Faith Academy Of Montessori

The reviewer, Rachel, could not be more accurate, and her story mirrors A LOT of what happened with my child there. Very disorganized, poor communication, inflexible and unable to deal with children who do not fit a very narrow, preconceived notion and definition of how a child should &#34;behave&#34;. No basic understanding of behavioral theories and differing approaches to children&#39;s learning. I recall running into an a parent at the park around the time my child was starting there and she was telling me a similar story and I thought, &#34;that&#39;s too bad, but must be something with that family or just a fluke, would not happen with my child&#34; (ha!). It&#39;s good for who it&#39;s good for, I suppose. There&#39;s no denying that there are many families with children who are happy there and doing well. So, take this review for what it&#39;s worth and do your homework. Understand that while Montessori is billed as being very &#34;child-centered,&#34; it is also quite rigid in it&#39;s structure and methods and may not be the best learning environment for some. Kids who are may be uninterested in the very lowest, entry levels of the &#34;lessons&#34; or have surpassed that knowledge already are still expected to do them, and do them happily. That for some children, of course results in problem behaviors that are disruptive and defiant (literature on child development tells us that). There is no direct teaching, per se, the teachers just expect children to do lessons and will not adapt their teaching or curriculum for children who need a different teaching style. even when parents have insights and helpful suggestions about how to implement changes that may be helpful. When this results in sub-optimal behavior from the child, the parents&#39; input is ignored and if the child does not fit the mold, the child is defective in their eyes. The atmosphere at the school, while small and homey, can also seem exclusive and the parents are clique-y. If you have a child that is on any end of a spectrum (learning differences, sensory needs, gifted, etc) this may NOT be the program for your child.

Very exclusive school. Limited to a specific personality and personalities. If your child is not quiet and meek in nature this school will be a difficult fit for them. My daughter started at Faith Academy when she was four years old.  There seems to be an unwritten expectation that they should begin around 2-3 years of age. Half the time my daughter would not want to go to Faith Academy and report being bored. When asked about the lessons she was working on in the parent teacher meeting it was explained that before she could move on to other lessons or more age and learning appropriate for her now she instead had to complete these lower level lessons first doing skills and things she already knows. This felt frustrating for us and my daughter. She has been reading since August of last year and is kept from the lessons that her peers are doing because she didn&#39;t start Montessori when she was 3?  She got in trouble today.  I came to the school to talk to the principal. She was very nice when talking and explained the situation. This was my first time needing to come to the school to speak with her about such issues with my child. She emailed me this evening telling me that my daughter may not continue in the program. That she was sorry and I am not to bring her to school tomorrow. Still processing and getting over the shock. She agreed while we were talking today at school that she should have been communicating more about these issues but that she didn&#39;t want to feel as if she was being negative. From no notice to within hours, we had problems at school today to now, that tomorrow I think it would be better if you just not return, is a shocker to say the least. No one was hurt, nothing was damaged. To quote her email,&#34; I apologize for not calling but I left school without writing down your phone number. After thinking things over today I realize how fortunate I was that no one fell down the stairs, after  was kicking at the children&#39;s feet.  I know she didn&#39;t mean to do any real harm. However the end result could have been quite harmful to those children.  If someone was hurt, no matter what the intention I would be responsible. Please forgive me, but I think it best if  did not return.  It was so difficult to speak to you today ; I feel so bad for both of you.   You have certainly never shown us anything but respect and kindness.  I believe if you both step up your discipline with  she will be fine.  She has so many gifts, and if you work to instill respect and empathy in her those gifts can shine through and be recognized.&#34; That was the end of that.   It just doesn&#39;t feel quite right. So I am giving one star for the severe lack in communication. Another point, respect and being on time is a high point at the school and we agree 100%. However,  in our meetings with the principle, she has been late and if present, half there. By this I mean- she has usually forgotten something. I had this impression the first day we toured the school and thought that maybe it was just a bad day for her. But consistently over the last year and a half she is late and always having forgotten something. Like tonight, instead of calling to tell us not to come to school tomorrow had emailed because she forgot my phone number at the school. But I emailed my phone number to her so this also doesn&#39;t make great sense. It took months to finally have my personal email added to her contact list because she would write on any random piece of paper while we were talking and then it obviously didn&#39;t make it into her contact list. We don&#39;t mind being flexible but we all have schedules and calling us less then 30 minutes before school to say if it is okay to bring our daughter for a make up day because she forgot to check her schedule sooner is challenging. On this same note since the beginning of the school year it has been recommended and encouraged that our daughter go to four days a week. We have been all for this yet when asked about going to four days a week as encouraged the response is that she doesn&#39;t have the space. Just really frustrating as a parent and feels like getting mixed messages. We will probably never really know the full story. If they do not want your child there you will know. Knowing that they do not want my child there I would not want her to be there anyway. It is sad and disappointing. My daughter learned there but her personality did not fit this school.  She is very bubbly and active with a very curious mind. She was unhappy here.  I thought it was because she was a little bored or being put in the young kids group when she wanted to be with the other five years olds. I kept encouraging her to keep working on the material and she will be able to do more. I wanted her to be able to flourish.

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