Accreditation

Crystal Lake Montessori School is fully accredited by the American Montessori Society, recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education and a member of the Association of Illinois Montessori Schools. We are licensed by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide care and education to infants and young children.

To be accredited by the American Montessori Society, our school underwent a comprehensive self-study and consultation process. Among the many standards required are that we have a full complement of Montessori learning materials in each classroom, and that we have a fully qualified teacher in each classroom.

To be fully qualified, the teacher must have a Montessori Credential for the age she or he is teaching. At Crystal Lake Montessori School, we are fortunate to have not just one, but two teachers in almost all classrooms who have Montessori credentials, or are in the process of completing their internship, which is the final phase of the credential program.

Our staff fully meet or exceed all the standards set forth by these organizations, including but not limited to appropriate credentials and experience, First Aid/CPR training, strict background checks, and ongoing professional development.

Crystal Lake Montessori is proud to be among the top 20 AMS schools out of 1257 (the top 1.6%) in terms of having accreditation over six program levels from Infant to Middle School and also to be certified by the Department of Child & Family Services (DCFS) for Infants from 12 months to 36 months. The difficulty in reaching accreditation is seen in that only 14% of all AMS schools have at least one program level certification while CLMS has six program levels all of which are accredited.