SOLES Introduces Montessori Education Program

Program is Only One of it’s Kind in California

Graduate students at the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) can now earn a degree with a specialization in Montessori Education. SOLES has partnered with the Montessori Institute of San Diego to offer the program designed for educators interested in becoming Montessori trained and earning an American Montessori Internationale (AMI) diploma.

This will be the only AMI certified program in California and will offer premier training and research opportunities for students. The program will feature:

• In-home observations, as well as AMI infant, toddler and primary classroom settings
• Fieldwork in AMI-certified classrooms with children, from birth to age six, and, at times, their parents
• Renowned Montessori practitioners and academic faculty
• A student body reflecting an international diversity
• Balanced curriculum that provides students a deep understanding of both content and pedagogy
• Focus on parent and community education: students learn how to bring Montessori education to parents and their children, schools and early childhood community services.

Montessori education is an active research and problem-based learning program allowing students to study the period of a child’s birth until age six. The program will allow students to observe infants and toddlers at home with their parents and in a classroom with A.M.I. certified teachers. Students will gain field experience to conduct research while also focusing on increasing parent and community awareness about Montessori. Upon completion of the program students will earn an A.M.I. diploma certifying them to teach children from birth to six years of age.

The educational addition to SOLES provides USD with a relevant response to President Barack Obama’s call for an emphasis on building the foundations of childhood education early on in life.

About the University of San Diego

The University of San Diego, a Catholic Institution of higher learning chartered in 1949. The university enrolls approximately 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The inauguration this fall of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace brings the university’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law and Nursing and Health Science.

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About the University of San Diego

The University of San Diego sets the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanity’s urgent challenges. With more than 9,000 students from 69 countries and 50 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. The university's eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. USD's Envisioning 2024 strategic plan capitalizes on the university’s recent progress and aligns new strategic goals with current strengths to help shape a vision for the future as the university looks ahead to its 75th anniversary in the year 2024.