The route this page walks: choose the age band you want to teach, complete Montessori training with a credentialing body such as the American Montessori Society (AMS) or the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), and apply for classroom roles at Montessori schools.
A full AMS credential requires a bachelor's degree; an AMS Associate credential does not.
One entry route is the classroom assistant job, which you can hold while you train.
Choose a level
Montessori training is organized by age band rather than by grade, so the first decision on this path is which band you want to teach.
The band you pick decides which training course you take and which classrooms your credential covers.
The American Montessori Society (AMS) issues credentials at these levels:
- Infant & Toddler (birth–age 3).
- Early Childhood (ages 2½–6).
- Elementary I (ages 6–9) and Elementary I–II (ages 6–12).
- Secondary I (ages 12–15) and Secondary I–II (ages 12–18).
- Administrator, plus a Montessori Inclusion Endorsement.
Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) offers diploma courses at Assistants to Infancy (ages 0–3), Primary, also called Children's House (ages 3–6), Elementary (ages 6–12) and Adolescent (ages 12–18).
AMI diploma courses are examined by external examiners appointed by AMI.
The two bodies name their levels differently, and they do not map one-to-one: AMS splits elementary into a 6–9 and a 6–12 option, while AMI issues a single 6–12 elementary diploma.
Name the band your training covers in your applications, using the terms the posting uses.
Still weighing the bands?
Our montessori teacher career guide profiles the role, the settings and the titles at each level.
Get a bachelor's degree (and when you don't need one)
A bachelor's degree is not a blanket rule for Montessori teaching: whether you need one depends on the credential you pursue.
The rule is explicit for a full American Montessori Society credential.
To earn a full AMS credential through an AMS-affiliated teacher education program, you must hold at least a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited US college or university, or an evaluated equivalent.
The AMS credential built for candidates without a degree is the Associate.
It runs at the Infant & Toddler and Early Childhood levels only, and entry requires a high school diploma or GED.
That splits the path by band.
If you want to lead an elementary or secondary Montessori classroom on the AMS route, plan for a bachelor's degree, because the full AMS credential at those levels requires one.
If you are aiming at Infant & Toddler or Early Childhood work without a degree, the Associate credential is the route AMS built for that.
AMI lists its diploma courses by level; our research did not confirm the academic entry requirement for each course, so ask the specific training center you are considering what background it wants before you apply.
Keep the credential and the certificate separate in your head: a Montessori credential comes from the training body, and a state teaching certificate comes from a state education agency.
Whether a school or a state also wants the certificate depends on the state and the school.
Complete an AMI, AMS or MACTE-accredited credential
The credential is the centerpiece of the training route, and it comes from a training body rather than from a state.
The route runs through training bodies such as the American Montessori Society (AMS), which issues credentials through its affiliated teacher education programs, and Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), whose diploma courses are examined by external examiners the institute appoints.
You will also see MACTE, the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education.
MACTE accredits Montessori educator preparation programs rather than issuing credentials itself, and it has been recognized by the US Secretary of Education since 1995.
Check whether the program you are considering holds that accreditation.
Our research found no single training length across programs: AMS, AMI and the individual training centers set their own course formats, schedules and lengths, so ask each program for its calendar before you commit.
The practical sequence is the same either way: pick your level, apply to a program affiliated with or accredited for that body's credential, complete the course, and earn the credential or diploma.
Name the level plainly on every application.
Confirm before you enroll
Start as an assistant
The assistant role is its own rung on the ladder.
AMI lists a Montessori Classroom Assistant course among its certificate courses, separate from the diploma courses, so the assistant seat has a recognized course of study behind it.
Taking an assistant job while you train lets you learn the classroom routines from inside the environment, and it puts your work with children in front of a school before a lead position opens.
Candidates without a bachelor's degree should note where the AMS Associate credential fits here: it covers Infant & Toddler and Early Childhood only, so an assistant job at those levels is where that credential converts into classroom experience.
At least one employer pays for the training outright.
Guidepost Montessori, a for-profit private Montessori network, advertises fully sponsored Montessori teacher certification for employees on its careers page, described as a $5,000+ value, through its MACTE-accredited training center, the Prepared Montessorian Institute.
The same careers page advertises a 75% tuition discount for up to two children of its teachers and school administrators.
Employer-sponsored training is one offer term worth asking about in any interview.
Get hired
Montessori jobs sit in private schools, public districts and charter schools, and the counts come from two different surveys.
NCES's Private School Universe Survey counted 2,441 US private schools with a Montessori program emphasis in 2021–22 — 8.2% of private schools — enrolling 98,388 K–12 students, with 17,643 full-time-equivalent teachers and a pupil/teacher ratio of 5.6.
That survey covers K–12, so pre-K-only Montessori programs sit outside its count.
Association membership is another view of the same survey year: 1,260 private K–12 schools reported AMS membership, with 12,506 teachers, and 591 reported AMI membership, with 3,846 teachers.
Another 594 schools reported membership in other Montessori associations.
Public Montessori is its own job market.
The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector's Montessori Census, as reported in June 2026, counted 596 public Montessori schools and programs across 43 states and Washington, DC, serving just under 200,000 children — 230 of them charter schools.
Teacher rules follow the setting.
Public and charter Montessori classrooms operate within their states' public-school and charter-teacher rules, so a state teaching certificate can be part of those applications.
At private schools, whether a certificate is involved depends on the state and the school.
Confirm what reaches your setting with the state education agency before you sign a contract.
When you apply, put the level next to the credential: an AMI Primary diploma covers ages 3–6, an AMS Early Childhood credential covers ages 2½–6.
Applications read strongest when the band in your training matches the band in the posting.
Our research found no official national Montessori salary to weigh an offer against: no BLS occupation code covers Montessori teachers, and no AMS, AMI or NCES salary series we checked breaks the role out.
Read each posted range as that school's own scale.
Career information, not legal advice: training and certification requirements vary by state, school and age level — confirm current requirements with your state education agency, the school and the training body.