AMS Launches 'Montessori Initiative'

The American Montessori Society announced in late August an ambitious marketing and public relations campaign, including parent-information materials for member and non-member schools, a new magazine and a plan for ads and supplements to be inserted in daily newspapers across the United States and Canada.

The plan is called the Montessori Initiative. Richard Ungerer, AMS's executive director called it, "the most sophisticated branding and awareness building campaign ever undertaken by an educational philosophy." He added, "We invite all Montessori schools, regardless of their affiliation, to participate and benefit."

According to a press release, the initiative has three goals:

• to increase awareness of the advantages of a Montessori education among the general parent population
• to increase student enrollments and reduce the traditional break points when families leave Montessori for other education opportunities
• to help public school systems understand that Montessori is a well-respected, proven philosophy that should be incorporated into the public school curriculum by trained Montessori teachers

The initiative is being managed by Michael Jacobson of Dallas-based BidGive International, which specializes in raising funds for non-profit corporations.

Jacobson said he will contract with marketing, public relations and design companies to support for the initiative.

The primary source of funding will be a dozen or more Fortune 1000 corporations that pass standards for social responsibility. He said no support will be sought from corporations that sell tobacco or liquor.

As of late August, elements of the program were still in flux, but some key elements have been announced:

• Marketing materials for schools. Participating schools will have access to two sets of "folios," brochures including "hows and whys," designed to educate parents about Montessori education and schools.
• A magazine described as "newsstand quality" including information on Montessori education and other issues of interest to families. Subscriptions will be sold primarily through schools to parents. The first issue of M, The Montessori Magazine for Families is targeted for publication in January 2006. He said it "will be designed for parents-with Montessori schools in mind. It will not be an AMS house organ. It will be apolitical, a family lifestyle magazine that includes information on Montessori education." The magazine will include content on lifestyle issues that are not Montessori in nature, Jacobson said. Oversight of the Montessori content of the magazine and brochures would be the responsibility of a still-to-be-defined committee, but the AMS website indicated that Judith Cunningham, head of Toronto Montessori Schools, executive director of Toronto Montessori Institute and a former AMS director, will initially serve as "content editor."
• Newspaper advertising. A set of full-page newspaper ads in major dailies and supplements inserted into the papers. These would present the history of Montessori education and information on research into its effectiveness.

Local parent benefits. The option of participating in the Family Benefits and Rewards Program, a local program that involves retail discounts for parents and retailer contributions to schools. Membership in the program, which includes a one-year, six-issue subscription to the new magazine, would cost $49.95.

Schools would pay from $25 to $310-depending on size and AMS membership status-to join the initiative.

The program was described to a sample of Montessori school leaders over the summer and met with strong support, which encouraged Jacobson and AMS to move ahead quickly.

"This is moving so fast," Jacobson said. "There was great resonance to the idea of tying this to the 100th anniversary of the first Casa. The response has been so overwhelmingly strong that the project has taken on a life of its own."

Several elements of the initiative appear to compete with initiatives of Tim Seldin, the former AMS board director who operates as the head of the Montessori Foundation and the International Montessori Council. He publishes Tomorrow's Child, a magazine targeted to Montessori parents and has promised promotional materials for schools. He also recently announced plans to raise $1 million for initiatives that include public relations for Montessori education.

Jacobson said he does not see the Montessori Initiative as a challenge to Seldin or any other Montessori advocate.. "We don't want to hurt anyone," Jacobson said.

More information will be distributed to schools this fall.

INFO: amshq.org/100years