American Montessori Society (AMS) Timeline

By noyhertz

  • 1940's

    1940's
    Nancy McCormick Rambusch discovered Dr. Maria Montessori's writings as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto,
  • Period: to

    AMS History Timeline

    Credit
    Information is taken from an article found in the UConn Library

  • 1952

    1952
    Nancy McCormick Rambusch attended the tenth International Montessori Congress in Paris, France.
    She met Mario Montessori, son of Dr. Montessori

  • 1953

    1953
    She published the first American article on Montessori Education titled "Learning Made Easy."

  • September, 1954

    September, 1954
    She attended the teacher training course at the Maria Montessori Teacher Training in London, England.

  • Spring 1955

    She completed the 3-6 Montessori Primary Course with Distinction and immediately enrolled in the 6-12 Elementary Course.
    She returned to her hometown in Greenwich Village, NY.
    Started a Montessori playgroup consisting of her two sons and preschool-aged children from her neighborhood.

  • 1956

    Moved with her family to Greenwich, Connecticut where she met a small group of parents who were dissatisfied with the education being offered by the local private schools and were interested in establishing a Montessori school in the United States.

  • 1958

    Opened Whitby School, the first Montessori school in the United States.
    1958-1962 First headmistress of Whitby School.

  • 1959

    Nancy Rambusch was appointed as the representative of the Association of Montessori Internationale (AMI) in the United States.
    Her task was to form Montessori schools, establish training courses for teachers in the Montessori method, and helped in establishing the Montessori Society in the United States that would be affiliated with AMI

  • 1960-1962

    1960-1962
    Founded the American Montessori Society and was the first president of the American Montessori Society (AMS)

  • 1961

    Time magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, published articles on Whitby that created national interest in the school and the Montessori approach.

  • 1962

    Nancy Rambusch became the sole representative of AMI to the United States responsible for promoting, developing, and spreading the Montessori Method as well as establishing the AMI-approved teacher training programs in the United States.

  • 1963

    In an effort to improve the functionality of the American Montessori Society organization, the board hired Cleo Monson to the position of Executive Secretary.
    Nancy Rumbusch resigned as president of AMS and continued to have a prominent voice in the organization.

  • 1994

    Dr. Nancy McCormick Ramsbusch died on October 27, 1994