Montessori Schools in Miami

Roughly 500,000 Cuban exiles arrived in Miami in the fifteen years following the 1959 revolution, and the city's public and private education systems adapted quickly. In 1963, Coral Way Elementary became the nation's first publicly funded two-way dual-language immersion school, teaching Spanish-speaking and English-speaking children together in both languages from first grade onward. That same year, 1963, Alexander Montessori School was founded in Miami, and it has grown into the anchor of the area's bilingual Montessori tradition. That timing is not a coincidence: Miami's private schools were adapting to the same bilingual demand Coral Way was built to serve, and it's the reason bilingual Montessori programs are so much more common and so much more established here than in most of the rest of the country.

The Montessori landscape in Miami

South Florida's Montessori schools generally fall into two overlapping categories: schools that offer some Spanish instruction as an enrichment subject, and schools built from the ground up as genuinely bilingual, with Montessori materials, songs, and instruction delivered in both English and Spanish (and, at a smaller number of schools, Italian) throughout the day. Alexander Montessori School, founded in 1963 and offering Spanish immersion or daily Spanish instruction since 1985, has grown from a single kindergarten class into two toddler houses, nine Children's Houses, and a six-acre elementary campus across three sites, enrolling more than 560 students today. By its own account it remains the only fully AMS-accredited Montessori school in Miami and one of only ten in Florida. Other established bilingual Montessori programs in the metro area, including schools founded in the late 1980s specifically to serve bilingual families, reflect demand that has been consistent for two generations rather than a recent trend.

For a family relocating to Miami from elsewhere in the US, this is worth understanding before touring: a "bilingual Montessori school" in Miami usually means something more substantial and more integrated than a once-a-week Spanish enrichment class bolted onto an English-language Montessori program. Ask any specific school exactly how much of the day is delivered in each language and how long the school has run its bilingual model, since the depth of implementation varies even within Miami.

Public Montessori options

Miami-Dade County Public Schools runs a Montessori-inspired Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program at three elementary schools across the district: Joella C. Good Elementary, Phyllis Ruth Miller Elementary, and Scott Lake Elementary. These are Montessori-inspired rather than full Montessori-method programs and are limited to the VPK year (age four), with applications processed through the district's Parent Portal magnet and VPK application window each fall.

For families seeking a public Montessori option beyond the VPK year, Coral Reef Montessori Academy Charter School, in Cutler Bay within Miami-Dade County, serves kindergarten through eighth grade and is one of the more established Montessori charter schools in the county. Just across the county line in Broward County, South Broward Montessori Charter School in Hallandale Beach is another public option that some Miami-area families near the county border consider, since South Florida's Montessori-interested families often look across county lines given how few public seats exist relative to demand. All of these programs use lottery-based admission when oversubscribed, and availability shifts from year to year, so confirm current openings directly with the school or through the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector rather than relying on any static list.

Private Montessori schools

Miami's private Montessori market includes both AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) and AMS (American Montessori Society) affiliated schools, spread across the city's many distinct neighborhoods and suburbs, from Coral Gables and Miami Beach to Kendall and Pinecrest. Established schools generally fall into two groups: English-primary schools with standard Montessori accreditation, and the bilingual schools described above, whose accreditation still runs through the same AMI or AMS bodies even though instruction is delivered in two languages.

As in any dense, competitive private-school market, verifying a school's actual accreditation status matters. The Montessori name is not legally protected in the US, and Miami has schools across the full spectrum, from long-established, fully accredited programs to newer schools using Montessori materials without formal teacher training or affiliation. Confirm affiliation directly through the official locators before assuming it from a school's marketing.

What tuition typically looks like here

Florida's Montessori tuition runs lower on average than in the Northeast. Across all Montessori private schools statewide, the average cost is around $14,907 a year, itself somewhat higher than Florida's overall private-school average of roughly $13,861 to $13,827 depending on the year measured. Looking specifically at AMS-affiliated schools, which include most of Miami's larger established programs, the average runs a bit higher still, around $15,954. Miami sits close to or slightly above these state averages for most established schools, with wide variation depending on program length (half-day versus extended-day), campus, and whether the school offers a full bilingual program, which typically costs more than an English-only program at a comparable school due to the additional staffing required to run instruction in two languages.

Families with children who have documented disabilities should also check whether a given private Montessori school participates in Florida's state scholarship programs (the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, which replaced the former McKay Scholarship in 2022), since participation varies by school and can meaningfully offset tuition for eligible students.

How to find an accredited school near you

Start with the official directories rather than general search results, which mix accredited schools with unaffiliated ones and rarely note bilingual program depth:

• AMI/USA School Locator, for Association Montessori Internationale-affiliated schools
• AMS School Directory, for American Montessori Society-affiliated schools
• NCMPS Public Montessori Directory, for public and charter options nationally

Once you have a shortlist, our complete guide to finding a Montessori school covers the visit and evaluation process step by step, and our AMI vs. AMS comparison explains what the two main accreditations mean in practice. If bilingual education is a priority, add language-specific questions to your school visits: how many hours per day are delivered in each language, whether Montessori materials and vocabulary lessons exist in both languages, and how long the specific classroom's lead teacher has taught in a bilingual Montessori setting.