MISSION

Arete cultivates the minds, hands, and hearts of public Montessori educators for the human flourishing of the children and communities they serve.

VISION

Arete envisions developing diverse cohorts of effective public Montessori educators, thereby expanding children's access to an excellent child-centered education.

CORE COMMITMENTS

By 2025, Arete will triple the number, and double the diversity, of effective public Montessori educators across the Midsouth to transform the lives of public school children for lives of wonder, work, and love through:

• MONTESSORI -  High fidelity-implementation of Dr. Montessori’s comprehensive model of human development, leading to a nationally recognized MACTE-accredited diploma; 

• PUBLIC - High quality courses leading to an in-depth understanding of college- and career-ready standards, learning differences, social emotional development, and deep family and community engagement; Equipping residents to attain Tennessee state teaching licensure and to reach public school students in under-resourced communities; 

• TRANSFORMATIVE - A teacher preparation model centered on a Community of Practice and the application of theory through integrative Montessori Studies and evidence-based best practices facilitated by an experienced public Montessori teacher, content leader, and coach;

• EQUITABLE - A low cost and local preparation option, overcoming barriers in order to increase diversity in the profession and to better reflect the communities being served, while providing job-embedded collaborative coaching and individualized support from the residency and school sponsor partnership;

• LEADERSHIP -  A pipeline to leadership, from Assistants to Lead Teachers to Teacher Leaders and Coaches, who will contribute to increasing the number of effective public Montessori school teachers and, therefore, the number of children and families being served.