AMS Affinity Groups

Are you looking to come together for courageous conversations with others in the Montessori community with whom you share a similar identity, background, experience, and/or goals? Consider starting, or joining, an AMS Affinity Group. Affinity groups may form to drive change, provide a space for safe and open dialogue, and offer opportunities to solve particular issues.

Current AMS Affinity & Discussion Groups

AMS en Español Affinity Group

This group serves to unite, promote, and support Montessori education among Spanish-speaking populations. Zoom meetings are held the third Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM (ET). Please register for this group or email AffinityGroups@amshq.org for more information.

AMS LGBTQIA+ Advocates Affinity Group

This group serves as an educational, networking, and support group for LGBTQIA+ educators and their allies. Monthly group meetings are designed to offer a safe space to connect with aspiring allies and queer-identifying Montessori educators and leaders as a way to deepen personal and professional practice. The group will focus on facilitated discussions that support anti-bias teaching practices, personal reflection, and community building. Meetings take place the second Monday of each month from 7:00 – 8:00 PM (ET). The group will not meet the month of March.

Please register for these groups or email AffinityGroups@amshq.org for more information.

Montessorians of Color Affinity Group

This group centers and amplifies the work and lives of Montessorians of Color. Zoom meetings are held every other Thursday at 6:00 PM (ET). Please register for this group or email AffinityGroups@amshq.org for more information.

AMS Anti-Bias, Antiracist (ABAR) Affinity Group

This group offers a safe space to connect with ABAR educators and leaders in support of creating just and equitable spaces in Montessori schools and classrooms. The group will focus on facilitated discussions about anti-bias, antiracist teaching practices, personal reflection, and community building.

Monthly meetings, held on the third Thursday of each month from 7:00 – 8:30 PM (ET), will also include a book club component, featuring Ibram X. Kendi’s bestselling book, How to Be an Antiracist. In the second half of each meeting, the group will discuss one chapter from the book.

Please register for these groups or email AffinityGroups@amshq.org for more information.

White Antiracist Discussion Group

This forum is a place to find support with other white-identifying Montessorians as you evolve in your anti-bias/antiracist journey. Together we will begin conversations, find and examine tools for educating ourselves, and discuss challenging topics. Zoom meetings are held on the first and third Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM (ET). Register for this group or email AffinityGroups@amshq.org for more information.

Starting an AMS Affinity Group

The opportunity to start an AMS Affinity Group is open to all current AMS members.

The first step is to share information with us about your proposed group by completing an Affinity Group Application and emailing it to AffinityGroups@amshq.org.  

The application asks for such details as your desired group name, description, objectives, and anticipated size. You’ll also need to include a mission statement and describe the ideal impact the group would have on the AMS community, and how it would foster AMS’s mission, vision, and values.

We will review your application and get back to you with thoughts about the viability of the group, as well as information about next steps. Please allow up to 2 weeks for a response.

AMS Affinity Group Guidelines

Eligibility

To join or start an AMS Affinity Group, you must:

• Be a member of AMS
• Identify as a member of the group for which it was formed
• Support the group's mission

Responsibilities

All AMS Affinity Groups must have:

• An AMS-approved mission statement
• At least 3 members, including a chairperson
• At least 4 meetings per academic year. One meeting must be in person at The Montessori Event. The others may be virtual or in person.

AMS Affinity Groups must share with us:

• Name and contact information of each member upon the formation of the group
• For every upcoming meeting:
  • Day, time, and place
  • Names of any new members
  • Agenda
  • Names of any speakers who are not AMS staff
  • Copies of materials they anticipate circulating to the group
  • In addition, information about upcoming meetings must be shared on AMS Connect in the appropriate affinity group community, so that others who are interested may attend
  • Meeting minutes (within 10 days after the meeting)
• An annual report summarizing their activities (must be filed within 2 weeks after the academic year)

Behavior

An AMS Affinity Group is a forum for open dialogue where attendees should be comfortable. 

To that end, during any AMS Affinity Group meeting/program, we ask that members be respectful of one another’s opinions and beliefs. If there is ever a disagreement or confrontation, it must be documented and immediately forwarded to us at AffinityGroups@amshq.org.

AMS Responsibilities

We are here to support our affinity groups! For each approved group, we will create a dedicated AMS Affinity Group community space on AMS Connect, so that members may connect with one another virtually. We will also ensure a meeting space at The Montessori Event.

In addition, we will promote our affinity groups to AMS members at large.

AMS reserves the right to audit any AMS Affinity Group and, if deemed appropriate by the AMS Board of Directors, to dissolve any AMS Affinity Group if it is not acting in accordance with these and any other existing and future requirements and mission of AMS and AMS Affinity Groups.