We strive to liberate children from oppressive educational practices
Child-centered: The Montessori approach holds a deep reverence for children. Each child is viewed as a unique individual, and teachers plan lessons based on each child's interests and needs. Children are viewed as natural learners, and classrooms are carefully designed to promote independence, self-agency, and curiosity. Learn more about Montessori classrooms here.
Increased Executive Functioning: Students in Montessori classrooms increase executive functioning skills at a higher rate than conventional preschool (Lillard & Vu, 2017). Executive functioning skills are one of the strongest predictors of positive life outcomes through adulthood, including academic success, heath, financial status, positive social behavior, and happiness (Friedman, et al., 2014).
Academic Growth: Children in public Montessori classrooms show a significantly higher rate of academic growth compared to their peers in conventional preschools (Lillard et al., 2017). The impact of increased growth lasts into later grades. Children who attended Montessori preschool scored higher on reading tests in second grade compared to their counterparts who attended conventional preschool (Rodriguez et al., 2005).
Closes the income achievement gap: Over the course of three years, the gap between high income and low income Montessori students narrowed by two thirds, while the gap remained stagnant in conventional classrooms. By the end of the three-year study, the difference in achievement between the low-income Montessori students and the high-income conventional students was not statistically significant (Lillard et al., 2017), indicating that Montessori is highly effective at closing the achievement gap that has plagued public education since its inception.
Montessori Collective partners with neighborhood schools to transition one or more classrooms to child-centered Montessori.
Montessori Collective provides everything a classroom needs for a successful transition to Montessori:
Authentic Montessori teacher training at Montessori Education Center of the Rockies with a full scholarship
Coaching with us to strengthen and support your child-centered teaching
Montessori materials that students use to get hands on learning in the areas of language, math, sensorial, cultural/science, and practical life.
Family engagement sessions
Videos and information about Montessori to support families in understanding the experience their children are receiving at school.
Montessori Collective currently has seven partner classrooms in Denver Public Schools, serving approximately 150 children each year.
100% of families who have provided feedback agreed or strongly agreed that their child is receiving an excellent education in the Montessori classrooms.
The children in all of our partner classroom show strong growth in kindergarten readiness skills and outperform the Colorado average by over 30 percentage points in every domain.
The Community Innovation and Resilience for Care and Learning Equity (CIRCLE) Grant recognized Montessori Collective's work for our innovation and focus on equity.
Montessori Collective's work was highlighted in the Investing in Colorado's Early Education Ecosystem report, published by Trust for Learning and Early Milestones Colorado.
Two members of Montessori Collective's team, Emily Madison and Dr. Amy Fleig, participated in a panel discussion about innovative ways to expand access to Montessori.
Montessori Collective and Montessori on Wheels were featured in an article in Montessori Public. Read the article to learn how our partnership is expanding access to Montessori in the Denver area.
Founder and Director
Emily is a dedicated public educator with over 15 years of experience in the field, including 8 as instructional coach. She has a Montessori Administrator credential from American Montessori Society, an MA in Linguistically Diverse Education, and a BA in Elementary Education. Emily expertly navigates the balance of adhering to public education requirements while remaining grounded in Montessori philosophy and pedagogy.
Emily wants all children to have an education that honors them as individuals while preparing them for life. Knowing first hand just how far we are from this vision, Emily founded Montessori Collective in 2022 to expand access to Montessori education in underserved communities, one classroom at a time.
Board Chair
Hey there. I'm Michael Atkins, a proud product of Denver Public Schools (DPS) and a fierce advocate for Black student success. I've worn many hats within DPS, starting as a four-year-old student, serving as the former principal of Stedman Elementary, and now taking the helm as the Director of Black Student Success in Denver Public Schools.
My journey through DPS has been a whirlwind, from being a student to working as a custodian, paraprofessional, teacher, assistant principal, principal, and now, a director. Each role has given me a unique perspective on education, one that I carry with me every day.
My mission is deeply personal. I want to ensure that today's students don't face the same obstacles I did. I'm all about creating opportunities and support systems that empower every student to thrive, regardless of their background or the challenges they may face.
But it's not just about the students—it's about the educators, too. I'm passionate about guiding my fellow educators on a journey of intercultural development. Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable learning environment that prepares students for the diverse world they'll step into.
I'm not just here to lead; I'm here to inspire change. I want us all to be the driving force behind the sweeping changes our communities need. And together, I truly believe we can make it happen.
Board Treasurer
Board Secretary
Amy has a passion for expanding access to public Montessori programming and creating inclusive public Montessori learning opportunities. Amy is a committed, passionate public Montessori administrator at Compass Montessori School, a pre-K-12th grade public charter Montessori program in the Denver metro area serving over 750 learners. Amy currently serves as the ECE-6th grade building principal of the Compass Montessori Wheat Ridge campus. Prior to this role, Amy was the cross-campus Head of Student Support Services, during which time she led Section 504, intervention, special education, gifted and talented, English language learning, and multi-tiered systems of support programming to meet the needs of all of Compass’ preK-12th grade learners. Amy is an AMI elementary trained Montessorian, and former upper elementary teacher. She holds a doctorate in executive leadership for educational equity from the University of Colorado, Denver and completed her dissertation with Montessori Collective, Montessori on Wheels, the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies (MECR), and Trust for Learning as community partners.
