History of AMS

  • Dr. Montessori opens her first school in San Lorenzo, Italy

  • The first Montessori school opens in the United States

  • By 1916, more than 100 Montessori schools exist in the United States.

    Shortly thereafter, World War One led to shortages of trained teachers in the US and other resources. Over time, most of these original Montessori schools close.
  • Nancy McCormick Rambusch attends the Montessori Conference in Paris, where she meets Mario Montessori.

  • The Whitby School opens

    Nancy Rambusch and other parents found the Whitby school in Connecticut. It is the first new Montessori school to open in the United States since the initial interest in Dr. Montessori's work, earlier in the century.
  • Nancy M. Rambusch founds the American Montessori Society

  • Hilltop, the first public Montessori school in the US, opens in Reading, Ohio.

  • Today, 215 AMS-Accredited schools exist worldwide.

    Most of these are in the US, many are in China and other countries around the globe.
  • Today more than 191,000 children learn in AMS member schools.