Mis Manos Montessori School

This is the most peaceful, beautiful preschool I have ever seen. Ever. Walking in the front gate you see the beautiful mountains in the background and happy children giggling and working together in the foreground. Normally with this many children in one area there is usually bound to be someone screaming, someone crying, and general chaos. That is the furthest thing from the serene scenes playing out here day after day.When my son first started Mis Manos he had difficulty with the transition and would cry quite a bit when I dropped him off and later in the day when other mommies and daddies came and he was still at school. During those first few weeks what impressed me the most was the fact that even if he was crying (and it was very little) he was always being held or comforted by a teacher. He was never left in a corner anywhere during his difficult transition. As a first time mom this was incredibly reassuring.Now my son has been attending this school for nearly four months he loves it there. In fact we bumped his schedule up to 5 days a week because he would ask to see his teachers and his friends. He has improved in his listening and communicating so much and is always happy and tired when he comes home. I always ask him how his day was, and he beams and says "Good!" usually followed by some babbling about what he did (2 year olds aren't always the easiest to understand) and a very exuberant "Alba!" (his teacher). We pack his lunch and water bottle each day and he brings them right into his classroom. He's also learned that whenever he goes outside he should ask for his hat and sunscreen which is an added bonus! I do also want to point out that their toddler class, which my son is in, does not require them to be potty trained and begins at 18months. There is a waiting list and for good reason, this is an amazing school! I also hear they are cloth-diaper friendly, we asked but haven't gotten our stuff together to bring to them so we've been using disposables.I recommend this school to anyone and everyone I meet!

Mara Castro and the Mis Manos Montessori staff have created a warm and responsive community for young children. In her Mis Manos classroom, my daughter was surrounded by adults with decades of experience and a thorough knowledge of child development. They created a beautiful learning environment for the children and organized a structured schedule filled with a variety of learning activities and opportunities for growth. The Montessori philosophy was especially beneficial to my daughter's language, literacy, math, and fine motor skills. The campus is lovingly curated and located in a beautiful desert landscape. Miss Manos Montessori is a treasure among Tucson early childhood programs.-Emilie Pechuzal, M.A., M.Ed.Early Childhood Professional since 2002 Associate Faculty, Prescott College

Sadly, we are moving out of state, and leaving this preschool will probably be the hardest part of our move. Our 22-month-old has been attending this school for approximately 4 months now and has absolutely loved it.The atmosphere is clean / bright, Miss Sandy is so warm and nurturing with her students, and I've watched my son (an only child) grow more and more comfortable with his peers. It is such a delight to see him learn to put his own "work" away and practice skills he's learned in school at home. Also, the director has been very understanding of my son's food allergy concerns - such a welcoming environment.As a first-time mom, I was seriously worried about the impact of leaving my child with another caregiver for any length of time. I was worried about how my slow-to-warm-up child would adjust. The school really put me at ease from the first week, and our son was already nodding vigorously to the question, "Do you want to go to school?" by the second week! I'd highly recommend this school to anyone considering schools in the area.