Montessori Children's Academy

We haven't attended for several years so maybe things have changed, but for a place that is supposedly Montessori and has Montessori-certified teachers, they were pretty bad at the philosophy. We kept our kid there cause I felt like it was a safe place and I don't think they were mean or anything. But the entire philosophy is "Follow the child." That doesn't mean let them do whatever they want, but it does mean encourage and follow their interests and their level of development. These people were constantly focused on what level our kid was "supposed" to be at and acted concerned about her development, saying she was acting too young for her age, but then when we were concerned about needing medical examination or intervention they never responded. I'm not expecting them to diagnose my kid, but if you truly think there is a concern, then recommend a check-up or something. (Spoiler alert, it's been 2 years since then and she's just fine). And instead of encouraging whatever her interests were or letting her start slow, they would try to rush her into things and then get upset when she didn't show interest, like she was the problem for "refusing" to perform. (That's the term they used! For a BABY!) Anyway, I felt like they were nice to the kids despite all that, and they had nice activities, and since they were sticklers for rule following I felt like it was a safe place. Which is why they get 3 stars.But since then our kids have been attending another Montessori school that is much more attuned to the children's interests and tries to work on their level of development rather than pushing to work on whatever the teacher wants. Just pointing that out so that you don't think that our experience here is what regular Montessori is all about. It's actually the exact opposite.

Montessori Children's Academy takes pride in providing a safe, comfortable classroom for children to learn at their own pace and progress through hand eye coordination, reading, math, language, art, and play time. I was teacher's assistant at MCA before I moved states to pursue a career as an actuary. I was able to work with all age levels from infant to 6 year olds and I loved working with each kid and watching them excited to learn and develop their skills. Not only was Ingrid a great mentor to me, teaching me the philosophy of Montessori and how to best coach a child through and activity, but the entire staff were also kind and energetic with me and the students. I've kept in touch with Ingrid since I left and she's been a great resource with advice and support. This is a great place to work with wonderful students and parents that attend.

Our experience with this Millard Children's Montessori was not a good one. We do not get enjoyment from writing bad reviews, however we feel that we need to warn other parents of our experiences so they can make an informed decision on who and where is taking care of their children.We will start at the end, which was the worst experience. Life circumstances changed for our family and we decided to withdraw our daughter to stay at home with mom. This is where our experience with the directors went from average to horrible. We found out the hard way and it was deeply disappointing for us. We were informed we need to turn in a 60 day notice. On 8/2/18 we put in writing our final day would be 9/30/18 but would be ok if it's 8/31/18 if they can get another kid in for Sept. We then received a very direct email stating that our daughter's last day will be 8/10/18 but we still needed their services for the rest of the month. They did not care and we were kicked out almost immediately. They charged us for the whole month even though we were not allowed to use their services the final 3 weeks. They got a new kid in on the 13th and this way they could double dip payments with no remorse. They have a poorly written and contradicting handbook, contracts, and verbal instructions that is basically written in a way to say that they can do whatever they want and they take full advantage of that. We had rude emails and refusals to return calls even when promised. We also had to scramble to get someone to look after our daughter for 3 weeks. Our mistake for not being more wary of what we were getting into, don't make the same mistake we did. If you do go with them, do not put in a termination of service notice until you know you have back up day care immediately. Friends/coworkers experienced the same thing this summer as well and were kicked out immediately. The level of care was overall alright. The two main teachers in the rooms seem to care enough for children, but don't expect to get any daily updates or pictures of your child throughout the day. Communication is very poor and is our other big complaint. You get handed a hand written sheet at the end of the week detailing only when they ate, slept and had a diaper changed. They do not actively communicate what they are working on with your child and at the end of the day when they pile all the infants in one room, it is hardly the time to stop the room leaders and ask them a bunch of questions. The point of going to a Montessori is their way of learning. But we were hardly ever communicated what to do and not to do. So we were doing things at home that contradicted what they were working on at the Montessori. It is very regrettable that we have to write a review like this for a place we were so excited to have our daughter go to. We get daycare is a business, but if things like ethics of a business, communication, and a passion for children are important to you, we would recommend looking somewhere else.

While there is one good thing about the Montessori, Ms. Pam, the infant room teacher, the rest is all bad. It starts and ends with Ingrid, the owner. From October 2020 to November 2021 my infant attended the daycare and Ingrid came in after many nearly 100% turnover. She said she was going to fix the issues with staffing and blamed the previous director. Nothing changed and nearly 100% turnover again (at least in the infant room) since she's been there. My child had a few minor injuries while there and I accredit that to him learning to walk, etc. but when this was brought up to Ingrid she was very nonchalant and again blamed staff who had left the school. The last straw was when I was told by that my child and my newborn would have a spot at the daycare when I have to go back to work in February 2022 only to find out that I was lied to and there was no spots for either of them. The worst part was Ingrid's attitude when we discussed this. She was condescending and rude and acted like it was no big deal. It is a big deal to my family as we don't have any other child care lined up since we were told they would have spots for us. Overall, don't waste your time with this place unless you want frustration and a very inconsiderate person to deal with. No wonder she can't keep staff...

Not what you'd expect from a Montessori school. Find a different one, there are tons of better ones to choose from at comparable prices.

Love how the teachers get kids to work both independently AND well with friends. Mrs. Weland has nicely balanced teaching kids responsibility, friendship, math and reading skills along with fun. Mrs. Coleman helps students learn how to complete tasks and be active learners. I'm so glad they have both been active teachers here for so many years. The kids are so cute hurrying in to see their teachers in the morning and start their day.

All of my children attended this school - for different levels before they went to elementary school and then during summer sessions for the summer program. I particularly like their outdoor space and all of the gardening the kids were able to do in the summers. During the school year, my children always had great teachers that took great care of my kids as well as prepared them well for school. All of my children entered elementary school reading well with great confidence in themselves. I would highly recommend Montessori Children's Academy