Victory Heights Montessori School

We are anti-racist

Victory Heights Montessori school recognizes the biases and racism endemic in our society today. We believe identifying our own inherent biases, privileges, and oppression can help dismantle the barriers to a truly equitable world.

Early Childhood Education is a human right which should be accessible to all children and their families. My role, as an educator, is to create a safe and inclusive environment, where children feel pride in their personal identities and backgrounds.

We also recognize access to our private, in-home Montessori program is limited to families who can afford our tuition rates. Our partnership with Early Achievers allows to accept state subsidies for childcare, which you can learn more about here. We also commit to advocating for Universal Early Childhood Education, so that every family can gain access to high-quality Early Learning services, no matter their income or background.

Additionally, we recognize that Montessori education is centered on predominantly Euro-centric practices. Dr. Montessori herself held some racist, and biased beliefs of indigenous peoples during her lifetime (Maria Montessori Writes to Her Father: Letters from California, 1915). Although her views were common among the dominant culture of her time, we believe it’s important not to ignore the harmful beliefs of the past, and instead learn and grow from them.

For more information regarding Anti-Bias and Anti-Racist education practices, we have found the following resources helpful:

NAEYC: Advancing Equity Initiative: https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/initiatives/equity

Embracing Equity: https://embracingequity.org/

Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/

Anti-Bias Montessori, by Tiffany M. Jewell: https://www.anti-biasmontessori.com/

Work by Britt Hawthorne: https://britthawthorne.com/

Raising Equity, by  Dr. Kira Hudson Banks: http://kirabanks.com/raising-equity/

Works by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum: https://www.beverlydanieltatum.com/

Montessori for Social Justice: https://montessoriforsocialjustice.org/