From the Montessori leaders at Prestonwood. To our colleagues, administrators, and community.

Accreditation

PROJECT

AMS School Accreditation

Accreditation by the American Montessori Society provides guidance, empowerment, and high ideals to help a school community implement and sustain the rigorous standards of quality Montessori education.

Accreditation by the American Montessori Society is a gold standard of Montessori school excellence—the highest level of recognition the Montessori school can achieve, and a highly visible indicator of your school’s quality.

AMS accreditation is a process available to eligible schools that are committed to ongoing school improvement and are seeking data-reviewed, accountable validation of their high-quality Montessori programs.

Benefits

Achieving accreditation:

Deepens the sense of commitment to the institution quality;
Assures with confidence that the school meets sustains the rigorous standards of excellence recognized by Montessori educators.
Gains the school an internationally-recognized credential to leverage to market the school as one that exemplifies Montessori education at its best.
Allows the school to serve as a model for others in the Montessori community who aspire to reach the same level of excellence for their schools.
Sets the school firmly on an ongoing path of Montessori-driven self-evaluation, professional development, improvement, and quality assurance.

Additional benefit:

Opportunities for Co-Accreditation

AMS partners with more than 20 other national and regional accrediting associations, enabling you to participate in cooperative accreditation. The cooperative accreditation process is seamless. Cooperative accreditation demonstrates compliance with both Montessori-specific standards and with school standards that apply to non-Montessori schools. A listing of the accrediting agencies with which AMS partners can be found in the AMS Accreditation Handbook, included as part of the AMS Accreditation Information Packet.

Recognition by State Policymakers

AMS proactively advocates with state-level policymakers on behalf of accredited schools. The result? AMS accreditation is increasingly recognized nationwide, granting our accredited schools significant advantages that may include, as an example, recognition at the highest level of the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), a systemic approach to assessing, improving, and communicating the level of quality in early and school-age childcare and education programs.

The Journey

The accreditation process is a powerful learning opportunity for the school. In this multi-year undertaking:

Prestonwood will strengthen bonds with staff and families as the school engages in the collaborative process of a self-study.
Prestonwood will welcome other Montessori leaders on the Visiting Team into the school and gain valuable insights from them.
Prestonwood will make significant discoveries about our Montessori program, including its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
Prestonwood will be modeling on a school-wide scale the Montessori ideal of a lifelong learner—one who voluntarily engages in self-reflection, ongoing pursuit of knowledge, and improvement.

And, once Prestonwood has achieved accreditation, the journey will continue as the schools follows the protocol for maintaining it. See, Maintaining Your AMS Accreditation webpage. Full details may be found in the School Accreditation Handbook, available for purchase from Shop AMS.

The Pathway

The American Montessori Society's Pathway of Continuous School Improvement is a framework that supports member schools in their ongoing commitment to providing and sustaining quality Montessori programs. Schools may be engaged in one of 4 stages of The Pathway, each signaling to the community their commitment to Montessori.

There is a place on The Pathway of Continuous School Improvement for all schools. Stages are determined by your school’s implementation of the 5 core components of Montessori Education and progress in the school accreditation process.

Benefits of The Pathway

All schools engaging in the journey of The Pathway of Continuous School Improvement are recognized on the AMS Find a School directory, providing increased visibility.

Advancing to each stage will grant access to an updated logo to feature the quality of the school to the community. Additionally, AMS accredited, accreditation candidates, and verified schools receive an AMS Pathway certificate upon successful advancement to a new stage.

School Verification Process

To initiate the pathway journey, schools begin by going through the verification process. During this time, the school community will reflect on how PWM applies the 5 core components of Montessori Education.

Level 1: Member School

Level 2: Verified School

Level 3: Accreditation Candidate

Level 4: Accredited School

Stages on The Pathway

Member School - Schools join AMS for personalized support, exclusive resources, and connecting with other school communities. Member schools have agreed to follow the official AMS Code of Ethics.

Verified School - An AMS member school becomes verified once AMS confirms they uphold the 5 core components of Montessori Education.
Accreditation Candidate - When a school has been verified, meets the school accreditation prerequisites, and has an approved application for accreditation, they become candidates for school accreditation.
Accredited School - After writing a self-study and hosting a visiting team that verifies compliance with AMS school accreditation standards, a school earns AMS Accreditation

Wherever PWM is in the school's journey, The Pathway framework can help to develop goals and achieve them.