What is the difference between AMS (American Montessori Society) and AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) schools?
Dr. Maria Montessori and her son Mario established AMI in 1929. In AMI schools, Montessori philosophy and curriculum are implemented in a way that is consistent with the original approach of Maria Montessori. The Montessori materials are used precisely in the manner used by Dr. Montessori without deviation or extensions. In the late 1950’s Nancy McCormick Rambusch, a young teacher who had undergone AMI Montessori training in London, became inspired with the idea of reviving Montessori education in America. She soon founded and became headmistress of the Whitby School in Greenwich, Connecticut, which became the flagship school of the American Montessori revival. This led, in 1960, to the founding of the American Montessori Society (AMS), with Rambusch as its first president. She firmly believed that aspects of the Montessori method had to be modified to accommodate the culture in America. In AMS schools, directresses continue the methods developed by Dr. Montessori while bringing in out
