Our Community
The New York State Montessori Alliance represents schools, administrators, and individuals who are passionate advocates for authentic Montessori practice in New York State. By supporting favorable public policy, we encourage, educate and serve those who provide the highest quality Montessori education to children and adolescents throughout the state.
Our Work
The NYSMA is dedicated to furthering the educational objectives, methods and philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori in the State of New York by achieving the following goals:
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To speak with one, unified voice for Montessori education.
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To advance and protect the educational vision formulated by Dr. Maria Montessori in both private and public schools in the state.
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To support the administration of Montessori schools.
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To offer ongoing education and guidance to the Montessori community in New York State.
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To use its best efforts to ensure that all government entities within the State of New York understand and support the Montessori community’s mission.
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To keep the Montessori community informed of all actions and events that might affect the community’s ability to achieve its goals.
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To address issues of public policy that may affect education in general and, more specifically, Montessori education.
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To advocate for the recognition of Montessori Teacher Certifications across the state.
MEMBER BENEFITS
Meet leaders and changemakers in education
Keep-up with state/national Montessori news
Receive education and guidance
Tap resources to inform educators and policymakers
Earn professional development hours
Support for your school’s administration
​Work toward NYS recognition of the Montessori Teacher Certification
2024-2025 NYSMA
GROUP MEETINGS
FRI MAR 14, 2025, 6PM
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MEET & GREET!
February 2025 Meeting
Location: West Side Montessori School
Speaker: Vyju Kadambi
Topic: Strengthening Montessori Advocacy: Building Connections and Expanding Access
Agenda: Coming soon
In her nearly 30 years as a Montessori educator, Vyju Kadambi has served as a Montessori teacher, head of school, and school founder. She has worked in both private and public Montessori schools and strongly believes that there needs to be greater access to high-quality Montessori education for all families. She is AMS credentialed for Primary and Lower Elementary and holds an AMS certificate in Administration and an M.Ed. from Xavier University. Vyju is the Advocacy Associate for the Montessori Public Policy Initiative. Her work serves as support to teams across the country in advocating for Montessori-friendly policies to help increase access to high-fidelity Montessori education.
PAST EVENTS
2022-2023
Speaker Event
Lesley Koplow, LCSW
The Montessori at Flatiron
We held a memorable evening with Lesley Koplow, LCSW, Director of the Emotionally Responsive Practice Center at Bank Street College. This was a great professional development opportunity for both teachers/guides and admins.
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Lesley Koplow is a clinical social worker, teacher, and author who lives in New York City. She is the founding Director of the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street College. Lesley is the author of several books including; Unsmiling Faces: How Preschools Can Heal; Creating Schools That Heal; Bears, Bears Everywhere: Supporting Children’s Emotional Health in the Classroom; Tanya and the Tobo Man; and Politics Aside; Our Children and Their Teachers in Score-Driven Times.
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Every classroom needs to have a “good mirror” that can reflect children accurately, affirm all kinds of feelings, and acknowledge what children carry. This talk will explore how being a good mirror can promote development and emotional well being in children.​
February 2022
Inaugural Conference
"Bringing NYS Together"
​This initial conference included two professional development workshop sessions at multiple levels of engagement, a keynote address, and networking sessions. The event was open to the public and marketed globally and attendees were able to take advantage of an opportunity to share diverse perspectives in the vast Montessori community.
Members of our organization dedicate themselves to furthering the educational objectives, methods, and philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori in the State of New York by achieving the following goals:
​
-
First, to speak with one unified voice for Montessori education.
-
Second, to advance and protect the educational vision formulated by Dr. Maria Montessori in private and public schools in the state.
-
To support the administration of Montessori schools.
-
To offer ongoing education and guidance to the Montessori community in New York State.
-
To use its best efforts to ensure that all government entities within the State of New York understand and support the Montessori community’s mission.
-
To keep the Montessori community informed of all actions and events that might affect its ability to achieve its goals.
-
To address public policy issues that may affect education in general and, more specifically, Montessori education.
-
To advocate for the recognition of Montessori Teacher Certifications across the state.
​
​
Thank you for the conference Co-Chairs, Lisanne Pinciotti and Sheba Kapur!​
