Accreditation: Why Multiple Agencies?

Montessori Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee will begin the self-study process for the International Montessori Council (IMC) accreditation during the 2017/18 school year. This self-study will include the processes for the American Montessori Society (AMS) and AdvancEd, as well. Montessori Academy has been accredited by AMS and AdvancEd since the mid-1990s. For years, it was the only private Montessori school in Middle Tennessee with accreditation from these two agencies. Recently, our new satellite school located in Clarksville, Tennessee was accredited by AMS and AdvancEd. While contemplating the self-study endeavor, we decided to pursue IMC accreditation. Several people have asked, “Why?” Accreditation is one way to show the public that the school is united by standards of excellence and continuous improvement. Accreditation provides an outside source that shows: “This school meets appropriate and high standards.” Several years ago, I heard Tim Seldin talk about the size of the various Montessori organizations and the purpose of IMC. The American Montessori Society has the largest group of members. We feel it is important to be members and aspire to meet and maintain their standards of accreditation. IMC has the purpose of uniting the different Montessori organizations and promoting Montessori as an important educational option. We love that their purpose is to promote Montessori education! Montessori Academy wants to promote Montessori in our region, to lift the standards of Montessori in our region, to encourage and model for other schools to raise their standards, and to join with us to create the best Montessori schools possible for our region. Montessori Academy, like IMC, wants to improve Montessori education. Since we promote accreditation, we want to add IMC accreditation to the bucket of our experience to encourage other schools to pursue accreditation. IMC is affordable for almost all schools, and their standards are very high. We believe adding this to our experience will enable us to help schools in our region join with us for continuous improvement in Montessori education as evidenced by accreditation. Brenda Bernstorf is the Deputy Executive Director of Montessori Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee. She holds an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership and Development from Grand Canyon University, an MBA from Trevecca Nazarene University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Asbury University. She wants to inspire the people around her to dream big, have ambition, be professional, and serve using their unique strengths. She is developing a consultancy to serve nonprofit organizations in board development and becoming strengths-based organizations and working to become a Gallup Strengths Coach. IMC School Accreditation Highlights IMC Schools in the Accreditation Program Interest in the IMC School Accreditation Program has been continually growing. Besides the Montessori School of Tokyo, the IMC has two other schools that will be completing the re-accreditation process in the next two years: The Westwood School in Dallas, TX, and Bowman International School in Palo Alto, CA. Both schools have recently (or will) complete their tenth year of IMC accreditation. Congratulations to both schools! There are also several other schools currently in the accreditation program, working toward full IMC accreditation. They are: Amare Montessori School, Clarksville, TN Beautiful Sun Montessori School, Oranjestad, Aruba Cattoira Montessori, Miami, FL Garden Oaks Montessori Magnet School, Houston, TX Knoxville Montessori, Knoxville, TN Nativity Montessori, Maysville, KY Pines Montessori School, Houston, TX The Montessori Academy, Brentwood, TN We congratulate these schools for their efforts to build community and to provide an authentic Montessori experience for their students and families. Recently Appointed School Accreditation Commissioner The IMC School Accreditation Commission is made up of seven (7) Montessori experienced and dedicated volunteers plus the Commission Secretary and the Director of School Accreditation. The Commission meets quarterly to carry out the policies of the IMC Board with regard to school accreditation, to make accreditation decisions for schools that have completed the self-study process, and to oversee the evaluation of schools at their request according to IMC principles and standards. Commissioners read and review self-studies from schools in the accreditation process before OnSite Teams are sent out. They often lead or serve on OnSite Verification Teams as part of the study. Within the last six months, the Commission has added two new commissioners, one of whom is Pete Juds. Although Pete is new to the Commission he is not new to the IMC. The Montessori School of Tokyo that he and his wife, Mariko Maeda, run was recently re-accredited by the IMC. For more about their re-accreditation process read a past article in Montessori Leadership, Volume 19, Issue 1 – 2017, page 29-30. Pete grew up in South Africa, where he studied and worked towards becoming an actuary. After a few years, he decided that his vocation was teaching children. He went to London to study at the Maria Montessori Training Organisation, where he met Mariko. He graduated in 1989. Pete worked for Montessori schools in London, before moving to Japan in 1991. Initially he worked as a teacher in Tokyo, until he had the means to realize his ambition and founded the Sunshine Montessori School in 1993. With continued interest and requests to expand, Pete and Mariko, together with a business partner, founded the first Montessori elementary school in Japan in 2003. Now renamed The Montessori School of Tokyo (MST), it was located on a separate campus, together with a new toddler class. The first year saw rapid growth and the elementary class (which included Pete and Mariko’s own two children) quickly grew to over twenty students. After a year, the school secured a single campus in the attractive area of Minami Azabu. While able to house all programs, the campus was close to a number of local parks and large enough to accommodate future growth. In 2010, the campus was further enhanced by the addition of a large garden in the back, giving the children easy access to a natural outdoor area. September 2014 saw the addition of a Middle School class for students 12–14 years old. MST acquired the use of a second building, The Annex, to house this program, along with the Little People classroom. An Art and Design space was added to the main building, further adding to the experiential learning opportunities for the students. Having existed as a school for 3-6 year-olds for ten years and a toddler through elementary age school for a further eleven years, MST continues into its third decade, now catering to children from 2-15 years old. Pete looks forward to continuing to provide an authentic Montessori experience to all families in the community, while honoring their core values of confidence, respect and compassion. Pete maintains a presence in the classrooms and, in particular, concentrates on introducing the children to the importance of peace. Montessori Leadership/ Sept2017/ Pg 10