review. Randolph, Bryson, Menon, Henderson, Kureethara Manuel, Michaels, Rosenstein, McPherson, O’Grady, Lillard, 2023