School Leadership
Certification for adults who wish to become school leaders or for practicing school leaders who wish to deepen their skills.
Montessori approach for school administrators.
The CGMS School Leadership program is designed to give school heads everything they need to manage successful, authentic, and long-lived Montessori schools. As with our other programs, the Leadership Credential is a blend of the best of online learning with a single, short on-site residency. Leadership Full Credential is MACTE accredited.
Our next training cohort begins March 23, 2026!
Applications are due by March 9th, 2026!
Our Program
The Leadership program is for both new and experienced school heads, as well as for others who wish to someday lead world-class Montessori schools. Designed in collaboration with the Montessori Foundation, the program has components tailored for both those with more Montessori experience than business, as well as for others who are less familiar with Montessori pedagogy than they are with the business side.
The Leadership program has been built in a modular format so that it can best be tailored to meet participants’ needs, whether they be trained Montessori teachers or neophytes, or work in public, private, or charter schools. Each module includes material from many passionate expert Montessori school leaders with decades of experience running successful schools.
Certification Level
IMC Montessori Certification for School Leadership. (Full Certification is MACTE Accredited.)
Length of Course
The course of study takes 16 months. During that time you will perform a full-year internship at a Montessori school, your own if you wish.
Through a combination of residential classes and e-technology video lectures and presentations, CGMS offers a deep and comprehensive exploration of the Montessori approach. Adult learners complete a variety of meaningful assignments that relate directly to their classroom experience and provide opportunities for practical application of the course material. Weekly interactions with instructors and fellow adult learners in online discussion forums and chats serve to build a rich and supportive learning community and provide additional opportunities for integration of course topics.
The 16 months includes:
- Distance learning coursework over the entire 16 months with a one-week break approximately every 8 weeks, a 2-week winter break, and a one-month summer break. During this summer break, the 1-week summer residency will be scheduled.
- One Residential Sessions – 40 hour session—takes place over a long weekend, usually during the first summer. Locations vary from year to year. To see currently scheduled residential locations, click here. If there’s a location you would like to see offered, please let us know.
- Practicum Requirement—a full school year internship as an administrator at a Montessori school.
What is it like to be in this program?
During this 16-month program, participants will also perform a practicum internship in a Montessori school, their own or another. They will continue their online studies during this practicum phase, enabling learners to ground their theory with examples from their working lives and then receive quick feedback from instructors and fellow students in weekly live video classes.
As with all CGMS programs, students will learn in collaborative online groups, working together under the close guidance of experienced teacher trainers. Our students can watch training presentations over and over again at their own pace and even get to share and critique their own presentations with other students and their instructional guide. Collaborative case studies will allow students to share insights and learn from each other as they examine complex issues from different perspectives.
Distance Learning Phase
New cohorts (groups) of adult learners may begin several times a year. Adult learners follow a specific schedule of course curriculum, working with fellow adult learners and Instructional Guides on a weekly basis. Adult learners should plan an eight- to ten-hour week, which can be scheduled at their own convenience, to view course video lectures and presentations, complete a variety of assignments, and participate in course discussions. Once a week, adult learners participate in a one-hour scheduled chat session. During this phase, adult learners will need access to an authentic Montessori school to complete many assignments.
Residential Phase
Participants should expect the 40-hour session to include stimulating individual and group activities working side by side with other school leaders and CGMS instructors.
Leadership learners will deepen their understanding of Montessori curriculum and principles as well as key leadership topics with lots of hands-on experiences and opportunities for exploring real school issues.
Locations vary from year to year. To see currently scheduled residential locations, click here.
Practicum Phase
Participants are required to complete a 9-month full-day/full-school-year practicum/internship in an administration role in an approved Montessori school.
Adult learners will be assigned a Field Consultant who will visit the student in the practicum classroom to provide feedback and support the student’s growth and progress as a school leader. CGMS makes an effort to find and contract qualified Field Consultants within reasonable driving distance of the student. When this is not possible, the adult learner or sponsoring school will be responsible for the additional travel cost for the practicum evaluation visits.
In some cases, Adult Learners may require extra support due to the circumstances of their schools. When that occurs, CGMS may be able to provide that at an additional charge or locate a party more qualified to assist. In some of these situations, CGMS may require that the Adult Learner obtain needed support from some party in order to be able to successfully complete the Leadership Program. Identifying the need for this support is most often done at the time of enrollment.
Meet our School Leadership team
Have you always wanted to learn from the best of the best? Look no further! Our faculty members have decades of Montessori experience as Instructors, Guides, Field Consultants, and Practicum Advisors, which means you’ll be learning from some of the top Montessori professionals in the field.
Additional Program Information
Our next training cohort begins March 23, 2026! Stay tuned for virtual information session dates.
Contact Us
Questions? Curious to learn more? Send us an email (info@cgms.edu) or call us (1-888-7897) and someone from our Admissions team will help you out!
See what they’re saying.
Our School Leadership program alumni have a lot to say about their experience.
The area that stands out for me when I reflect back on my Leadership training was the one-on-one mentorship and personal care I received. We see the “whole child” in Montessori and my Instructional Guide and mentor both treated me like a whole person, full of quirks and individualism. Initially, I was not thrilled about a mostly-on-line training since my first Montessori training was a million years ago, before computers! Yet the format at CGMS was so well done and balanced that I highly recommend it. In fact, we have sent several new Montessorians to CGMS already (and we just opened our doors in 2020).
Gaura Tester
Catskill Montessori
The CGMS Leadership program has given me the knowledge and confidence to lead my school towards a promising future. The mentors that I have had the pleasure of learning from are exceptional leaders
Laura McDonald
Fredericton Montessori Academy
Thank you for everything! This program has been truly amazing for me, and I feel transformed in many ways. I have already seen a shift in my leadership skills and the way I desire to handle situations at school. I know if I lead my own Montessori school one day, I will be able to lead confidently (but not alone!) because of this program.
Emily Swenson
Mabel Brasher Montessori
