At least nine new public programs this year
On top of nine programs opened for 2024-25, we know of at least five new programs launching in September 2025. And at least 20 programs are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year.
We collect and improve public Montessori data on the Montessori Census. Check out your school’s listing and send us an email if anything’s missing or incorrect!
In Cincinnati, an amazing story has played out over the last few months. In November, Xavier University, home to a Montessori teacher training program since 1965, announced the closure of its 60-year-old Montessori Lab School, which provided low-cost Montessori education and practice environments for aspiring Montessori teachers.
Families scrambled to create an alternative, exploring private and homeschooling options. But they
were quickly able to achieve a collaboration with Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), home of the first U.S.
public Montessori school in a program which has grown to seven schools, including two high schools.
CPS had an under-enrolled building, Bramble Nature Campus, and the lab school families had a ready supply of committed families. The deal came together quickly, and Bramble Montessori is set to open in
September.
In Fairfax County, Virginia, the school district was awarded a $5 million Magnet School grant to start a Montessori program at an under-enrolled school. Bucknell Elementary School will start with pre-K3 to kindergarten classrooms, and phase in the lower elementary grades a year at a time.
Invictus Nashville Charter School will open in Nashville, Tennessee, after first being rejected, and
then approved on appeal, back in 2023. Invictus principal and Build Excel Sustain (BES) Fellow Dr.
Brenda Jones’ persistence has paid off, and the school will open in September serving K-2nd grade, with
plans to expand through to 8th grade in coming years.
The Oklahoma Public Montessori Initiative, also approved in 2023 (and the only one of four
applications approved that year), will open in Oklahoma City this fall, serving students from pre-K through 4th grade.
Finally, in Columbus, Ohio, a new Wildflower charter school, Rainbow Montessori Learning Center, is
slated to open in September, ultimately serving “a diverse urban population of students in grades PK4-8,” according to their website.
Here are the 20 schools opened in 2000 and celebrating their 25th anniversary this year!
- Birch Lane Elementary School
- Briar Vista Elementary School
- Brockman Elementary School
- Bucks County Montessori Charter School
- Bush Elementary-Montessori
- Cumberland Road Montessori
- Huntley Hills Elementary and Montessori School
- Johnson Elementary-Montessori
- Leelanau Montessori Public School Academy
- McCormick Elementary
- Montessori Academy, School 53
- Mountain View Montessori Charter School
- North Fork Montessori @ Crawford
- Pomeroy Elementary-Montessori
- Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School
- Riverway Learning Community
- Southern Ute Indian Montessori Academy
- Tree of Life Montessori Charter School
- Triangle Lake Montessori School
- Waukazoo Elementary School
If your school is missing, or we got your birthday wrong, let us know!
David worked in private Montessori for more than twenty years as a parent, three-to-six year-old and adolescent teacher, administrator, writer, speaker, and advocate. In 2016 he began working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. David lives in Portland, Oregon.
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