Officially an IMC Montessori member school in Phnom Penh

It took a long wait, and this week it arrived. The International Montessori Council has recognised Orange Crest Preschool as an official IMC member school.

It names our school, it runs from September 2026 through June 2027, it carries membership number 82646, and it is signed by the IMC Board Chair, Martha Carver, and the IMC Executive Director, Maly Peña.

What the IMC is

The International Montessori Council is an international membership body for Montessori schools and the people who teach in them — a board of trustees, a network of member schools on every continent, and a year of training, forums and conferences behind it.

For a preschool and kindergarten in Phnom Penh, that is the useful part: it connects our classrooms to the wider Montessori world instead of leaving us to mark our own homework.

Member school, not accredited — and we will not blur the two

The IMC also runs a separate accreditation for schools that go through it. We have not. We are a member school, which is what our certificate says, and that is the only word we will use.

You will never see “accredited by” on this website. Three relationships, stated plainly: IEYC member school, IMC member school, and licensed and registered with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

What we signed, and what you can hold us to

Membership is not a badge you hang in reception. Every IMC member school agrees to the Council’s Code of Ethics and Principles of Good Practice. These are the promises in it that a parent can actually use:

We describe our school truthfully

To the public and to our own parents. No claim we cannot stand behind.

The child’s well-being comes first

Before any other interest of the school.

Discipline the Montessori way

Peace education, conflict resolution, and grace and courtesy. Corporal punishment is never permitted.

You are welcome to observe

Parents may visit to watch their own child in class, within the guidelines that protect the other children’s lessons and privacy.

We will tell you if we are not the right school

If a child is not benefiting from our programme, we consult the parents promptly rather than quietly carrying on.

No discrimination

In admission or in employment.

What it gives our teachers

The membership covers 25 individual memberships for our staff, guides and board — which in a school our size means the teaching team, not just the office. With it come the weekly Montessori leadership forum, monthly webinars for educators, reduced rates on official IMC courses and conferences, and an annual consultation for the school.

Separately, and this is her own achievement rather than the school’s: our Giraffe homeroom teacher holds a Montessori diploma from the IMC, awarded in 2026.

What changes for your child on Monday

Honestly? The lessons are the same lessons. The shelves are the same shelves.

What changes is that we are now answerable to a standard written outside our own walls, by people who have no reason to be kind to us. Big on Character. Close as a Family — and now on the record.

Come and see the Montessori for yourself

Orange Crest is an international Montessori and IEYC preschool and kindergarten in Toul Kork, Phnom Penh, for children from 15 months to 6 years. Giraffe, our kindergarten class, is full Montessori for ages 3 to 6, full day 08:00–15:30, taught in English and Khmer.

A certificate tells you what a school promised. A morning in the classroom tells you whether it keeps it. Tours run Monday to Friday 07:30–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–12:00, and a trial month is $500, fully offset against the fees when you enrol.