About Montessori Northwest

Montessori Teacher Training Since 1979

Montessori Northwest (MNW), located in Portland, Oregon, provides AMI Montessori teacher training at the Assistants to Infancy (ages 0 - 3), Primary (ages 3 - 6), and Elementary (ages 6 - 12) levels, and serves as a hub of activity within the Montessori community. We also offer parent education, continuing education workshops, community education and personalized staff development for Montessori professionals. We also offer Primary training in the California Bay Area and Elementary training in Spokane, Washington.

MNW is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is guided by a Board of Directors. Board members come from a variety of backgrounds, from Montessori educators and administrators to individuals successful in a variety of professions. All care deeply about supporting MNW’s mission and growing our presence in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

MNW is affiliated with the Association Montessori Internationale and Whitworth University in Spokane. All of our programs are accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE).

MNW is a founding partner of Alder Montessori, a tuition-free early learning program for children aged 3-6 located at Alder Elementary School in East Portland.

Our Mission

To provide education honoring the pedagogical principles of Dr. Maria Montessori by offering AMI Montessori teacher education, professional development, and community outreach.

Our vision is to bring Montessori to more people through training to capacity, increasing accessibility, and responsible stewardship.

  • Diversify and fully enroll AMI diploma courses across the region and at all levels by cultivating new trainers, career pathways, and course formats.

  • Improve access to scholarships and financial aid for students, and training to meet diverse needs. 

TRAINING TO CAPACITY

  • Share Montessori principles and implementation widely with the broader community. 

  • Increase pathways to training, leading to greater student diversity.

  • Develop and strengthen our strategic partnerships, particularly in the public sector.  

INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY

  • Build organizational capacity through strategic management, strong financial oversight, a robust development plan, and enthusiastic engagement from volunteers and alumni.

  • Develop marketing plans to increase visibility in new communities.  

RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP

Join us in this work by sponsoring a teacher, hosting a current learner for observation and practice teaching, attending a workshop or program, and becoming a monthly donor or a Community Partner.

Anti-Bias Anti-Racist (ABAR) and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Practices

Montessori Northwest recognizes that biases are inherent in our culture and institutions, including our own. These can include biases for or against racial/ethnic backgrounds, culture, language, gender expression, sexual orientation, family structure, cognitive or physical ability, economic class, and religion.

As a teacher training center and hub of Montessori education in our region, it is our responsibility to prepare our staff and environment to provide an inclusive space where every member of the community feels welcome. We recognize that each individual who walks through our doors experiences privilege and oppression differently. Understanding and responding to this is ongoing work for individuals and our organization.

MNW is committed to taking a proactive approach to eliminating biases, for or against racial and ethnic backgrounds, culture, language, ablism, cognitive or physical ability, economic class, family structure, gender normativity, racism, religion, and sexual orientation, which includes, but is not limited to:

  • Deepening our Anti-Bias Anti-Racism commitments and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion practices

  • Exploring with adult learners how to dismantle biases of all kinds in the context of the Montessori curriculum, and classroom environment, as well as any of their own biases

  • Increasing pathways to training to improve accessibility to adult learners of marginalized groups

  • Offering an equity-centered approach that recognizes that racism is a form of trauma that affects children and adults

  • Providing a regular time and space for MNW staff and students to reflect and learn about these topics, including bringing in experts who are members of marginalized groups

  • Using a person’s chosen name and pronouns to affirm their identity (FAQs about pronouns)

Some of the language used in the above statement has been adapted from statements by Zora Montessori and Asheville Primary Schools. We are grateful to be part of a community committed to collaborating on ABAR and JEDI work.

ABAR & JEDI TIMELINE

  • MNW Board approves innovative business plan to increase access to Montessori Teacher Education through a blended learning format and establishing scholarships which prioritize BIPOC learners.

  • MNW staff and learners begin to attend regular ABAR and DEI sessions.

  • MNW offers Community Education workshops led by Chrysanthius Lathan, of Teachers for Racial Equity in Education, and Expanding Cultural Awareness through the Native American Experience, led by Robin Butterfield.

2018

  • MNW trainers work with Ingrid Canady to discuss inherent racism in Montessori training, how to address it, and how to support learners of color.

  • MNW offers a Primary Assistant’s Course in Spanish, led by Primary trainer, Ieda Torres-Holyoak.

  • MNW Primary Director of Training Polli Soholt welcomed two trainers-in-training from the global majority: Shriee Shrinivas, and Jing Zhang.

  • MNW staff, learners, and board members attend the Montessori for Social Justice conference.

  • MNW adds a land acknowledgement to our website and shares it at the start of our Diploma Programs and Community Education events.

2019

  • MNW staff members attend Ingrid Canady’s Equity Workshop and participate in a two-day Equity training program.

  • MNW faculty redesigns programs to integrate ABAR and JEDI into Montessori Teacher Education; audit prepared environments at each level to ensure all children see themselves in these environments.

  • Sheri Bishop, co-founder of MSJ presents on Trauma and Racism and the importance of ABAR work as part of the spiritual preparation of the teacher.

2020

  • MNW training implements grounding text, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks, Julie Olsen Edwards, and Catherine Goins to guide discussions and activities used throughout the 3-6 diploma program.

