themontessori.world terms and conditions

Last updated: August 15, 2026.

1. Who operates the service

themontessori.world is an international directory of Montessori schools operated by LIGHTHOUSES, S.C.P., with tax ID (CIF) J55213292 and registered address at Avenida de España, 44, Colmenar del Arroyo (Madrid), Spain. In these terms we refer to this entity and the directory it operates as MW.

Contact: info@themontessori.world.

2. What MW is and what appearing in the directory means

MW publishes information about Montessori schools: contact details, pedagogical features, guide training, declared affiliations and recognitions, services, facilities, photographs and a description of the educational project.

The information in each listing comes mainly from the school itself. In some cases MW creates an initial listing —a seeded listing— from public information about a school, until the school claims it to manage it or requests its removal.

MW does not certify, accredit, inspect or audit the schools in the directory.

The fact that a school appears in MW means it has been admitted in accordance with the directory's admission criteria, published on the Montessori criteria page, on the basis of the available information and, mainly, of what the school itself declares. It does not constitute a quality certification, accreditation or recognition of Montessori authenticity by MW, nor an endorsement by MW of the school's actual practice.

Nor does the listing replace the family's visit, the conversation with the guides, or their own assessment.

3. Admission criteria

MW applies admission criteria to decide which schools are part of the directory. They relate, among other aspects, to the organisation of environments into mixed-age groups, the existence of a broad and unfragmented work period, the availability of Montessori materials appropriate to each stage and area, the use of rewards and punishments in the everyday management of the classroom, and the Montessori training of the guides.

The full criteria, with their requirements, are published on the Montessori criteria page of the website and may be updated as the directory evolves.

Admission is based on the information the school declares. MW may request clarifications or additional information when it considers it necessary, without this amounting to verification, certification or an audit of compliance with the criteria.

4. Seeded listings

MW may create a school's initial listing with information from public sources, such as the school's own website or publicly accessible records and directories.

These listings usually contain less information than those managed directly by the school and may include data that needs review or updating.

The school may claim its listing to manage it, or request its correction or removal at any time by writing to info@themontessori.world. MW handles these requests at no cost to the school.

5. School account

To manage a listing, the school creates an account through a person with the capacity to represent it: a director, an owner or a person expressly authorised. That person declares that they are authorised to act on behalf of the school.

The school keeps its listing data up to date and communicates any relevant changes.

Access credentials are non-transferable and must be kept secure. The school is responsible for the actions taken from its account, unless it can prove unauthorised access that is not attributable to it.

6. Content provided by the school

The school may provide text, structured data, links, logos, photographs and other content. In providing them, it declares and warrants:

• that it holds the rights or authorizations required to publish them;
• that the information it provides is truthful and accurate at the time of providing it;
• that it will update it when the declared circumstances change;
• that the verification links it provides point to real and accessible sources;
• and that it is responsible for the content provided, before MW and before third parties, and will correct any data that ceases to be true.

The school retains ownership of the content it provides.

While the listing is published, the school grants MW a non-exclusive, free-of-charge licence, limited to the purpose of the directory, to store, reproduce, technically adapt (resize, crop and convert format), organise and display that content on MW's website and on MW's social media profiles when it shares information about the school.

If the school requests removal, MW stops publicly displaying in the directory the content it provided. Posts already shared previously on social media may remain published, unless the school expressly requests their removal. MW may keep any data it must retain by legal obligation or to address liabilities arising from the relationship.

7. Photographs and minors' data

This section requires specific attention from the school.

Before providing photographs in which identifiable minors appear, the school must ensure it holds the legal basis and, where applicable, the authorizations required to publish them in a public educational directory on the internet. The family's authorization must expressly cover the publication of the image on a public website. An authorization intended for the school's internal use or for its own channels is not enough.

The school keeps those authorizations and must be able to evidence them when necessary.

As an operational guideline, MW recommends that the school prioritize:

• photographs of facilities, prepared environments, materials and outdoor spaces without minors present;
• wide shots, oblique angles, hands and the backs of heads when showing activity with children;
• and reserving identifiable close-ups for images whose authorization covers public use on the internet.

The school is responsible, before families and before the competent authorities, for compliance with these requirements, and directly handles any complaint relating to the images it has provided.

If MW receives a credible complaint from a family, from a person exercising guardianship, from a competent authority or from a third party with a legitimate interest, it may remove the image or the entire listing while the situation is clarified. Where the seriousness or urgency of the case requires it, it may do so immediately and without prior notice, without this giving rise to any right to compensation.

