Some career changers want the full teaching credential right away. Others want a flexible first step while they are still working. Montessori Stoppani has an authentic AMI path for both, and here is where each one leads.
The full credential for career changers who want to lead their own classroom.
A shorter, flexible way into Montessori while you plan your move.
Focused Montessori workshops for parents, schools, and working educators.
Start by pulling the program details or texting the team. You will see how the formats work, when upcoming cohorts begin, and what enrollment costs, and you can talk through whether the diploma or an assistant course suits where you are in your move.
Send in the brief online application. It takes roughly five minutes, and an admissions advisor then picks up and walks you through what happens next.
Begin studying online on your own schedule, then travel to San Diego for two summers of in-person training with future guides who have come from all over.
This is authentic AMI training, which is not the same as an AMS course or a generic Montessori certificate. Your diploma is accredited by AMI and MACTE, the proof serious Montessori schools look for when they hire.
Your diploma is honored by Montessori schools across the globe, and because we hold MACTE accreditation, graduates can move on to a master's degree through Loyola. Ask for full details to see how that route works.
You keep your income and your coursework running side by side, studying at a distance for most of the year and coming to San Diego for two intensive summers of hands-on training. You do not have to quit your job to begin.
People come to Montessori Stoppani to make a real change, and we treat that seriously. The diploma is a full AMI training, not a crash course. You study how children actually develop, spend real time with the Montessori materials, and practice under supervision before you ever run a room of your own. You walk in on your first day as a teacher who knows what to do.
Just as important is who teaches the program and where it can take you. Your trainers are practicing AMI diploma holders and examiners with decades of international experience, the credential is honored by Montessori schools worldwide, and MACTE accreditation opens a Loyola master’s route that very few centers can offer. For anyone funding a career change themselves, we also work hard to keep authentic AMI training within financial reach.
You train under internationally recognized AMI trainers and examiners.
Ale is the Training Director at Montessori Stoppani and an AMI trainer with more than 25 years in Montessori education. She earned her AMI 3 to 6 diploma in Italy and her 0 to 3 diploma in San Diego under Dr. Silvana Montanaro, and has spent her career supporting children, families, and future guides through AMI training, workshops, and consulting.
Cristina holds advanced degrees in clinical psychology, pedagogy, and education, with more than 25 years alongside children in Montessori and traditional classrooms. An AMI trainer and examiner at the Children’s House (3 to 6) level, she has guided Montessori educators across the United States, Argentina, Costa Rica, Taiwan, and Spain.
Gabriela grew up in Montessori, first as a student and then as an assistant. She holds a degree in early childhood education, her AMI diploma, and a master’s in education, with more than 20 years in Montessori schools across Mexico and the United States, and works internationally as an AMI trainer, examiner, consultant, and speaker.
Emily is an AMI trainer with more than 21 years in toddler and primary classrooms. She holds degrees in psychology, sociology, and Montessori education, along with AMI diplomas at the 0 to 3 and 3 to 6 levels, and pairs deep expertise with a warm, practical way of supporting children, families, and future guides.
Dr. Salguero is a physician, researcher, and educator focused on personalized medicine, psychiatry, nutrition, and integrative health. He completed his medical degree at the University of Guadalajara, advanced study in clinical nutrition, a PhD in molecular biology in medicine, and his psychiatry residency at UC San Diego, and brings a scientific view of child development to the team.
Here are straight answers to the questions people ask most before they enroll.
It is. This is a genuine AMI diploma, carrying AMI and MACTE accreditation. AMI stands for the Association Montessori Internationale, the organization Maria Montessori herself founded to protect her method, and it is widely regarded as the gold standard in the field. What you earn here is authentic AMI preparation, not an AMS program and not a general Montessori certificate.
No. Many of our students arrive from completely different fields. The diploma is a full professional training that takes you from the foundations of child development through supervised classroom practice, so you graduate prepared to lead.
Yes, and that portability matters most when you are starting over. An AMI diploma is understood and respected by Montessori schools around the globe, which means the qualification you earn is not tied to one city or one employer. You can take it wherever your new career leads.
For the diploma, yes. The coursework is done online across the year so it fits around a job, and the hands-on portion is concentrated into two summer sessions in San Diego. If you would rather begin without travel at all, the Assistant courses run fully online and blended and make a lower-commitment entry point.
The diploma covers two levels, Infant for ages 0 to 3 and Primary for ages 3 to 6.
Yes. Our MACTE accreditation makes graduates eligible for a master’s degree route through Loyola, which typically involves one extra summer of study. The exact options shift over time, so ask us for the current program details and we will walk you through them.
No, and it is worth being clear about that. This is a professional AMI teaching credential, not a course that converts into transferable college credit. If your goal is a graduate degree, the honest route is the Loyola master’s pathway mentioned above; ask us for the details and we will explain how it fits.
Cost depends on which program you choose and how you plan to pay. Rather than hide it, we put pricing inside the program details guide, so the moment you request it you can see the figures, the schedule, the available formats, and the payment plans.
A guide runs the classroom. That role comes from the full AMI diploma, which is the training this page is about. An assistant works alongside the guide and supports the prepared environment, and that comes from the shorter Assistant course. If your goal is to lead your own room after a career change, the diploma is the credential you want.
A Montessori teacher training career change means earning a full AMI diploma that qualifies you to lead your own classroom, and Montessori Stoppani builds that path for adults leaving another field. You work through the coursework online while your current job continues, then join your cohort in San Diego for the in-person training. It is deliberate professional preparation for a second career, the kind hiring schools take seriously, not a quick certificate you finish in a weekend.
The credential you change careers for has to hold up, and an AMI diploma does. AMI keeps the method Maria Montessori created intact, and this diploma carries both AMI and MACTE accreditation, the marks a serious school checks before it hires. Because that accreditation is real, it also opens a master’s degree pathway through Loyola for graduates who want to keep going.
You can retrain in San Diego and then teach almost anywhere, because an AMI diploma is portable by design. Career changers reach us from different starting points: some are local to San Diego, Carlsbad, and Encinitas, some come from the Tijuana cross-border community, and many fly in from other states and countries for the summer sessions. Whatever route brings you here, the diploma you leave with is respected by Montessori schools worldwide.
Montessori Stoppani runs one of the most affordable authentic AMI programs around, so changing careers here does not have to drain your savings. You will not be left waiting on an email to learn what it costs, either. Request the program details and the pricing is right there, next to the schedule, the formats, and the payment options, so you can plan the move before you commit to it.
