The full AMI diploma is here, along with shorter, more flexible courses, so future guides, career-changers, practicing educators, parents, and caregivers each have a program that fits.
Train As An AMI Guide And Qualify To Lead Your Own Classroom
Parents, Aides, And Educators Learn The Montessori Essentials In A Shorter Course
Practical Workshops On Montessori Philosophy, Child Development, And Professional Growth
Start by getting the full picture of the AMI diploma: the Infant and Primary levels, how the hybrid and blended format works, and pricing. A quick message to our team fills in anything you still want to know.
Our online application is short: a few details about you and your goals, and our admissions team follows up to help you choose the right diploma level and plan your start.
Once you are enrolled, the diploma runs through hybrid and blended coursework around your schedule, and the in-person portion takes place across two San Diego summers. You keep your job and your home base and travel in for those summers.
The AMI diploma is the original Montessori credential, and Montessori schools around the world recognize it. At Montessori Stoppani it carries both AMI and MACTE accreditation, and the MACTE side of that accreditation opens the Loyola pathway, which carries diploma graduates on to a master's degree.
Named, internationally recognized AMI trainers teach the diploma themselves. Each holds an AMI diploma and brings decades in Montessori classrooms and training centers, and you can see exactly who will train you below.
You can train in English or in Spanish. The diploma itself is hybrid and blended, anchored by two in-person summers in San Diego, so working educators keep their jobs while they train; assistant courses and workshops run online and blended.
Montessori Stoppani Institute is an AMI training center, and its diploma, accredited by AMI and MACTE, is respected by Montessori schools internationally. The institute trains future guides, career-changers, and practicing educators. Students learn from internationally recognized AMI trainers, study through flexible hybrid and blended formats anchored by two in-person summers in San Diego, and can train in English or Spanish. Educators travel to San Diego for those summers from other states and other countries, and roughly 220 students come through its diploma and assistant courses each year.
The AMI diploma comes at two levels, Infant (0-3) and Primary (3-6), with assistant courses and workshops alongside it, and diploma graduates who want to go further can continue on to a Loyola master’s degree. The focus is AMI training that stays accessible, so a serious credential fits a real life and a real budget.
Our team of world-class AMI trainers are internationally recognized.
Alejandra Rosas is an AMI Infant and Nest Community Trainer and Training Director at Montessori Stoppani Institute with more than 25 years of Montessori experience. She received her AMI 3 to 6 diploma in Italy and her 0 to 3 diploma in San Diego under the direction of renowned Montessori educator Dr. Silvana Montanaro. Alejandra has dedicated her career to supporting young children, families, and future Montessori guides through internationally respected AMI training, workshops, consulting, and classroom leadership.
Cristina A. De León holds advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology, Pedagogy, and Education and has more than 25 years of experience working with children in Montessori and traditional educational environments. She received her AMI diplomas in Early Childhood and Elementary Education through the Montessori Institute of San Diego and currently serves as a Casa de Niños AMI Trainer and Examiner. Cristina has guided Montessori educators internationally throughout the United States, Argentina, Costa Rica, Taiwan, and Spain, bringing deep educational experience and a global Montessori perspective to her training work.
Gabriela Velázquez began her Montessori journey at an early age, first as a Montessori student and later as an assistant in the same school where her mother worked as a Montessori guide. She earned a degree in Early Childhood Education, her AMI Nido and Infant Community diploma, and a master’s degree in education before spending more than 20 years working in Montessori schools throughout Mexico and the United States. Today, Gabriela serves internationally as an AMI 0 to 3 trainer, examiner, consultant, and speaker, helping future Montessori guides deepen their understanding of early childhood development.
Emily Hansen is an AMI 0 to 3 Trainer with more than 21 years of Montessori classroom experience across Toddler and Primary communities. She holds degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and Montessori Education, along with AMI diplomas at both the 0 to 3 and 3 to 6 levels. Emily combines deep Montessori expertise with a warm and practical approach to education, bringing years of experience supporting children, families, and future Montessori educators through her training work.
Dr. Mario Salguero is a physician, researcher, and educator specializing in personalized medicine, psychiatry, nutrition, and integrative health. After graduating from the University of Guadalajara School of Medicine, he completed advanced studies in Clinical Nutrition and earned a PhD in Molecular Biology in Medicine before completing his Psychiatry Residency at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Salguero combines scientific research, medical education, and a compassionate approach to child and human development as part of the Montessori Stoppani training team.
Deciding on an AMI diploma is a serious step, and prospective guides tend to ask the same core questions. The answers below cover the AMI Montessori diploma course itself: which levels we offer, how the format works, what accreditation stands behind it, what it costs, and how you get started.
Yes. The AMI diploma is AMI and MACTE accredited, so the certification you earn meets the standards both accreditors set and is respected by Montessori schools internationally. Assistant courses are AMI-recognized training.
The AMI Montessori diploma course is the original Montessori teacher-training credential, awarded through the Association Montessori Internationale, the organization Dr. Maria Montessori founded. Montessori Stoppani Institute offers it at two levels, Infant (0-3) and Primary (3-6), and a diploma graduate is a fully trained guide qualified to lead a Montessori classroom, a step beyond the assistant role.
The training is accredited by both AMI and MACTE, which sets it apart from a general online certificate. The 0-3 diploma prepares guides for infant and toddler communities, and the 3-6 diploma prepares guides for the primary classroom, ages three to six. Many training centers do not offer the Infant (0-3) diploma at all.
The course suits future guides entering the profession, career-changers moving into Montessori, and practicing educators who want the full teaching credential rather than a shorter assistant certification.
Coursework for the diploma runs in a hybrid and blended format and is anchored by two in-person summers in San Diego, where students complete the hands-on portions of AMI training. That structure lets educators keep working and living where they are, then travel in for the summers, and students come from across the country and internationally.
Instruction comes from named, internationally recognized AMI trainers who hold AMI diplomas: Alejandra Rosas, Cristina A. De León, Gabriela Velázquez, and Emily Hansen. The faculty also includes Dr. Mario Salguero, a physician and child development professor.
Because Montessori Stoppani holds MACTE accreditation, diploma graduates can continue toward a master’s degree through a Loyola pathway that few AMI centers offer. The full program details spell out how that route works.
Montessori Stoppani teaches the AMI diploma in both English and Spanish, one of the few AMI centers to do so, and Spanish-first students will find the cursos en español at montessoristoppani.com. Bilingual schools across California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico hire Spanish-speaking, AMI-certified guides, and the diploma, taught in English or Spanish, prepares you for those classrooms.
The coursework is delivered in a hybrid and blended format, and the in-person portion runs as two summers in San Diego, which students attend from across the country and abroad.
It is also among the most affordable AMI diplomas available. To see the levels, formats, tuition, and payment options in one document, request the program details and pricing.
San Diego is the home base for Montessori Stoppani’s in-person diploma summers, which welcome aspiring guides from North County communities like Carlsbad and Encinitas, from across the United States, and from the Tijuana border region. The rest of the training is completed through hybrid and blended coursework, so students take part from wherever they live.
Across this bilingual, cross-border area, schools regularly need Spanish-speaking, AMI-certified guides, and the AMI diploma at the Infant (0-3) and Primary (3-6) levels qualifies graduates to lead those classrooms.
For a clear answer on how the hybrid portions fit your schedule, text the team with your questions.
