Our Mission, Vision, Promise, Story
Our Mission—Equity, Access, and Choice
We increase access to high-quality, early childhood education for children and families impacted by economic and racial inequities by providing tuition-free Montessori schools for preschool-age children.
Our Vision
We share the vision that all families in Oregon have equitable access to an early childhood education.
Our Promise
At AEME, we are dedicated to providing excellence in early childhood Montessori education—individualized learning, disrupting systemic bias, and promoting joyful learning.
Our Story
AEME was established in 2019 by two founding members of the Alder Montessori School. Alder Montessori opened in 2015 on-site at Alder Elementary School in the Reynolds School District with a single classroom offering bilingual Montessori preschool education for 3-and 4-year-old children. Our classrooms at Alder Montessori will serve 45 students ages 3, 4, and 5 in mixed-age classrooms which offer two years of preschool. Typically, over 70% of our students are dual language learners, with the primary home language being Spanish. Our classroom educators at Alder Montessori are bilingual in Spanish and English.
At AEME and Alder Montessori we continue to learn and grow with our children and families. We work with partners and allies to promote collaborative and sustainable community solutions. With the success of Alder Montessori, we will use the lessons we learned and are learning as our framework and model to open additional AEME Montessori schools in our community. Together we will increase access and provide a new choice for high-quality early childhood education.
