AMI/USA Welcomes New Board Members

The AMI/USA Board would like to announce the selection of KaLinda Bass-Barlow and Connie Black to serve on the Board of Directors. KaLinda and Connie were selected from a pool of excellent candidates and bring both a wealth of experience and a diversity of perspective to the governance of AMI/USA. The Board looks forward to the contributions of KaLinda and Connie as we serve our mission of bringing the principles of Dr. Maria Montessori to the education of children through its support and advancement of the AMI Montessori community in the United States.

KaLinda Bass-Barlow is mother of four remarkable young men and a passionate Montessori educator. She currently serves as the Principal of Harold Holliday Montessori School, a public Montessori School in Kansas City, Missouri. KaLinda has been dedicated to the field of education for 13 years, and has served in urban school districts in Houston, Texas and Kansas City and overseas in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As an administrator, KaLinda has been shaped by the successful school leaders that have influenced and molded who she is as a leader.

While relatively new to Montessori, KaLinda is committed to providing access to quality Montessori education to all children. She is currently working towards her AMI Primary Teacher Training at the Montessori Institute of North Texas. She is honored to work in collaboration with the AMI/USA Board to serve the AMI Montessori community.

An AMI 3-6 Trainer, Connie Black currently serves as Director of Outreach programs at the Montessori Center of Minnesota. In that role, she oversees their AMI EsF recognized Montessori Partners Serving All Children initiative, whose mission is to provide exceptional, quality early childhood education experiences for underserved communities. Connie also serves as Director of Training for the Montessori Training Center Northeast satellite three-summer course, offered in Boston 2017-2019. She also serves as an AMI consultant and examiner.

Connie holds a B.A. in English and Theatre from the University of Tennessee Martin and a M.Ed. from Loyola University of Maryland. She has 15 years of experience in Montessori Children’s Houses, as well as 8 years in public school settings working with children with special needs. With over ten years of experience implementing “Montessori Year Round” as well as “Montessori All Day,” Connie is interested in seeing Montessori education being made more broadly available to all children. Her three children are now grown, and she finds great joy in being “Grand” to four grandchildren. Connie lives with her husband, Lynn, in Duluth, Minnesota.