2021

  • MNW creates a Pronouns FAQ modeled after the City of Portland DEEP LGBTQ & Friends Affinity Group Leadership 2017 document.

  • MNW hosts Britt Hawthorne for 2-day workshop: Anti Bias Education in Montessori.

  • MNW offers five, $4,000.00 Equity in Education scholarships to upcoming 3-6 Blended Program.

2022

  • MNW offers 5 free registrations to participants who identify as BIPOC for Community Events.

  • MNW offers Montessori Classroom Essentials: Getting Started with Anti-Bias Education, a 3-part series that supports classroom guides and assistants at all levels who want to get started with Anti-Bias Education but aren’t sure where to begin.

2023

MNW Land Acknowledgements

A Land Acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes the history and legacy of colonialism that impacted Indigenous Peoples, their traditional territories, and practices. An acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth.

As we gather at Montessori Northwest to celebrate the human spirit present in the child and in each of us, a land acknowledgment is one way to express our gratitude for those whose territory we reside on – these places we call home, where we live and work, develop our hopes and dreams, and make our lives. This is a way of honoring the indigenous peoples who have been living, working, and developing their hopes and dreams on this land since time immemorial.

Land acknowledgments do not exist in a past tense or historical context; colonialism is a current ongoing process. Colonization is a global phenomenon and settler people have experienced trauma as well, through bearing witness to this violent history and being subjected to historical amnesia. With this knowledge, we begin building mindfulness of our present participation and healing.

On January 22, 1855, tribal leaders gathered near Dayton, Oregon, and signed the Willamette Valley Treaty. This treaty ceded over 8 million acres of land and included the entire Willamette Valley from the crest of the Cascades to the Coastal Mountain Range. This treaty ceded the ancestral homelands of the tribes and bands who resided in the Willamette Valley as well as other tribes who fished, hunted, and gathered seasonally.

Together, some of these tribes are known as the Clackamas, Chinook, and Cowlitz tribes, and these peoples are currently members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederate Tribes of the Siletz Indians. Both nations were terminated and restored, which are unique histories. We honor their elders both past and present and future generations.

With appreciation to Jen Proctor, Coquille Tribe

PORTLAND, OR

We acknowledge that we are on the unceded land of the Spokane people. And that these lands were once the major trading center for the Spokanes as they shared this place and welcomed other area tribes through their relations, history, trade, and ceremony. We also want to acknowledge that the land holds the spirit of the place, through its knowledge, culture, and all the original peoples Since Time Immemorial.

As we take a moment to consider the impacts of impacts of colonization may we also acknowledge the strengths and resiliency of the Spokanes and their relatives. As we work together making decisions that all benefit all, may we do so as one heart, one mind, and one spirit. We are grateful to be on the shared lands of the Spokane people and ask for the support of their ancestors and all relations. We ask that you recognize these injustices that forever changed the lives of the Spokane people and all their relatives.

We agree to work together to stop all acts of continued injustices towards Native Americans and all our relatives. It is time for reconciliation. We must act upon the truths and take actions that will create restorative justice for all people.

Adopted by the City Council of Spokane, WA, on March 22, 2021

SPOKANE, WA

Montessori Northwest acknowledges the people and land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Our ability to gather, learn, and establish our presence as an institution of higher education in the Bay Area came at great expense to the original inhabitants of this land, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe (mah-wek-mah ah-lone-ee) and familial descendants of the Verona Band. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and MNW pays respect to elders both past and present.

We recognize that every member of the MNW community has, and continues to benefit from, the use and occupation of this land. Consistent with our values of community, inclusion, and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible MNW’s relationship to Native peoples. As members of the MNW community, it is vitally important that we not only recognize the history of the land on which we stand, but also, we recognize that the Muwekma Ohlone people are alive and flourishing members of broader Bay Area communities today.

With appreciation to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe

PLEASANTON, CA

Alder Montessori

In addition to our adult teacher training programs, Montessori Northwest was a founding partner of Alder Montessori, a high-quality early learning program for children ages 3-6 years-old in the Reynolds School District.

Alder Montessori began as a partnership with Montessori Northwest, and the program is now thriving under the administration of Alliance for Equity in Montessori Education (AEME), in partnership with Greater Than and the Reynolds School District. AEME is a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to high-quality Montessori early childhood education for children and families impacted by problems with immigration or socioeconomic status, racial and other inequalities, and facing challenges basic to human rights and dignity.

Alder Montessori is a program for children ages 3-6, located within Alder Elementary School. Alder Montessori serves 40 children in two classrooms and is free for families living within the Alder enrollment boundaries. By providing tuition-free education, Alder Montessori increases school readiness to reduce the impact of poverty for the children and adults participating in the program.

For questions about Alder Montessori or to schedule a visit, contact AEME at info@montessoriequity.org or call: 503.893.5598

FOUNDING SUPPORTERS

  • Davidson Fund

  • Earl Harris Charitable Trust

  • Johnson Charitable Trust

  • Jubitz Family Foundation

  • Meyer Memorial Trust

  • Oregon Community Fund

  • Preschool Promise

  • Schroeder Family Fund

  • Spirit Mountain Community Fund

  • Windermere Foundation