There is a certain mystique to the Montessori world, which is just as much philosophy as it is pedagogy. For starters, it has its own vocabulary. (The schools have “guides,” not teachers, and there are specialized training programs to become one.) It’s inspired its own set of toys and physical manipulatives. And about 90 percent of the roughly 5,000 U.S. Montessori schools are private, according to estimates from the American Montessori Society.
No wonder, then, that “Montessori education is often seen as niche and elitist,” says Joel Mendes, executive director of Prepared Montessorian, a program that provides training to teachers and parents in Montessori methods.
Yet despite that esoteric reputation, Montessori methods aspire to similar outcomes as many others in education: to help children develop agency and independence, often through hands-on learning and open-ended, collaborative activities.
Since 2016, a California company has set out to make Montessori mainstream through building and acquiring a network of schools and technologies, and offering professional development programs to prepare future Montessori teachers and leaders. It’s a grand vision—and one that has recently secured big funding from leading education investors.
Higher Ground Education has raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Venn Growth Partners, a Toronto-based growth equity fund that invests in consumer, education and healthcare industries. Other backers include Learn Capital and Peak State Ventures, both education investment firms that previously backed the company. To date, the Lake Forest, Calif.-based company has raised $70 million in venture capital.