The school will be liable to MW for the claims, penalties, damages and costs arising directly from a breach of the obligations of this section, except for the part attributable to MW.

The foregoing is without prejudice to the responsibilities of each party under the applicable legislation.

8. Declarative model and editorial decision

The pedagogical information MW publishes comes from what each school declares about its own operation. MW does not systematically check those declarations, nor does it carry out audits.

Publishing a listing does not constitute an endorsement by MW of the school's actual practice.

MW decides which schools it admits, keeps, suspends or removes in light of its admission criteria and the goals of the directory.

9. Suspension and removal of a listing

MW may suspend, remove or not renew a listing when, among other circumstances:

• the school has provided false or misleading information, or omitted relevant information;
• there are reasonable grounds to believe that essential information in the listing has ceased to be correct;
• there is verifiable public information (media, court rulings, insolvency proceedings, administrative penalties) that compromises the continuity of the project, the safety of the families, or public trust in the school;
• there is a significant discrepancy between the pedagogical proposal published and the school's actual practice, established by MW from plural and reliable sources;
• formal complaints are received, whether repeated or from diverse sources, about practices contrary to the well-being of minors, a lack of transparency with families, or irregularities in management;
• the obligations of section 7 on photographs and minors' data are breached;
• or any other circumstance arises that is incompatible with the admission criteria or the goals of the directory.

Except where the seriousness or urgency advises acting immediately, MW may ask the school for explanations or information before taking a final decision.

The suspension or removal of a listing for editorial reasons does not in itself give rise to any right to compensation.

10. Links to third-party sites

MW may include links to third-party websites: Montessori organisations, education authorities, official registers and the schools' own sites.

MW does not control those sites and does not guarantee their availability, their content or their currency.

The links accompanying affiliations, authorizations and recognitions exist so that families can check the information at the original source. MW does not maintain or review those records.

11. Intellectual property and data sources

MW's own content. The design, the code, the themontessori.world brand, the editorial texts produced by MW (informational pages, guides, articles), the illustrations and the photographs taken by MW are owned by LIGHTHOUSES, S.C.P., unless expressly stated otherwise. Their reproduction or reuse requires prior written authorization, unless a legal exception applies.

Content provided by the schools. It is governed by section 6 and remains the property of the school that publishes it.

Geographic data. The names of countries, regions and cities, as well as their coordinates and administrative hierarchy, come from GeoNames, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. MW selects and adapts that data for use in the directory, for example generating slugs and grouping cities by country. Any subsequent reuse of this data must keep the attribution to GeoNames under the terms of the license.

Cartography. The map tiles come from OpenFreeMap, built on OpenStreetMap data, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

12. Availability of the service

MW endeavours to keep the directory continuously available, but does not guarantee that it will be accessible at all times or free of errors.

MW may carry out maintenance, update or improvement tasks, temporarily suspend certain functions, and modify, expand or withdraw features of the directory.

13. Changes to listings and to the service

MW may modify at any time the structure, design and presentation of the directory listings in order to improve the service or adapt it to technical, accessibility, search-engine positioning, usability or legal requirements.

These modifications may include the creation, modification, renaming, reordering or removal of fields, as well as changes in the way the contents provided by schools are displayed or grouped.

These modifications do not affect the ownership of the contents provided by the school, nor do they imply that MW may substantially modify their content without justified cause.

14. Data protection

The processing of personal data carried out by MW is explained in the Privacy policy, which forms part of the information applicable to the use of the service.

15. Changes to these terms

MW may modify these terms to reflect changes in the service, in legislation or in the directory's practices. Where the changes are substantial, MW will communicate them with reasonable advance notice to schools with an active account. The current version is always available on the website.

16. Governing law and courts

These terms are governed by Spanish law, without prejudice to the mandatory rules applicable in the country where the school has its registered address.

For disputes arising from the relationship between MW and a school that publishes a listing in the directory, both parties submit to the courts and tribunals of Madrid, Spain.

Where the other party qualifies as a consumer under the applicable regulations, the court determined by those regulations will have jurisdiction. Nothing in these terms limits the rights afforded to consumers under the legislation of their country of residence.

17. Official version

The Spanish version of these terms is the official one. Translations into other languages are for information only and, in the event of any discrepancy, the Spanish version prevails.

Location data (cities and regions) comes from GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.