Good news from the Peach State as a collaboration between private non-profits and government programs has led to an increased public Montessori presence in Georgia’s largest city.
Premier Academy is a non-profit aimed at providing much-needed early learning and childcare services in metro Atlanta.
“We’ve done traditional childcare since 1971, and we’ve just always been a little funky, a little creative. Always trying to think about what the best is for our children, how can we improve access? Remove barriers. So that’s always been our mission,” said Starla Bailey, Premier Academy’s executive director. “We got a little creative, about five years ago, and decided to introduce Montessori as an option for our families. What if we take some of our Head Start slots and put them into a Montessori program and blend that program so that [the class make up is] Head Start families that pay no tuition, it’s families that receive subsidies from the state, it’s private tuition, it’s scholarship families, but everybody gets the same access to Montessori instruction?”
Bailey said that that the concept was new for Premier Academy at the time, but after a year, she and her team came to the conclusion that, “Whoa, this thing actually does work.”
Now, five years later, the idea has been so successful that Premiere Academy has opened another classroom, this time in its second location in South Atlanta. The expansion started off the 2026/27 school year with full enrollment—not to mention a waiting list.
And so far, things are going great. Sometimes introducing Montessori to students not exposed to the methodology in early years can make for a steep hill to climb, so far as a normalized classroom goes. But not this time, Bailey said.
“The teachers have been amazing, and the family feedback has just been great. It’s a very cool classroom,” she said.
The unique demographics in both classrooms, which sees Head Start children sharing mats with those whose parents pay full tuition, is worth highlighting.
“Early learning is actually the most economically segregated level of education in our country,” said Annie Frazier, Executive Director of Montessori Partnerships for Georgia (MPG), which partnered with Premier Academy to get both classrooms up and running.
“Head Start often segregates children from low-income households in their own classrooms, even in programs that serve children with mixed incomes. But we also know the incredible benefit to children of all income levels to being in economically integrated communities. It’s really powerful, and it’s really rare, and it’s really healthy for children not to be in communities of concentrated poverty,” Frazier said.
A little help from some friends
But growing the program, not to mention starting it in the first place, took two things you’ve got to have if you’re doing good Montessori—trained teachers and Montessori materials. That’s where MPG comes in.
“We are founded on the premise that every child deserves access to Montessori education,” said Frazier. “So, we work to strengthen, support, and expand public Montessori in Georgia, and we do that in a number of different ways. One of them is through advocacy, identifying where there are obstacles to fully implemented Montessori, and helping to remove those obstacles. Another way is through direct support for our member schools.”
MPG supported Premiere Academy’s Montessori programs with connections to teacher training, teacher coaching, support with ordering materials and classroom setup, Frazier said.
“We were really very hands on from the very beginning helping to navigate the state government requirements that go along with public funding dollars,” Frazier added. “This is really one of our areas of expertise.”
According to both Bailey and Frazier, neither Premiere Academy nor Montessori Partnerships for Georgia has plans to stop at two classrooms.
“What I really see for this program is the option to create a bit of a better [student] pipeline,” Bailey said. “…Starting them in a Montessori option for infants and toddlers, and then also putting them in the preschool program…to also have a kindergarten through first grade blended program as well…based on the Montessori model. I think that would be our true heart’s desire.”
Andrew Marshall is an award-winning journalist and visual artist.
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