CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Public Schools is expanding its Montessori footprint by launching a new training program to credential the next generation of Montessori educators.
The Montessori Lab School at Bramble Nature Campus opened last year after Xavier University announced it was ending its Montessori lab school model. CPS stepped in to keep the program alive, and the school now serves 160 enrolled students.
"It is one of the first public Montessori schools in the country, and so this was a natural place and district for the lab school to land in," Chase Wesley, principal of the Montessori Lab School at Bramble Nature Campus, said.
The transition began in November of last year when CPS leadership, including Superintendent Shauna Murphy and Assistant Superintendent Debora Klein, began working with parents to get the school up and running. Wesley said the community response has been positive.
The school is now also home to the district's new Montessori Training Institute, which launched June 1 with its first cohort of about 20 CPS educators working toward full Montessori credentials.
"They'll be credentialed by the end of the '27-'28 school year after they do their internship, and it's a wonderful group of people," Melissa Ridley, director of Montessori Programs at CPS, said.
WATCH: How CPS is expanding the Montessori Program at Bramble Nature Campus
The grant-funded training program launched with support from city investors as the district works through a $58.6 million budget deficit. Before the institute was established, most Montessori training in Cincinnati took place at Xavier's lab school. When that program closed, Ridley said it was unsettling for those who had long relied on it.
"Cincinnati Public jumped on that and said, let's do something innovative and new, and something that brings our community together and offers to all people across the city," Ridley said.
The district plans to expand the program beyond CPS educators to generate additional revenue. The second cohort is set to begin in January 2027 with a once-weekly Montessori philosophy class, and the district is also exploring partnerships with local universities. Educators interested in the program can contact Ridley directly by email.
"It ensures that teachers have what they need to be the best professional they can be for the children, and I think that's a big deal," Wesley said.
For Jalynn Marshall, a first-year teacher and Northern Kentucky University graduate, the training is a full-circle moment. Marshall is stepping into a classroom at Dater Montessori School, the same school she and her brother attended as children.
"The teacher that's retiring that I'm filling in for was my brother's and I's teacher, so it's very special," Marshall said.
Marshall said the hands-on nature of Montessori education is what drew her to the field.
"They look at the child as a whole. Yes, of course, it's academic, but it also just teaches them how to be their own individual in our world," Marshall said.
She said the training experience has exceeded her expectations, particularly in the relationships formed among cohort members and instructors.
"Everything is so hands-on, and there have been so many studies about the brain and the hand and how they work together, and Montessori just does exactly that," Marshall said.
CPS currently operates seven Montessori elementary schools and two Montessori high schools. Ridley said the long-term goal of the training institute goes beyond the classroom.
"The children that we're teaching, that we're educating in the Cincinnati public schools, coming from all different families, diverse backgrounds, are going to be productive citizens for the future, and they're going to make Cincinnati better. I think that's really an important message that our community needs to know," Ridley said.
